Companies commonly register for multiple domain names (or URLs) so that their customers can more easily find their website. Registering for multiple similar domain names can also preempt
cybersquatters, entities that buy domain names in order to interfere with the rights of trademark holders.
Right now, most websites end in familiar domain name extensions such as .com, .net, or .org, or country extensions such as .cn for China, .us for United States, and so forth. But the
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) will be adding new extensions soon, to include terms such as .careers, .shoes, .builders, and many more.
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The Internet is changing? You don't say!
Photo used under CC license from @LarsZi on Flickr. |
To protect your business or nonprofit brand, consider registering for more domain names. You can get special advance access by providing proof of your trademark holdings to the
Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH). (The official website is
http://trademark-clearinghouse.com/; be conscious that, ironically, there are other, unrelated services with very similar names.) If you find out that someone has registered for a domain name that is "identical to or confusingly similar to" your trademark, you can contest the registration using the
Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS) system.
To read more about the upcoming changes, check out
this article at the Harvard Business Review. If you have questions about how to protect your small business' or nonprofit's brand,
contact Glickman Turley to discuss ways we may be able to help.
