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The Zest

There's a New Round of Domain Endings. Is Someone Applying for Your Name?

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"I keep hearing about new domain endings. Could someone take .mybrand?" For most small brands, it's unlikely, but it's worth a ten-minute check. ICANN, the nonprofit that runs the internet's naming system, is adding new top-level domains, the part after the dot, in its first application round in over a decade. It published about 1,600 applications on October 7, 2026. If one of them matches your trademark, there's a formal window to object, and it opens November 17.

Here's what's happening, what you can do, and why it mostly matters to brands that already have a registration.

What ICANN is doing

The last time ICANN took applications for new top-level domains was 2012. That round added more than 1,200 new endings to the internet. The new round's application window opened April 30, 2026, and closed August 12, 2026.

On October 7, which ICANN calls Reveal Day, it published the strings people applied for, who applied, and which applications compete for the same string. ICANN's Reveal Day numbers show 333 of the applications are brand applications, where a company wants its own name as an ending.

This isn't a cheap process. ICANN's evaluation fee is $227,000 per application, so nobody applies for an ending on a whim.

The dates that matter

ICANN set a replacement period from October 8 to October 21 for applicants to switch to an eligible backup string. That's why the list isn't final yet. The final list of strings comes out on String Confirmation Day, November 17, 2026.

November 17 also starts the Community Input and Objections Period, which runs to March 16, 2027. During that window, anyone can comment on an application, governments can raise early warnings, and parties with standing can file formal objections. ICANN's offices close from December 19 to January 4, and ICANN says it built that pause into the period.

ICANN plans a draw to set the processing order in the first half of 2027, and it expects string evaluation alone to take about 180 days. So none of these new endings is live yet, and launch dates haven't been set.

How a trademark owner objects

There are four kinds of formal objections. The one built for brand owners is the Legal Rights Objection, which is handled by WIPO, the World Intellectual Property Organization.

The ground is simple to state: the applied-for string infringes your existing legal rights. Standing is limited to a rights holder, plus certain intergovernmental organizations. If the panel upholds the objection, the application can't go forward. A panel can also let it go forward only with changes to the commitments the applicant made.

It isn't free or quick. You file with WIPO under its rules, both sides pay filing fees directly to WIPO, and both pay toward the panel's costs if the objection gets past an initial review. This is a tool for a real conflict with a specific application, not a precaution.

And this is where a registration matters. To object, you have to be a rights holder, and a registration is the clearest proof that you are one.

When the new endings launch: the Trademark Clearinghouse

The other set of protections kicks in later, when the new endings actually open for domain registrations. These run through the Trademark Clearinghouse, a central database of verified trademark records.

Sunrise. Every new ending has to run a sunrise period of at least 30 days before the public can register names. Trademark owners with a verified record get first crack at registering domains that match their marks. To use a record for sunrise, you also have to submit proof that you're using the mark.

Claims. For at least the first 90 days of public registration, someone who tries to register a domain matching a recorded mark gets a warning notice first. If they go ahead anyway, the trademark owner gets notified. The notice doesn't block the registration. It tells you about it.

Who qualifies is the key detail. The Clearinghouse accepts nationally or regionally registered word marks, marks validated by a court, and marks protected by statute or treaty. ICANN's own FAQ says the protections for registrations "do not extend to applications for registrations." A pending application doesn't get you in. Recording a mark also costs money, and the Clearinghouse is a database, not a source of new rights.

Does this matter for your brand?

Be realistic about the odds. For most small brands, it's unlikely anyone will spend $227,000 to apply for their name as a domain ending. If your brand name is an everyday word, someone applying for that word in its ordinary sense isn't necessarily infringing anything. That's one more reason some names are far easier to own than others.

Still, the check is easy. Search ICANN's published list of applications for your brand name and anything close to it, then look again after November 17, since some applicants may have switched strings.

The bigger takeaway is about the tools themselves. Objections, sunrise and claims all work best, or only work, for brands with a registration. If you don't have one yet, the place to start is a clearance search before you file, then the federal application. The costs are laid out in what a trademark actually costs.

One more thing. If an email tells you someone is about to take your brand as a domain and you need to pay today, treat it the way you'd treat a fake trademark notice.

If you're working toward that first registration, you can see how the search and filing packages work on the services page, and the FAQs page answers most of what comes up before a first call.

Book a free 15-minute discovery call with the attorney (opens in a new tab)

(No legal advice is given on the discovery call. It's a chance to tell me what you're building and hear how the process works.)

Sources

This article is general information, not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.

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