Calling all “short” trade mark owners!

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Calling all “short” trade mark owners!

25 November 2010

Following on from our opinion earlier in the year, Nominet (the UK domain name registry) will make available certain single character and two letter domain names.

From 1 December 2010 until 17 January 2011, owners of registered trade marks which match their desired “short” domain name will have the first option to apply, upon providing evidence that they have used their trade mark in the UK before 1 January 2008.

Following this will be a second sunrise period for owners of relevant unregistered marks and then a landrush period before a general release (dates to be confirmed).

Rights holders might be tempted to apply immediately on 1 December. Nominet expects fierce competition for the domain names, but beware! Applications will be published, and rival applications will proceed to an auction. Applicants should consider the potential commercial advantages of filing closer to 17 January, since Nominet has confirmed that where there are rival applications, no priority will be given to the earliest application.

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