New domain extensions

ICANN, the governing body of the Internet, developed the new gTLD programme. The idea behind introducing so many new domain extensions was to increase customer choice and competition. You can now register a domain name that’s specific to your business, industry, hobby, city, and more. With the internationalised domains (IDNs) you can even register a domain name in your own script. If you know all about the new domain extensions and have a clear idea of what you’d like to register, scroll straight to the search box. Otherwise, keep reading. FAQs are answered below.

The new TLD categories

Geographic

Representing cities and regions. These domain extensions require the full support of local government. Examples include .LONDON, .AMSTERDAM, .NYC.

Generic

Domain extensions that are open for anyone to register and generally, without restrictions. These are ones like .TATTOO, .NINJA, .GURU, and .HORSE.

Community

These domain extensions represent communities, interests, charities, religions and professions such as .BIO, .LGBT, .HIV, and .TENNIS.

Brands

New TLDs applied for by companies to represent their brand. Includes .NIKE, .HITACHI, and .BMW. Unfortunately most of these won’t be open for registration by the public.

Internationalised domains (IDNs)

Internationalised domain names aren't restricted to the Latin alphabet. Accented characters can be used. For instance .みんな (Japanese for ‘everyone’). Scripts include Cyrillic, Arabic, and Chinese.

NEW EXTENSIONS LIST

The registration periods for the new TLDs

Sunrise/Trademark holders

Usually lasting 30 days, this period is open to trademark holders registered with the Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH). It allows them to register the domain name that matches their trademark, thus protecting their brand.

Landrush/Early Access

This is an optional registration period and doesn’t happen for all the new TLDs. It’s when you can register popular generic terms. It can lead to an auction if there are duplicated applications. During this period customers can pay a premium to register a new domain extension before General Availability.

General Availability (GA)

This period is open-ended and everyone can apply to register domain names. It’s first come, first served and registrations occur in real time.

How can I protect my brand/trademark?

Registering your trademark with the Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH) means you’ll be able to take part in the Sunrise registration period of each new domain extension. You can then register the domain name to match your trademark.

The Trademark Claims service is an alert procedure for trademark owners registered with the TMCH. It runs during the Sunrise period and continues afterwards for at least 60 days. We’ll let you know immediately if a third party tries to register a domain name that matches or is similar to your trademark. This allows you to take steps to protect your mark. Our help site gives more details of the Claims service.