By Duane J. Higgins, ceo
vestlinc.com
In May 2013 I wrote an article in this blog titled "The Chinese and URL Trademarks" that was met with almost universal disinterest. Maybe my poorest read and received article to date.
Following is an excerpt from my article:
Whats the deal with the Chinese and URL trademarks?
Let me start by saying that with the impending release of the new GTLDs
(Global Top Level Domain Names) that were seeing hundreds of millions of
dollars (and probably billions) being poured into this domain name
industry at a (dare I say) "dot com bubble" rate. Some individual
registries raising over 100 million for their projects. With ICANN (The
Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers) taking in a few
hundred million in application fees for the new domain extensions. (for
example .free, .music, .search, .app, .eco and .green)
Back to the URL Trademarks- and how they might fit in.
What I'm referring to is a reference to "URL trademarks" in an April 10, 2013
article in the Wall St. Journal. The name of the Article is: Coming Soon: A Truly Chinese Internet
The President of ICANN is talking about "working more
closely with China
including the launch of an “Engagement Center” in Beijing to collaborate
with the (Chinese) government on issues like "URL trademarks."
So why did I find the idea of "URL Trademarks" so intriquing at the time?
Mainly because there was virtually no information available on the topic on the entire Internet.
In the article I note that the Internet is pretty big and virtually anything and everything is discussed exhaustively no matter the subject. So I did find it quite amazing that no one else (other than the ICANN president at the time) was mentioning "URL Trademarks."
So I'm happy to say that some new information has come out recently on this topic some three years later.
According to the information posted at Trademarkdomain.com:
The .SHANGBIAO” (domain name extension) is an innovative online identity of intellectual property of
“Internet domain name plus trademark with intellectual property”, and
is also the latest trademark manifestation. The double identification
and marking capacity of trademarks and domain names let the online
“.SHANGBIAO” bear the basic function like the conventional trademarks
which can differentiate the information sources of commodities and
services or related specific individuals, enterprises or organizations
to facilitate the identification of other persons and consumers.
So from what I can determine, this particular new domain name extension (.SHANGBIAO) will be reserved domain name and trademark owners combined.
A "URL trademark"if you will.
Just wanted to tie that thought up (from three years ago).
