On 29 April 2014 the new .london domain went live as part of ICANN’s new generic top level domain (gTLD) programme.  The availability of the new .london domain name represents an exciting opportunity for businesses and individuals to directly associate themselves with London.

The 29th April marks the start of the ‘Sunrise period’ in which owners of registered trade marks are given priority to secure .london domain names containing their registered marks.  This period will expire on 31 July 2014 at which point all unused domain names will be available for any interested party to acquire.  If you are the owner of a registered trade mark and feel you may benefit from using a .london domain name incorporating the mark, it may be beneficial to act now to ensure a desirable domain name is not acquired by a competitor or another third party.

First step to acquiring a .london web address

Any party interested in registering a .london domain name must do so by first recording their marks with the Trademark Clearinghouse.  During the ‘Sunrise period’, priority will be given initially to registered trade mark owners who have recorded with the Trademark Clearinghouse, followed by businesses and individuals located in London registering their own name, businesses and individuals located in London registering any name, and finally, any business or individual looking to register any name.

As well as giving priority to those with registered trade marks to obtain a .london web address, recording a mark at the Trademark Clearinghouse will also afford priority to all other new gTLD’s.  Furthermore, the Trademark Clearinghouse will provide notifications of third party attempts to obtain a domain name incorporating a recorded trade mark.

The .london domain is one of many new gTLD’s to be introduced in 2014 and follows the successful introduction of domains for other major cities including .nyc and .berlin.

Contact an advisor today

If you are interested in acquiring a .london domain name and would like further information on this matter or have another domain name issue which you would like to discuss, please click here and fill in the contact us form and an advisor will get back to you.