.asia Domain to Launch Soon: Sunrise Period Allows Trademark Holders to Protect Their Rights

A new, top-level Internet domain – .asia – will soon bring new marketing and communications opportunities to the Web. The launch of .asia also signals that trademark holders have some housekeeping to do, if they are to adequately protect their marks and brands.

Once the new domain goes live, trademark holders have the opportunity – during a sunrise period – to register their marks in the new domain before domain registration is opened to the general public. The sunrise period begins on October 9 and will run through October 30.

The registry responsible for .asia suggests that the new top-level domain will provide an opportunity for companies and individuals to target the Asian marketplace, broadly defined to encompass 73 countries, and register their mark "__________.asia". Trademark holders should also have another objective in mind: protecting their brands. Defensive domain name registration remains a crucial aspect of protecting intellectual property rights, as online commerce continues to sustain rapid growth.

There are some unique aspects to the registration of .asia domain names. For one, the sunrise period is not limited to the trademark claimed by the rights holder. Under Sub-Phase 2c, trademark holders may also apply for domain names that incorporate the mark in conjunction with a term from the Nice International Classification system. For example, the owner of a registration for the XYZ mark in Class 1 could apply for the "xyzchemicals.asia" domain name. Further, when more than one application for a particular domain name is approved by the registry, ownership of the domain name will be decided by auction.