New gTLDs And Practical Implications For Brand Owners

• Published date: 23 March 2021
• Subject Matter: Intellectual Property, Media, Telecoms, IT, Entertainment, IT and Internet, Trademark
• Law Firm: Stobbs IP
• Author: Mr Daniel Smith

Many of us will remember the start of the first ICANN new gTLD process, which saw around 2000 separate applications to own new domain spaces. The impact enabled end users to expand their registration horizons beyond the limited extensions of the time, such as '.com' and '.org'.

This article looks at (i) initial discussions on a new wave of gTLDs, (ii) recent developments following the ICANN 69 meeting and (iii) a few ways in which brand owners can address new domain extensions going forward.

New gTLD Round

It is unclear when the new round will officially launch, but discussions have taken place by groups such as the 'New Generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD) Subsequent Procedures Policy Development Process Working Group' ('SubPro'), with the aim of outlining who can apply, how to apply, fees and other terms and conditions.

Since the early stages of the process, many reports - discussing over 40 topics - have been circulated. This will impact the new release. Since 2016, SubPro has posted reports for community engagement, such as the 'Initial Report for Public Comment' (July 2018) and the 'Supplemental Initial Report' (October 2018). Many parties engage with these reports, particularly those in the domain industry, such as registries, registrars and organisations such as WIPO.

Highlights of ICANN 69

The most recent discussions on the subject have come out of the recent ICANN 69 meeting. Most discussions related to public interest considerations such as:

• Closed Generics - this only relates to a small number of extensions released to date (most of which refer to .brand domain names). For the new round, the aim is to balance how to treat closed generics in line with the public interest.
• Public Interest Commitments ('PICs') - the impact that ICANN's bylaws has on PICs, particularly surrounding content-related issues and additional clarity around framing public interest in relation to the Public Interest Commitment Dispute Resolution Procedure ('PICDRP'), an already established policy to complain against registry operators.
  
  Further discussions are likely to be featured at the next ICANN meeting (ICANN 70), which is expected to be held in March 2021.

New gTLDs - Practical Implications and How to Prevent...