Issue 209 - 26 May 2006

.mobi Trademark Sunrise

NetNames is now accepting applications for the .mobi Trademark Sunrise period which is scheduled to run from 12 June to 21 August. Interest has so far been high in the new domain suffix for the Mobile Internet. Trademark holders are advised to secure their brands in .mobi as soon as possible. NetNames expects that the Landrush period, which will follow the Trademark Sunrise, will be heavily exploited by cybersquatters, as was shown during the recent launch of .eu.

The aim behind .mobi is for users to learn that by browsing the .mobi version of a website, they will find content which has been designed specifically for downloading to a mobile device. A .mobi domain will help guarantee a predictable and consistent experience by encouraging site owners to implement the mandatory rules and optional recommendations made in the dotMobi Switch On!^TM Guides.

However, purely defensive registration is still an option - you are not obliged to create a website behind a .mobi registration. It is only if you do put up a .mobi website, that it must comply with the dotMobi Switch On!^TM Guides.

Platinum clients wishing to apply for .mobi should contact their Platinum Account Manager. Other clients should visit NetNames' specialist domain website www.gtld.com.

Barcelona wins landmark .eu case

The registration of barcelona.eu on the basis of the right of a trademark on "BARC&ELONA" has been cancelled, after a complaint from the city of Barcelona was upheld.

Several Sunrise registrations were made for domains in this way, taking advantage of what was at the time considered a loophole in EURid's Sunrise rules. As the rules stated that special characters in a trademark such as ampersands would have to be transcribed OR omitted from the domain name applied for, a number of applicants registered expedited trademarks for valuable brand names with ampersands inserted between each letter.

The result of the case sets an important precedent for legitimate brand owners who have been exploited - however they would need to act quickly. The Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) rules state that a complaint must be filed within 40 days of the allocation of a .eu domain by EURid. For more information on ADR, visit http://www.adreu.eurid.eu. 

Another example of a potential dispute over an application is f1.eu - the application by Formula One (motor racing) was received by EURid after that of the owner of trademark "F&1".

.uk domain registrations passes five million

The number of registered .uk domains passed five million on 16 May. Nominet, the .uk registry, believe that this places .uk in fourth position in terms of numbers of domain names across the world. Nominet registers about 144,000 domains per month. Compare this to the very first month that Nominet started taking registrations (in 1996) when 2,000 .uk domains were registered.