.UK Announced

[Stephen]

It may open floodgates from European trademark owners where ever they reside unless they change the criteria for the first in the queue for .uk to current .co.uk holders, rather than trademark holders!

 

[DarrenTSO]

I am not a lawyer, but as I understand it you're not allowed to restrict trade within the EU, as this would do if it were restricted to UK TM holders.

In my opinion, I don't think .uk is necessary, but if it were to be brought in, I would like to see the following order of access to registration of the second level domains:-

1) Existing .co.uk owner
2) Trademark holders (perhaps with an auction stage)
3) Existing .org.uk holder
4) Existing .me.uk holder
5) Then available to register

 

[foz]

From legal advice received, the current consultation proposes a postal address based in the UK. So domicile in the UK will not be required to own a direct.uk domain.

 

[tifosi]

What an absolute mess. Open to massive abuse just as .eu and 1/2letter .uk. The only way I can see to stop it is to make the domains non-transferable i.e. no registrant transfers allowed.

 

[Alpha]

What an absolute mess. Open to massive abuse just as .eu and 1/2letter .uk. The only way I can see to stop it is to make the domains non-transferable i.e. no registrant transfers allowed.

some existing ccTLD registries have that rule in place today, but there is always a way around it. i.e. to sell a company that contains 1 asset e.g. the domain name. It's a lot more expensive sure, but the point is, it doesn't prevent it happening.

 

[tifosi]

A lot harder, but will effectively stop domain warehousing if they can't sell the domain alone through the normal aftermarket channels.

 

[Stephen]

Don't think non transferable would work as if you develop your business and want to sell it on, you need the ability to sell the website / domain with it.

I would rather see .uk only linked to .co.uk ownership and both get transferred to avoid confusion

 

[foz]

A lot harder, but will effectively stop domain warehousing if they can't sell the domain alone through the normal aftermarket channels.

Are you opposed to Domainers in general? That is, someone that owns 100+ domains.

 

[tifosi]

Are you opposed to Domainers in general? That is, someone that owns 100+ domains.

No. I'm merely being devils advocate and testing all avenues. It's a position I've not seen in the thread yet.

It's still a mess. The trademark first approach by Nominet has massive abuse loopholes as the eu sunrise showed, and which notable members on here used for their own benefit in the 1/2letter .uk release.

.uk is being touted as a 'partner' to .co.uk for established uk businesses with a strong presence, yet I've seen no evidence of how Nominet is going to stop this being thoughrily abused (especially by the savvy US domainers who will see this as a turkey shoot!), devalue and eventually eradicate .co.uk, and systematically destroy a recognised brand.

As I say. A mess. Either Nominet are being utterly naive in their beliefs or simply in the end don't care. Either way is unacceptable. And I've not even mentioned how uk business will respond to their having to rebrand their businesses while shelling out 10x the costs for a domain (inc renewing the .co.uk) over a 2year cycle.

The security measures seem a smokescreen. Security like that should be strictly server or client side, not by a third party.

 

[foz]

Thanks. Nominet doesn't give a thought about the mess, they just want to make more money. They have big plans, even touting for gTLD business http://tld.nominet.org.uk/

 

[jasman]

It's an attempt at empire building. The senior management at Nominet figure they can justify doubling their salaries if they expand Nominet's sphere of operations and preside over several new departments to handle new domain extensions, security measures etc. Never mind the £billions it would cost the UK economy as a whole on rebranding, advertising their new domains and losses from a confused public remembering domains wrongly.

 

[WaftyCrank]

If someone were to register a trademark NOW against name that is already in existence in .co.uk format, isn't generic and there is no trademark in place (yet). What would be the odds of securing the .uk version when nominet eventually allow the direct.uk domains to go through?

Would a TM outweigh the 'history of use' do you think?

 

[Systreg]

If someone were to register a trademark NOW against name that is already in existence in .co.uk format, isn't generic and there is no trademark in place (yet). What would be the odds of securing the .uk version when nominet eventually allow the direct.uk domains to go through?

Would a TM outweigh the 'history of use' do you think?

It states in the consultation documentation that you can't take out a TM after the date of the start of the consultation, meaning you can't register something retrospectively in the hope of getting a .UK domain of the back of it.

 

[grantw]

If someone were to register a trademark NOW against name that is already in existence in .co.uk format, isn't generic and there is no trademark in place (yet). What would be the odds of securing the .uk version when nominet eventually allow the direct.uk domains to go through?

Zero chance with the current proposal.

Grant

 

[WaftyCrank]

That's a shame, it would have been amusing to wipe the smug grin off someone's face

 

[sdsinc]

After the success of the recent auctions for 'short' domains Nominet must have noticed that there is a market waiting to be tapped, and good money to be made.

 

[Stephen]

I was looking at who is being used as a specimen company to use .co.uk on the Nominet website and wondered if they would get the .uk under current proposal.

They are currently highlighting tregothnan.co.uk and they probably would get the .uk but some may intreprt the word tregothnan as a place and then they might not!

I wonder if there is other examples of former .co.uk that Nominet have used in the past marketing that may not get the .uk automatically or may end up in a bidding war?

 

[viceroy]

Don't forget that they have a relatively solid tm to go with their business...

 

[Stephen]

Don't forget that they have a relatively solid tm to go with their business...

Thanks, Yes it is a fact in that case tregothnan.co.uk do have a uk TM, I just found http://www.ipo.gov.uk/ to check trademarks. I was just trying to show thet Nominet may have used a .co.uk in marketing and they may loose out in getting their .uk

I did find that cruises.co.uk which paid a lot of money for their perfect uk brand, may have a fight on their hands for .uk as there is a company with a trademark "cruises" but it doesnt look like the owner of cruises.co.uk have a trademark for that word?

 

[viceroy]

That's a much better example- if you're interested in a little more research, have a look at the trademarks, companies and other bits and pieces on the web for companies like branston.co.uk or precise.co.uk, these, I reckon are some of the bigger companies likely to lose out if their competitors are on the ball...

Added: This one made me smile: case# 2362759...
Added: This one less so: case# 2631157 filed 09 Aug?