Originally published June 13, 2012
Today, ICANN announced the list of applied-for new generic top
level domain names ("gTLDs"). The complete list can be
found
here.
The impending expansion of the internet creates a risk to
trade-mark owners of increased cybersquatting, brand dilution and
infringement, but it may also present an opportunity to further
develop their brands and businesses. It is important that
trade-mark owners take a proactive approach to these
developments.
At present, the internet is made up of about 250 country code
top level domain names ("ccTLDs"), such as .ca and .jp,
and 22 gTLDs, such as .com, .net and .org. As part of its process
to expand available gTLDs, ICANN received a total of 1930
applications for 1409 different gTLDs. With an application fee of
$185,000 each, ICANN raised over $350 million US during the
application process.
