Share on LinkedInShare on LinkedIn

ARTICLE · 24 NOVEMBER 2009

New Internationalized Domain Names Set To Become Available Next Year

Brand owners should be aware that a new process for transforming the Internet with internationalized domain names (IDNs) in non-Latin script opened earlier this week. Until now, domain names have been limited to characters of the Latin alphabet (the 26 letters "a-z", numbers 0 to 9, and hyphens).

United StatesIntellectual Property

Brand owners should be aware that a new process for transforming the Internet with internationalized domain names (IDNs) in non-Latin script opened earlier this week. Until now, domain names have been limited to characters of the Latin alphabet (the 26 letters "a-z", numbers 0 to 9, and hyphens). However, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers this week started accepting requests from representatives of countries and territories around the world for new internet extensions that represent their country name and are made up of non-Latin characters.

The new system will allow countries and territories to operate country-code top-level domains in their own script, such as Arabic, Chinese or Hindi. Once the requests for IDNs are evaluated and approved, Internet extensions are expected to come online in many countries during 2010. Already, China Internet Network Information Center has indicated that it will apply for the top-level Chinese domain name

We operate a free-to-view policy, asking only that you register in order to read all of our content. Please login or register to view the rest of this article.

See more popular content from