In August, Taipei City Government reached an agreement with ICANN to release the .taipei domain and make it available to businesses and individuals. Spearheaded by Taipei’s Department of Information Technology (DOIT), the .taipei project follows a trend set by other world cities such as New York, London and Berlin, which, in recent years, have launched their own city-level domains. According to the organizers, the new domains are a good way to market goods and services to the local community; attach a geographic location to brand identity; highlight a business’ location in relation to competitors; and provide a boost to search engine optimization (SEO).
From December 1, holders of global trademarks registered with the Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH) will be given priority to register their new .taipei domains, following that in January 2015 Taipei-based companies and organizations will be able to register their .taipei addresses. General registrations won’t be permitted until March 31st.
Registrations will be processed in four waves:
Sunrise Period: December 1-31: Owners of trademarks registered with TMCH
Taipei Enterprise Sunrise Period: January 21-February 19: Entities registered in Taipei City or New Taipei City only
Landrush Period: February 24-March 26: First come, first served
Open Registration: March 31 onwards
*For detailed period policies please click the respective link
Domains registered in the Sunrise Period will cost a total of NT$4800 (approximately US$155) for three years. Taipei Enterprise fees will be NT$1920 for three years, while registrations made in the Open Registration Period will cost NT$800 for one year, according to information provided by Net Chinese (in Chinese), the domain registrar handling the .taipei project. Trademark holders wishing to register during the Sunrise Period can only register domains that exactly match the trademark listed with TMCH. During the Taipei Enterprise period, both full and partial matches are permitted.
The priority given to trademark holders allows for the protection of these marks online, and prevents domain squatting, a practice that can seriously damage a brand’s online identity and reputation, and can cause confusion amongst consumers. WP’s Daniel Chen, who has worked on many domain dispute cases for our international clients says, “We advise our clients, and indeed all trademark holders, to register their respective domains early to avoid the often lengthy and costly process of obtaining a suspension and/or transfer of domains registered by squatters”.
Additionally, Partner Peter Dernbach is active in the ICANN community as a member of the IP Constituency, currently serving as a member of the PDP Working Group on Translation/Transliteration of Contact Information. Peter also serves as a Panelist for WIPO’s Arbitration and Mediation Center, and has helped resolve numerous domain name disputes under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP).
Businesses interested in registering a .taipei address should visit the .taipei project website for more information, or contact Net Chinese.