Whether you are an IT director, CIO, web manager or
marketing representative for your company, you cannot afford to
ignore the launch of the .eu top-level domain on 7
December.
Although never likely to rival .com for the top spot on
companies' wish-lists or consumers' web-browsers, .eu is the
much-trumpeted new domain for the 25 member countries of the
European Union. With 459.5 million consumers living within the EU,
and a number of registration deadlines falling shortly, now is the
time to act to secure your company's place in European
cyberspace.
Europe has long wanted its own top level domain. Aiming to
increase competition across the European common market, .eu will
allow EU businesses to centralise their web presence and streamline
their marketing using
www.brand.eu, rather than
maintaining and promoting separate country-based sites such as www.
brand.fr and
www.brand.co.uk.
In developing the .eu domain, the European authorities have
drawn on the experience of recent domain launches, and have tried
to iron out some of the problems of cyber squatting, and competing
interests in certain character strings.
No one would doubt the ownership of
www.coca-cola.eu (the world's
most valuable brand), but there could well be dispute over who
should be able to register
www.apple.eu, with Apple
Computers, Apple Records and the singer Fiona Apple all potentially
vying for the registration.
The first come, first served rule developed to deal with this
issue may seem strict, and is another good reason to act now to
secure your company's .eu domain name.
The European Commission has appointed the European Registry of
Internet Domain names (Eurid), a not-for-profit organisation, to
operate the .eu top-level domain. Working with
PriceWaterhouseCoopers, it will oversee the hundreds of accredited
registers, from as far afield as Barbados and Australia, who will
begin registering .eu domain names on 7 December.
Who can register .eu domains?
To register a .eu domain name, you must be one of the
following:
- An undertaking which has its registered office, central
administration or principal place of business within the EU
- An organisation established within the EU
- A "natural person" resident within the EU.
This should include most entities that can demonstrate a
presence "on the ground" within the EU, but for non-EU companies,
it may mean having to register the .eu domain name in the name of a
.eu-based subsidiary.
When can sites be registered?
The launch date for .eu is 7 December, with three main phases:
phases one and two, commonly referred to as the "sunrise" period,
and phase three, the ensuing general registration period.
The purpose of these two initial phases is to allow individuals,
organisations and public bodies which have name ownership rights of
some kind to register any names relating to these rights before
non-rights holders have the opportunity to do so - an attempt to
avoid cyber squatting.
The "sunrise" periods are designed to avoid conflict between
those who own rights, and those who do not, such as cyber
squatters.
To sort out possible conflicts, Eurid has appointed the Czech
Arbitration Court to provide an arbitration service. The Czech
Arbitration Court will offer a service similar to that offered by
the World Intellectual Property Organization (Wipo) under the
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names andNumbers' (Icann) Uniform
Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy, and will be available to
"reclaim" domain names from cyber squatters.
But where a domain name could rightly be owned by more than one
entity (such as www.apple.eu),
the system will operate on a first come, first served basis - so
you may well miss out. Registering early for the domain names of
interest is therefore advisable.
The three phases of .eu registration
Phase one (7 December 2005 to 6 February 2006)
During phase one, the only domain names that can be registered
are those that correspond with:
- The full name of a public body
- The acronym by which a public body is commonly known
- If applicable, the territory which is governed by a public
body
- Registered national and EU trademarks.
Phase two (7 February to 6 April)
During phase two, the only domain names that can be registered
are those that correspond with the names covered in phase one and
other rights that are protected under the national law of the
member state where they are held. These rights include:
- Company names
- Business identifiers
- Distinctive titles of protected literary and artistic
works
- Unregistered trademarks
- Trade names.
Phase three - general registration (after 7 April)
During phase three, any member of the public will be able to
register a .eu domain name as long as the person satisfies the
geographical criteria set out above and is in compliance with the
terms and conditions of registration.
More information
www.eurid.eu
www.arbcourt.cz/adreu
David Stone is partner in the London intellectual property
practice of international law firm Howrey