The Launch of Three E-Commerce Extensions – .SHOP, .SHOPPING and .STORE

Since 2014, hundreds of new domain extensions have launched. From .bank to .autos to .pharmacy, virtually every industry now has its own specific extension. Furthermore, there are dozens of generic extensions such as .online, .website, .click, and .social. Even with all of these new launches, there has been a lack of new extensions for the retail and e-commerce sector. Until now. Between April – July 2016, three new extensions are launching for the e-commerce market - .shop, .shopping and .store.

These three extensions are ideal for any company – large or small, online or offline, B2B or B2C, product or service based – to create a unique and memorable online shopping destination.

Now is the time for any retailer to evaluate their online marketing strategies and consider how these new extensions can be utilized. If the extensions do not fit into the current strategy, core trademarks should still be secured within all three extensions for defensive purposes.

So far, .SHOP has created the most buzz out of the three extensions. In January 2016, GMO Registry outbid six other companies, including tech giants Amazon and Google, for the rights to manage .SHOP. GMO paid $41.5 million for .SHOP, making it the highest price tag for a new gTLD to date. This purchase prices reflects the high expectations for this extension due to the magnitude of the e-commerce market.

Below are launch details for all three new extensions. If you are interested in securing domain names within .store, .shop or .shopping email us at support@lexsynergy.com. We will help you create a strategy that is tailed to your business needs.

.STORE
General Availability –  14 June 2016 – onward
Additional details, including annual fees, can be found here: http://www.lexsynergy.com/tlds/store

.SHOP
Sunrise – 30 June 2016 – 29 August 2016
Early Access Period – 1 September 2016 – 26 September 2016
General Availability – 26 September 2016
Additional details, including annual fees, can be found here: http://www.lexsynergy.com/tlds/shop

.SHOPPING
Sunrise – 19 July 2016 – 17 September 2016
Early Access Period – 21 September 2016 – 28 September 2016
General Availability –  28 September 2016
Additional details, including annual fees, can be found here: http://www.lexsynergy.com/tlds/shopping

Dominion Registries To Withhold Fee For Rejected Applications

Dominion Registries, the managing registry for .boats, .yachts, .autos, .homes and .motorcycles, have announced that they will now retain a $25.00 fee for all domain applications that are rejected. This will go into effect beginning at 00:00 UTC on 1 August, 2016.

This fee is the result of a nearly 40% rejection rate within the applications they have received for .boats, .yachts and .homes. The registry has set strict guidelines for which companies and individuals qualify for their TLDs. Details on their eligibility requirements and naming restrictions can be found on the individual Lexsynergy pages -

BOATS
YACHTS
AUTOS
MOTORCYCLES
HOMES

If you are still unsure if your company qualifies, email us at support@lexsynergy.com.

Rightside Releases Two Character Domains

 Rightside Registry will be releasing two-character domain names within all of their TLDs. Two character domains have the benefit of being short, memorable and easy to enter on mobile devices. They make great branded content links for sharing online in order to increase engagement and brand power. As an example, UK-based Insurance company Liverpool Victoria uses LV.social as a redirect to their Facebook page. Some of the most popular Rightside extensions include .LIVE, .SOCIAL, .NEWS, .VIDEO, .ROCKS, and .SALES.

This release will be done in four phases. All Lexsynergy clients qualify for Phase 1 which is a priority phase giving you access to these premium domains prior to the general public.

Phase 1 - 13 June 2016 - Priority Access for Brand Registrars (Lexsynergy)
Phase 2 - 11 July 2016 - Other Registrar Presales
Phase 3 - 14 September 2016 - Early Access Phase (EAP)
Phase 4 - 21 September 2016 - General Availability (GA)

If you are interested in securing any two character domains, email support@lexsynergy.com

SGNIC Introduces RegistryLock for .SG Domains

 The Singapore Network Information Centre (SGNIC) has introduced a “RegistryLock” feature for .SG domain names with the aim of mitigating domain name hijacking risks. For now the RegistryLock is being implemented as a six-month pilot run that started in early May, with a view to convert it into a permanent feature.

RegistryLock protects domain names from being hijacked and redirected to an attacker’s website or email system. It does this by requiring the domain name’s administrative contact to unlock the domain name before the DNS nameserver information can be changed by the registrar.

Lexsynergy offers both Registry and Registrar Lock services to ensure the protection of your business critical domains. If you are interested in implementing a security lock on one of your domains, email us at support@lexsynergy.com

Launch of .eю (.eu in Cyrillic)

EURid ( "the Registry") has recently launched .eю (.eu in Cyrillic). All .eu domains that use Cyrillic characters have been cloned using the extension .eю.

Any future Cyrillic domain registrations will use the Cyrillic script extension (.eю) and not .eu. Any numeric registrations will have the option of either using the Cyrillic script or the Latin script. The original Latin script and the new Cyrillic script extension will co-exist for a period of 3 years from 1 June 2016 (known as the "script adjustment phase"), after which all Cyrillic registrations that are use the Latin script will lapse and become invalid.

From 1 June 2016, you will not be able to renew your Cyrillic domains in .eu so if it expires you will need to start using the new Cyrillic domain within .eю. All details from the .eu domain have been copied to the .eю domain apart from the nameserver and DNS information.

Registration and renewal prices for .eu and .eю will be the same.

Please note that .eu domain names registered in Greek script will continue to be managed within .eu.
If you have any questions about the launch of .eю, email us at support@lexsynergy.com

Domain Names for Registration in the .コム TLD

 

The new extension from Verisign, .コム (which means .com in Japanese), was released in four different launch phases. One phase, called the Priority Access Phase, was reserved for registrants who currently own a .com. During this Priority Access Phase, registrants could register an exact matching string within .コム to their existing .com domain(s). After this launch phase ended Verisign reported that over 200 domains were registered during this phase that did not qualify.

Verisign will be deleting these registrations and the domains will become available for registration on a first come, first served basis beginning at 13:00 UTC on 7 June 2016.

To request a list of these domain names or if you have any questions about this new extension, email us at support@lexsynergy.com

Lexsynergy Named Best Online IP Enforcement Company

Global domain name management and online brand protection specialists Lexsynergy Limited was recently named Best Online IP Enforcement Company by Acquisition Intentional (AI) Magazine for their 2016 Intellectual Property Awards.

AI Magazine states that "the 2016 Intellectual Property Awards were created to recognise the top intellectual property professionals across the industry, including trademark, copyright, patent and litigation practices and their dedicated employees. Now in its third year, this awards program aims to offer a unique resource detailing the major players in this industry for anyone seeking IP support services."

Daniel Greenberg, Founder and CEO of Lexsynergy, said “It is a great honour to be recognised by Acquisition International Magazine as a leader within the intellectual property industry. At Lexsynergy we pride ourselves on our personalised, affordable and effective approach to managing and protecting our client’s brands online.”

Lexsynergy’s Brand Protection department has been managing intellectual property rights online for over 10 years and has a 100% success rate with UDRP complaints, recovering over a thousand domains for brand owners.

Mr. Greenberg further added, “Within our industry we are noticing that IPR owners are recognizing the importance of developing an online brand protection policy and strategy that tackles the challenges of social media and other online services that affect their business.”

You can read the full article about Lexsynergy’s online brand protection and enforcement offerings in Acquisition International Magazine HERE


Lexsynergy Limited is an ICANN accredited registrar (IANA ID 1466) with its head office in the United Kingdom (company No. 05992211) and global offices in the United States, Australia, South Africa and Kenya.