In the wake of Brexit, Ireland will become the largest English speaking country in the EU. As such it will continue to be a great base for American companies that want to do business in the EU. Companies like Facebook, Google, Linkedin, Paypal and many others have their European headquarters in Dublin. Apart from being an English speaking country, Ireland uses the Euro currency and the time zone makes it very favourable for working with US companies.
As part of our domain and trademark advice, we recommend that you protect your brand and your business by taking out a .ie domain (Ireland).
Registration is simple and straightforward and a .ie domain name will provide you with an identifiably Irish presence on the internet. Let’s get straight into the how; there are three basic pieces of information that you’ll need to provide with your domain application:
1. Proof of your identity.
2. Your claim to the domain name.
3. Your connection to Ireland.
Let’s take all three of these specifically and look at some common examples of what we look for.
Identity
In order to ensure that you are who you say you are, the .ie registry asks everybody who registers a .ie domain to verify their identity. This helps to provide traceability for all .ie domains. In general they will ask for companies to provide their certificate of incorporation or employer identification number (EIN).
If you’re a business you can send proof of your business registration. You can include a copy of your Certificate of Incorporation/verifiable company registration number. To enable verification, just provide the URL for your country’s company register website.
Claim
All .ie domain applicants are also asked to show that they have a valid reason for wanting a particular .ie domain name, known as your claim to the domain name. Don’t let it put you off though, it’s generally simple to prove your claim. If the domain name matches the company, business or trademark name, that is proof of your claim.
Variations on your company, business or trademark name can also be registered; however, if it’s not clear that the domain name is clearly related to any of these the registry will likely ask for more information. Generally this will just be a written explanation about the meaning of the domain name and why you need to register it. This often covers domain names that are registered for brands, trading names, products or promotional campaigns.
Connection to Ireland
.ie is Ireland’s domain extension. It’s Ireland’s online address and as such the registry requires that all .ie domain registrations are either based in Ireland or have a real connection to Ireland. In most cases this means that when you apply for a .ie domain you can show that you operate in, trade with, or clearly intend to trade with, people or businesses in Ireland. You can use invoices, press releases, promotional material or even a screenshot of your e-commerce store that shows a customer can select Ireland as their country for delivery.
If you want to read more about proving your claim to the name or
connection to Ireland you can find more information regarding the
specific registration requirements
HERE.
As an accredited .ie registrar, Lexsynergy can help you with the full registration process. Contact us today for assistance
support@lexsynergy.com.