ICANN just launched a brand database for trademarks, Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH), allowing businesses to register their brands ahead of the release of the next wave of 2,000 generic top-level domains (gTLDs) to be introduced later this year, part of a larger effort to quell concerns about cyber-squatting and trademark infringement as seen in this introductory video:

Suffixes such as .bet, .web, .news, .app, .home, .inc, and .gay will become available in May as alternatives to the current and familiar .com, .org and .net. Some 1,200 gTLDs are expected to be approved—up from the current 280.

"So, for example, if someone applies for the suffix Apple, Apple will be able to see what the website is selling—whether it is a local orchard or someone selling fake Apple computers," said Jonathan Robinson, a consultant on the project. "New top-level domain names present a land of opportunity, but there are also threats. Prior to this there has been no universal protection available to brand owners. This goes a long way to mitigating the threat."Continue reading...

ICANN has been moving full-steam ahead under new CEO Fadi Cherhade, announcing that April 23rd will be the approval date for the first TLDs for delegation.

Once recommended for delegation, an applicant must pass a technical test and sign a Registry agreement with ICANN, which takes between five to six months, before a registry launch—which can take up to a year after they have been approved for delegation. 

There is no “sunrise” period for branded TLDs (Top Level Domains), but generic terms or open registries require a sunrise period of 30 days for trademark holders, followed by a 60-day landrush period, after which public domain sales could start. 

About 1,900 applications for new gTLDs are currently pending; 40 percent are for brand names and another slice is for “generic” words like .app, .insurance, .search and .book. “If allowed to register as closed domains, a single player could control the entire domain string related to a “generic” word – and prevent others from registering within it,” notes an article by InfoLawGroup.

Many have already voiced concern about “closed generic” domains and ICANN has asked the public for comment by March 7, 2013. 

Meanwhile, the American Association of National Advertisers (ANA) has asked ICANN to slow the process down “to set up a defensive mechanism so trademark holders can prevent registration of their exact trademarks across all the registries for a single reasonable fee.”Continue reading...

Nike and Oakley drop paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorious following steroid allegations during girlfriend's murder investigation.

Costco CEO addresses Tiffany suit for alleged trademark infringement in all-company email (exclusive).

Starbucks expands India footprint to seven stores as company tests video chat drive-through ordering and expands Starbucks Evenings concept to Washington's Dulles airport.

Carnival cruiseship fire blamed on fuel line leak.

China vows to crack down on "malicious" trademark registrations.

Disney's Hong Kong Disneyland theme park finally turns a profit thanks to Toy Story attraction.

Amway quietly builds brands and racks up sales.

BP prepares to go to court over Gulf spill.Continue reading...

CNET’s Paul Sloan calls it "the greatest landgrab in Internet history.” The new gTLD application window that opened on January 12, 2012 and closed on May 30th is finally revealed with all of the gTLD strings applied for during this round announced today at a press conference in London. From .AAA (filed by the American Automobile Association to .zippo, there were 1,930 top-level domain applications in all, with a few surprises including what wasn't on the list.

“One of the biggest 'reveals' of the day has been the absence of some very significant players: we did NOT see .FACEBOOK, .COKE, .COCACOLA or .PEPSI, .DISNEY, .IKEA, .EBAY, .NINTENDO or .NESTLE or .NESCAFE,” stated FairWinds Partners, which submitted applications on behalf of clients such as Allstate (.allstate), Symantec (.antivirus) and SC Johnson (.afamilycompany). “The heaviest-hitting industries are Auto, Finance and Pharmaceuticals. We've also seen many brands apply for generic terms. Google is a big one, of course, with 101 applications in total, as is Amazon.”

What we did see, as the Washington Post notes: "Amazon.com wants '.joy,' Google wants '.love' and L'Oreal wants '.beauty.'" The most coveted domain? .APP.Continue reading...

The mad dash for ICANN-approved generic top-level domain names (also known as gTLDs) is on.

The most popular generic suffixes, .art, .radio, .music, .shop, .food, .bank, and .web are being most aggressively pursued. Google is spending an estimated $10 million to apply for 50 domain name suffixes including .Google, .YouTube, .Docs and .LOL. (Is Google looking to buy a sense of humor?) It's actually one of the biggest brands to jump in, while more than 40 major companies, including Coca-Cola and GE continue to oppose the top-level domain program.

Go Daddy has applied for only two top level domains, .home and .casa. CEO Warren Adelman said the names “were chosen in part because they have multiple meanings with big market opportunities: they can be used in both a real estate context and personal context.” (Of course, the relationship between "Daddy" and "home" in English and Spanish is another lure.) “Dot.com has been getting the lion’s share of branding since the dawn of the internet,” added Adelman. “Any kind of new branding is heavy lifting.”

According to a blog post by Vint Cerf, Google's chief internet evangelist,

We’re just beginning to explore this potential source of innovation on the web, and we are curious to see how these proposed new TLDs will fare in the existing TLD environment. By opening up more choices for Internet domain names, we hope people will find options for more diverse—and perhaps shorter—signposts in cyberspace.Continue reading...

The latest target dates were announced last night by ICANN for the next phase of the New gTLD (generic top-level domain) Program, which opens up URLs to so-called dot-branding such as .nike or .pepsi at the end of web addresses. The Batching period will open on June 8, close on June 28, and Reveal Day occurs on June 13.

Applicants remain confused about the mechanics of ICANN’s Batching process, the Target Time Variance procedure (also known as “Digital Archery”), available options and the implications the batch they land in could have for their applications.

Two blog posts from FairWinds (see Part 1 and Part 2) break down the Digital Archery process, and offer predictions about what various applicants will do to try to “game” the Digital Archery process and how those actions will ultimately affect brand owners that applied for new gTLDs.

Applicants that land in late batches will have their gTLDs delegated much later – some perhaps not until 2018; applicants who plan to build a business selling domains in their gTLDs will be aiming for the first batches; many brand owners who applied for gTLDs will probably take their cues for participation in the Digital Archery process from Reveal Day.Continue reading...

ICANN’s plan to open up the Internet to a new level of addressing in the form of custom top level domains is delayed… due to technical difficulties. The already besieged initiative, as we reported last month, is under scrutiny for a systemic glitch as explained in a statement last Thursday from ICANN chief operating officer Akram Atallah:

ICANN constantly monitors the performance of the TLD Application System (TAS). Recently, we received a report of unusual behavior with the operation of the TAS system. We then identified a technical issue with the TAS system software.

ICANN is taking the most conservative approach possible to protect all applicants and allow adequate time to resolve the issue. Therefore, TAS will be shut down until Tuesday at 23:59 UTC - unless otherwise notified before that time.

In order to ensure all applicants have sufficient time to complete their applications during the disruption, the application window will remain open until 23:59 UTC on Friday, 20 April 2012.

We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused. If you have any questions, please contact the gTLD Customer Service Center (CSC) via the CSC portal.

So far, 839 companies have paid $185,000 to submit vanity domains in response to ICANN’s approval last June of an increase in gTLDs (generic top-level domains) from the current 22. The plan is to offer new benefits to Internet users such as the ability to create new TLDs in non-Latin, non-English scripts. Continue reading...

American Express has tapped comedian and uber-tweeter Aziz Ansari for brand's first Twitter Sync TV campaign, which breaks tonight. Check out the :15 version of the commercial below, along with other headlines this hour.Continue reading...