| gTLD | Full Legal Name | E-mail suffix | Detail | | .bike | Grand Hollow, LLC | donuts.co | View |
Q18A CHAR: 7985
ABOUT DONUTS
Donuts Inc. is the parent applicant for this and multiple other TLDs. The company intends to increase competition and consumer choice at the top level. It will operate these carefully selected TLDs safely and securely in a shared resources business model. To achieve its objectives, Donuts has recruited seasoned executive management with proven track records of excellence in the industry. In addition to this business and operational experience, the Donuts team also has contributed broadly to industry policymaking and regulation, successfully launched TLDs, built industry-leading companies from the ground up, and brought innovation, value and choice to the domain name marketplace.
DONUTS’ PLACE WITHIN ICANN’S MISSION
ICANN and the new TLD program share the following purposes:
1. to make sure that the Internet remains as safe, stable and secure as possible, while
2. helping to ensure there is a vibrant competitive marketplace to efficiently bring the benefits of the namespace to registrants and users alike.
ICANN harnesses the power of private enterprise to bring forth these public benefits. While pursuing its interests, Donuts helps ICANN accomplish its objectives by:
1. Significantly widening competition and choice in Internet identities with hundreds of new top-level domain choices;
2. Providing innovative, robust, and easy-to-use new services, names and tools for users, registrants, registrars, and registries while at the same time safeguarding the rights of others;
3. Designing, launching, and securely operating carefully selected TLDs in multiple languages and character sets; and
4. Providing a financially robust corporate umbrella under which its new TLDs will be protected and can thrive.
ABOUT DONUTS’ RESOURCES
Donuts’ financial resources are extensive. The company has raised more than US$100 million from a number of capital sources including multiple multi-billion dollar venture capital and private equity funds, a top-tier bank, and other well-capitalized investors. Should circumstances warrant, Donuts is prepared to raise additional funding from current or new investors. Donuts also has in place pre-funded, Continued Operations Instruments to protect future registrants. These resource commitments mean Donuts has the capability and intent to launch, expand and operate its TLDs in a secure manner, and to properly protect Internet users and rights-holders from potential abuse.
Donuts firmly believes a capable and skilled organization will operate multiple TLDs and benefit Internet users by:
1. Providing the operational and financial stability necessary for TLDs of all sizes, but particularly for those with smaller volume (which are more likely to succeed within a shared resources and shared services model);
2. Competing more powerfully against incumbent gTLDs; and
3. More thoroughly and uniformly executing consumer and rights holder protections.
THIS TLD
This TLD is attractive and useful to end-users as it better facilitates search, self-expression, information sharing and the provision of legitimate goods and services. Along with the other TLDs in the Donuts family, this TLD will provide Internet users with opportunities for online identities and expression that do not currently exist. In doing so, the TLD will introduce significant consumer choice and competition to the Internet namespace – the very purpose of ICANN’s new TLD program.
This TLD is a generic term and its second level names will be attractive to a variety of Internet users. Making this TLD available to a broad audience of registrants is consistent with the competition goals of the New TLD expansion program, and consistent with ICANN’s objective of maximizing Internet participation. Donuts believes in an open Internet and, accordingly, we will encourage inclusiveness in the registration policies for this TLD. In order to avoid harm to legitimate registrants, Donuts will not artificially deny access, on the basis of identity alone (without legal cause), to a TLD that represents a generic form of activity and expression.
DONUTS’ APPROACH TO PROTECTIONS
No entity, or group of entities, has exclusive rights to own or register second level names in this TLD. There are superior ways to minimize the potential abuse of second level names, and in this application Donuts will describe and commit to an extensive array of protections against abuse, including protections against the abuse of trademark rights.
We recognize some applicants seek to address harms by constraining access to the registration of second level names. However, we believe attempts to limit abuse by limiting registrant eligibility is unnecessarily restrictive and harms users by denying access to many legitimate registrants. Restrictions on second level domain eligibility would prevent law-abiding individuals and organizations from participating in a space to which they are legitimately connected, and would inhibit the sort of positive innovation we intend to see in this TLD. As detailed throughout this application, we have struck the correct balance between consumer and business safety, and open access to second level names.
By applying our array of protection mechanisms, Donuts will make this TLD a place for Internet users that is far safer than existing TLDs. Donuts will strive to operate this TLD with fewer incidences of fraud and abuse than occur in incumbent TLDs. In addition, Donuts commits to work toward a downward trend in such incidents.
OUR PROTECTIONS
Donuts has consulted with and evaluated the ideas of international law enforcement, consumer privacy advocacy organizations, intellectual property interests and other Internet industry groups to create a set of protections that far exceed those in existing TLDs, and bring to the Internet namespace nearly two dozen new rights and protection mechanisms to raise user safety and protection to a new level.
These include eight, innovative and forceful mechanisms and resources that far exceed the already powerful protections in the applicant guidebook. These are:
1. Periodic audit of WhoIs data for accuracy;
2. Remediation of inaccurate Whois data, including takedown, if warranted;
3. A new Domain Protected Marks List (DPML) product for trademark protection;
4. A new Claims Plus product for trademark protection;
5. Terms of use that prohibit illegal or abusive activity;
6. Limitations on domain proxy and privacy service;
7. Published policies and procedures that define abusive activity; and
8. Proper resourcing for all of the functions above.
They also include fourteen new measures that were developed specifically by ICANN for the new TLD process. These are:
1. Controls to ensure proper access to domain management functions;
2. 24⁄7⁄365 abuse point of contact at registry;
3. Procedures for handling complaints of illegal or abusive activity, including remediation and takedown processes;
4. Thick WhoIs;
5. Use of the Trademark Clearinghouse;
6. A Sunrise process;
7. A Trademark Claims process;
8. Adherence to the Uniform Rapid Suspension system;
9. Adherence to the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy;
10. Adherence to the Post Delegation Dispute Resolution Policy;
11. Detailed security policies and procedures;
12. Strong security controls for access, threat analysis and audit;
13. Implementation DNSSEC; and
14. Measures for the prevention of orphan glue records.
DONUTS’ INTENTION FOR THIS TLD
As a senior government authority has recently said, “a successful applicant is entrusted with operating a critical piece of global Internet infrastructure.” Donuts’ plan and intent is for this TLD to serve the international community by bringing new users online through opportunities for economic growth, increased productivity, the exchange of ideas and information and greater self-expression.
| gTLD | Full Legal Name | E-mail suffix | Detail | | .LINCOLN | Ford Motor Company | hoganlovells.com | View |
The mission and purpose of the proposed .LINCOLN Top Level Domain (TLD) is the creation and operation of a TLD dedicated to the businesses, brands, trade marks, goods and services that are associated with the Lincoln name. As such the objective is that the .LINCOLN TLD will serve as an official, trusted, secure and dedicated name space for the globally renowned Lincoln brand and services. To this end the Applicant seeks to launch the .LINCOLN TLD and to create and operate an innovative and secure platform in a manner which is consistent with its subject matter whilst committing to the promotion of competition, consumer trust, consumer protection and integrity of the LINCOLN TLD and the associated Internet space.
The Applicant is committed to ensuring that it fully complies with and meets or exceeds the requirements of ICANN in terms of competition, consumer protection, security, stability and resiliency, malicious abuse issues, sovereignty concerns, and rights protection in relation to the expansion of the generic Top Level Domain (gTLD) name space by devising and implementing mechanisms in line with ICANN’s Consensus Policies and Temporary Policies.
The Applicant proposes to launch and operate the .LINCOLN TLD to create a new Internet ecosystem dedicated to the Applicant and to enable and facilitate innovations, creation and promotion of new initiatives, platforms, applications and ventures from the Applicant and its Affiliates. The domain name space associated with the .LINCOLN TLD will create a new environment which will enhance diversity, choice and utility of the Domain Name System, based on a segmented approach, hence encouraging specialisation, differentiation, consumer recognition, and consumer choice in line with ICANN policy development.
In order to ensure the integrity, success and to build confidence in the .LINCOLN TLD and the associated domain name space, the Applicant is dedicated to ensuring that appropriate safeguards are put in place with a view to protecting, among other things, public interest, consumers, trade mark owners and other third party rights owners.
Operating and overseeing this new Internet space in a transparent, fair and efficient manner will be essential to create goodwill in the .LINCOLN TLD and to develop confidence and trust in the .LINCOLN TLD.
The fact that the Applicant intends to operate the .LINCOLN TLD as a single registrant⁄single user registry model will allow the Applicant and its Affiliates to control the operations of the .LINCOLN TLD and prevent violation of public interest, trade mark infringement and other types of malicious conduct. The .LINCOLN TLD will thus create an environment where opportunities for abuse and malevolent conduct will be virtually eliminated.
Furthermore, the Applicant is dedicated to ensuring that the creation and operation of the .LINCOLN TLD will not have an adverse or negative affect on the operational security and stability of the Internet and the Domain Name System.
The .LINCOLN TLD will be a continuously evolving platform and serve as a base for innovative uses, content and services with a view to optimising specialisation, high level of service, reliable quality content, consumer trust and innovation.
The Applicant has considered potential uses of the .LINCOLN TLD which would include allocating second-level domain names that correspond with:
1. The specialisation areas of the Applicant and its Affiliates, such as:
ACCESSORIES.LINCOLN
HYBRID.LINCOLN
2. Internal management and information, such as:
DEVELOPMENT.LINCOLN
LEGAL.LINCOLN
3. Investor relations and corporate portal, such as:
INVESTOR.LINCOLN
CORPORATEGOVERNANCE.LINCOLN
These are some of the potential uses which have been identified as being in line with the operation of the proposed .LINCOLN TLD following the single registrant⁄single user registry model. In addition, the Applicant and its Affiliates will actively use and continue to explore new ways of ensuring that the .LINCOLN TLD is an environment which is conducive to innovation, consumer choice and recognition, business visibility and specialisation and may in this respect implement additional types of use of the .LINCOLN TLD within the scope of the Registry Agreement to be executed before delegation of the .LINCOLN TLD.
1.1 The Ford business and the Lincoln brand
The Applicant is the Ford Motor Company, a publicly traded corporation in good standing and listed on New York Stock Exchange in the United States (NYSE: F) and on stock exchanges in Belgium and France. A global automotive industry leader, Ford Motor Company is based in Dearborn, Michigan, USA and manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents. Ford Motor Companyʹs vehicle brands are Ford and Lincoln.
Ford Motor Company was incorporated in state of Delaware in 1919. It acquired the business of a Michigan company, also known as Ford Motor Company, which had been incorporated in 1903 to produce and sell automobiles designed and engineered by Henry Ford. From these beginnings Ford Motor Company has grown to become one of the largest and most profitable companies in the world.
The Lincoln Motor Company was formed in 1917 and was acquired by Ford Motor Company in 1922 and since that time the LINCOLN brand has been the luxury vehicle of the Ford Motor Company.
Ford Motor Company is a truly global company with a worldwide workforce of approximately 164,000 employees and 69 manufacturing plants worldwide including 35 in North America, 8 in South America, 14 in Europe and 12 in Asia-Pacific and Africa. In addition to this, Ford is building seven new manufacturing plants with four in China, two in India, and one in Thailand.
As such Ford Motor Company is one of the world’s largest producers of cars and trucks and in 2011 the company sold approximately 5,695,000 vehicles at wholesale throughout the world. The net income attributable to Ford Motor Company in 2011 was $20.2 billion.
Ford Motor Company and its affiliates also engage in other businesses, including financing vehicles via its wholly-owned subsidiary Ford Motor Credit Company LLC which offers a wide variety of automotive financing products to and through automotive dealers throughout the world. The majority of Ford Credit’s business consists of financing Ford vehicles and supporting the Ford dealership network.
1.2 The LINCOLN brand
Since its acquisition of the Lincoln Motor Company, the Applicant has acquired and constantly developed reputation and goodwill in its LINCOLN brand and services worldwide through continuous and significant investment, use and effort.
The LINCOLN brand, trade marks and domain names are invaluable assets and serve to identify the Ford Motor Company business as a trusted source of the highest quality goods and services globally.
The Applicant owns hundreds of trade mark registrations worldwide which consist of or contain the term LINCOLN in several classes of goods and services, including but not limited to: class 12 (motor land vehicles, vehicle bodies), and class 37 (maintenance of motor land vehicles).
The Applicant has secured hundreds of trade mark registrations which comprise of or contain the term LINCOLN in over 80 countries and territories.
Reflecting its global reach, the Applicant owns numerous domain names consisting of or including the term LINCOLN across a range of gTLD and ccTLD extensions.
Moreover, the Applicantʹs LINCOLN trade mark and brand has been recognised by the courts in several decisions as ʺwell known throughout much of the worldʺ and is an ʺundoubtedly famous markʺ.