Thomson Reuters Outlines Top-Level Domain Best Practices for Brand Owners

Report offers brand strategies from trademark attorneys

NORTH QUINCY, Mass., Nov. 12, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Thomson Reuters CompuMark, a Thomson Reuters Intellectual Property & Science business and global leader in trademark searching and brand protection solutions, today released a whitepaper outlining best practices for brand owners to navigate the surge in new top-level domain launches.

The whitepaper, Brands Prepare for Dot-Defense: Get Ready for the Top-Level Domain Revolution, addresses the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) generic top level domain (gTLD) initiative that will result in more than 1,300 new top-level domain names being launched over the next two to three years. The new gTLD program allowed brand owners, community groups and entrepreneurs to apply for top-level domains using more descriptive terms than the ubiquitous .COM and .ORG. Examples include .FILM, .FASHION, and even .SUCKS. The new registries will start to launch publicly beginning in the fourth quarter of this year.

"Until now, there has been a manageable number of registries that brand owners needed to worry about when it came to protecting their trademarks from abuse and keeping their options open for new brand initiatives," said Viji Krishnan, general manager and vice president, Thomson Reuters CompuMark. "That's all going to change dramatically as new domain name registries flood the Internet. The gTLD revolution will have major implications for brand monitoring, searching and enforcement, and we are committed to helping our clients navigate those challenges. We work closely with our sister business, MarkMonitor, to help prepare clients for their domain challenges and opportunities ahead."

Key data and strategies outlined in the paper include:

• gTLD Applications By-the-Numbers: A total of 1,930 applications for new gTLDs were filed when the ICANN initiative was launched. Now that all applications have been evaluated, it is expected that over 1,300 new gTLDs will launch over the next two to three years.

• Most Highly-Contested gTLDs: The most highly contested strings, for which multiple applicants are vying to administer the same gTLD, were .APP and .INC.

• Plan Your Brand Defense Now: The Internet namespace is about to increase and the opportunity for squatting on brand names will be too enticing for many to resist. It is essential for brand owners to assess the current gTLD landscape and start monitoring their key marks in this new ecosystem.

To read more on Brands Prepare for Dot-Defense: Get Ready for the Top-Level Domain Revolution visit: trademarks.thomsonreuters.com.