As the article below indicates, the doors have opened for Dot.Asia domain names.

If your company, business or other organisation is involved in Asia, there is an obvious advantage in securing its domain name for use throughout the region.

For example, it may be a useful marketing tool for your business to portray a regional Asian connection by using the Dot.Asia top level domain - and at the same time getting away from the .com, .org and .net associations which currently characterize your business online; or you might want to use the Dot.Asia domain to redirect traffic to your other websites, or possibly to launch a new website for the Asian market.

Whatever, your situation, you should be aware that the process has begun and that, for those who qualify, what is called the "Sunrise" period has already started for some and is about to start for others - and the Sunrise deadlines expire mid January 2008.

So, with the end of 2007 within easy sight, there is no time to lose if you are entitled to take advantage of this "Sunrise" period and want to be involved.

Regards,

David Heidtman

Commercial Group
Heidtman & Co Lawyers

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Dot.Asia Domain Names - Early Bird Registration

The doors have opened for Dot Asia domain names. Government and existing trademark owners have an opportunity to go to the front of the queue for registration of domain names in the new ".asia" generic top-level domain (gTLD) - before the release of Dot.Asia names to the general public early next year.

In a bid to limit abusive registration ("cybersquatting") the release will be staged - and is being offered first to Asia/Pacific government bodies, then to owners of registered trademarks, then to entities based in the Asia Pacific region that want to register domain names corresponding to their registered name.

To be eligible to apply for a Dot.Asia domain name, an entity must be located or have a presence in the "DotAsia Community" (which is one of the 73 countries in ICANN's "Asia/Australia/Pacific" Region).

The Dot.Asia "Sunrise" as the staged initial release is known, will consist of 3 phases: (Sunrise 1, Sunrise 2 and Sunrise 3) and has been preceded by a Pre-Sunrise phase - with applications for all phases to be verified by Deloitte.

Pre-Sunrise and Sunrise 1
During the Pre-Sunrise and the Sunrise 1 phases, government bodies in the Dot.Asia Community will be invited to reserve and activate domain names related to or derived from official government initiatives. SR1 applications will be processed on a first come first served basis.

Sunrise 2
Sunrise 2 is directed towards owners of registered trademarks and is divided into 3 sub-phases:

Sunrise 2a: Early Bird Sunrise (commenced 9 October 2007), for trademark and service marks which are registered and in full force and effect, and which were applied for on or before 16 March 2004.

Sunrise 2b: General registered trademarks sunrise, for trademarks and service marks which are registered and in full force and effect, and which were applied for on or before 6 December 2006.

Sunrise 2c: Extended protection for registered trademarks (qualified in SR2a or SR2b) combined with relevant words from the applicable class title, subtitle or description under which the mark is registered.

The need for applicants in phase 2 to be the owners of existing registered trademarks (applications for new trademarks are not being considered) underscores the recognised connection that exists between trademark registration and domain name registration.

Evidence of "demonstrable usage" - which is required for participation in sub-phase 2a, and may be requested for sub-phase 2b - must be certified by a legal practitioner.

Sunrise 3
Sunrise 3 is open to companies, organisations, etc, in the Dot.Asia community that wish to reserve the name of their company, organisation, etc as a domain name under the Dot.Asia top level domain. The entity should be of good standing and needs to have been registered with the relevant authority on or before December 6, 2006.

The dates for Sunrise 2b, Sunrise 2c and Sunrise 3 are from 13 November 2007 to 15 January 2008.

All applications received during the SR2 and SR3 periods will be treated as being received at the same time (within their respective periods). If there is only one successfully verified applicant for a domain name, it will be allocated to that applicant. If there is more than one successfully verified applicant for the same domain name, all such applicants will be invited to bid for that domain name in an auction.

For more information, see www.dotasia.org or contact us.

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