Issue 205 - 10 February 2006

.eu Sunrise update - Phase 2

Phase 2 of the .eu Sunrise period got underway on Tuesday 7 February. Some 90,000 applications have since been received by EURid, the .eu registry. This brings the total numbers of applications under Sunrise to 272,339, for a total of 199,459 domain names.

Documentary evidence has been received by the Validation Agent (PricewaterhouseCoopers) for 121,835 of the applications.

Phase 2 extends the range of categories under which applications will be accepted to include:

• Company Names, Trade Names or Business Identifiers (66,271 applications so far in phase 2) 
• Unregistered Trademarks (5,356) 
• Distinctive titles of protected artistic or literary works (2,017) 
• Other (11,431)

In previous updates we reported that licensees of trademarks would not be permitted to make Sunrise applications during phase 2, only the registered owner. EURid have now decided to allow licensees to make phase 2 applications, meaning that all the categories of applicant that were allowed to submit applications in phase 1 can also do so in phase 2.

To make a Sunrise application, go to our specialist website www.gtld.com now.

16,162 .travel domains registered since launch

Tralliance, the .travel registry, recently reported that 16,162 of the new sponsored Top Level Domain (sTLD) for the travel and tourism industry have been registered in the 16 weeks since it went live.

This represents the highest uptake of an sTLD, even compared with those that have been active for a number of years.

To find out more and register .travel, go to www.gtld.com.

WIPO handles more cases than ever

The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) recently reported a 20% rise in the number of cases it handled last year compared to the previous year, making the 1,456 in 2005 a record since launch in 2001. These figures suggest that cybersquatting is as much of a threat as ever, and that brand owners should protect their intellectual property by allowing a market leader such as NetNames Platinum Service to manage their domain portfolio and monitor for infringements.

For further details on NetNames Platinum Service, visit www.netnames.com.