On 13 June 2012 the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) released a list of the applications it has received for new top level domains. Top level domains are those at the highest level and presently include the top level domains .com, .net and .org. Among the top level domains that have been applied for are .accountant, .actor and .hotel.
Anyone who secures exclusive rights to the top domain .hotel would be entitled to allocate domain names at lower levels coming within that top level domain. For example, someone who secured .hotel as a top level domain would have the power to allocate the use of domain names including bestprice.hotel, australia.hotel and exclusive.hotel. The top level domains that have been applied for include a series of descriptive words (such as hotel) and also trade marks such as "HONEYWELL". It is recommended that all trade mark owners review the list of top level domains to ensure that no application has been lodged for a name that is deceptively similar to any of the trade mark owner's trade marks. While trade mark owners have a total of 7 months in which to file their objections it is recommended that any objection be filed as soon as possible.
For further information on top level domains and the current objection process please do not hesitate to contact us.
The ICANN list of top level domains applied for so far may be found here.
Written by: Sonal Moore