The sunrise period for registration of the new .eu TLD is due to start in the next few months. It will be in two phases, the first open only to public companies and registered trade mark holders (in relation to domain names comprising their company name or trade marks respectively) and the second, two months later, to holders of other rights in the relevant domain name which are recognised in a Member State. The public free-for-all follows after another two months, although it is restricted, broadly, to organisations or individuals that are based in the EU.
The intention of the sunrise period is to give rights owners the opportunity to obtain relevant domain names ahead of the crowd and to avoid problems like cyber- and typo- squatting. But it will still be important for rights owners to act promptly since, even within the sunrise period, domain names will still be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.
Domain name service providers that have been accredited by EURid, the .eu registry, have been offering unofficial pre-registration services for some time, hoping to give prospective domain name owners a head start when the official launch is announced. The Commission recommends that these services are not used due to “the risks of confusion or even fraud” – given that EURid is not currently accepting applications, the most such service providers can do is offer to submit an application as soon as the registration process is formally initiated (and of course they will not be able to do so during the sunrise period unless the applicant has the requisite rights in the domain name). Do not think, therefore, that just because you “pre-register”, you will definitely obtain your domain name.
And for those organisations that miss out, EURid is currently finalising its Alternative Dispute Resolution procedure. Public consultation on the draft rules closed on 7 September and the final version will be published prior to the start of the sunrise period. We are currently involved in a number of claims under the Nominet Dispute Resolution Service (for .co.uk ccTLDs) on behalf of well known companies that have lost out to apparent cyber- and typo- squatters, and it will be interesting to see how the .eu procedure differs in practice – it is likely to be somewhat more complicated and costly that Nominet’s DRS, not least because the Commission’s Public Policy Rules require that ADR proceedings be carried out in whichever of the official EU languages is chosen by the holder of the disputed domain name. The .eu ADR process will be provided by the Czech Arbitration Court in Prague.
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