On June 26, 2008, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) approved a plan to add more gTLDs. Under the draft rules, applicants may propose almost any name or word as a new gTLD.

Currently, 21 gTLDs exist. These include popular top level domains such as .com, .net, and .org, as well as industry-specific ones such as .mobi and .travel.

ICANN is expecting over 500 applications for new gTLDs. The applications could come from various types of applicants:

• Brand owners could apply for their trademarks, such as .nike or .mtv
• Individuals could apply for their names, such as .gates or .trump
• Communities/industries could create suffixes such as .doctors or .paris

ICANN plans to start the first application round in December 2009, although it may be postponed until the first quarter of 2010.

Key Moments in the the Application Process
(as based on ICANN's Draft Applicant Guidebook, Version 2, February 18, 2009 - public comment closed April 13, 2009)

(a) Application Submission: An applicant's business plan and technical capacity will be evaluated. Applicants must demonstrate the technical, financial and operational ability to administer the new gTLD.

The application fee is expected to be approximately US$185,000.00, with a yearly service fee of $25,000.00 or 25 cents per domain name registration. Additional infrastructure costs could run half a million dollars.

(b) Filing Objection: Third parties may object to a proposed gTLD on any of the following 4 grounds:

• String Confusion Objection - The applied-for gTLD is confusingly similar with an existing TLD or with another applied-for gTLD in the same round of applications.
• Legal Rights Objection - The applied-for gTLD infringes the existing legal rights of the objector.
• Morality and Public Order Objection - The applied-for gTLD is contrary to generally accepted legal norms of morality and public order that are recognized under international principles of law.
• Community Objection - There is substantial opposition to the gTLD application from a significant portion of the community to which the gTLD may be explicitly or implicitly targeted.

Dispute filing fees may be between $1,000.00 and $5,000.00. ICANN estimates adjudication fees for a proceeding could range from "$2,000.00 to $8,000.00 (or more) per proceeding. ICANN further estimates that an hourly rate based proceeding with a one-member panel could range from USD 32,000 to USD 56,000 (or more) and with a three-member panel it could range from USD 70,000 to USD 122,000 (or more). These estimates may be lower if the panel does not call for written submissions beyond the objection and response, and does not allow a hearing."

As directed by ICANN's board, on March 26, 2009 the Implementation Recommendation Team (IRT) was formed. The IRT has been formed to provide possible solutions to trademark issues.

Some Issues for Brand Owners:

• Businesses will need to think about protecting their brands (defensive registrations) within any of the potential new gTLDs, primarily at the second level - although this may be relevant at the top level. Seemingly endless headaches for brand owners.
Do brand owners expand portfolios or abandon existing domain name portfolios in favour of new gTLDs? There is the possibility that a new gTLD may not function everywhere on the Internet or in certain parts of the world. Some ISPs may not properly provide for new gTLDs to be resolved. For example, .info had problems when it was launched due to ISPs in certain countries not enabling TLDs that contained more than three characters such as .com. In some cases, software modifications may also be required, and this may not occur until there is a strong business case for doing so.