dotBrands: a new fortress in the digital estate
In today’s multi-channel digital ecosystem, brands work hard to build a consistent and trusted presence online. However, as they strive to deliver highly personalised, customer-focused experiences – relying on their trade marks and domain names to attract consumers – cybercriminals are infringing those same assets to divert customers from genuine websites to fake sites that use identical or confusingly similar branding and domain names.
Once a customer has been duped into visiting a fake site – perhaps via a phishing email or social media link – fraudsters steal money by charging them for counterfeit or non-existent products. They also steal data, including personal information and bank details, exposing customers to the risk of identity theft and additional financial loss.
The scale of retail fraud is staggering. In the UK, Action Fraud reported that Brits lost over £11.5 million to online criminals between November 2023 and January 2024, with each victim losing £695, on average.
Brand damage goes far beyond lost sales
The impact on brands is considerable. Customers feel deceived and let down, associating their negative experience with the brand. They become more cautious about buying from the brand again, so the brand loses out on lifetime customer value.
Fighting domain name infringement is an uphill battle for brands. It requires constant monitoring with tools that identify suspicious domains resembling the brand, followed by swift action to take down illegitimate sites. Brands can also attempt to pre-empt the problem by registering common misspellings and different TLDs of their main site, so even if consumers get it wrong, they still end up on a genuine site. Brands can also register their trade mark with ICANN’s trademark clearinghouse, which alerts trade mark owners when someone tries to register a similar domain.
When domain infringers persist, brands can file complaints under the Uniform Domain-name Dispute-resolution Policy (UDRP) to reclaim infringing domains. In a 2020 case resolved by WIPO, BMW succeeded in having two infringing domains (bmw-diagnose-software.com and bmw-ista.com) declared as identical or confusingly similar, unauthorised, bad-faith registrations. The domain names were subsequently transferred to BMW.
Ultimately, protecting domains against the constant onslaught by cybercriminals is a costly, time-consuming process.
dotBrands: a timely arrival in a turbulent landscape
In April 2026, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is offering brand owners the opportunity to register their own generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD). In our case, this would be .cedarIP, for example, so our website would become home.cedarIP.
When a brand owns its own domain, it becomes the registrar for that domain, effectively gaining control over its own “corner” of the internet. Only the brand can create subdomains beneath the gTLD, meaning customers can be assured that if the TLD matches the brand, they are engaging with the genuine organisation. It’s a guarantee of authenticity that, in the current environment, is worth a great deal in financial and reputational terms.
This isn’t the first time that brands have had the opportunity to buy their own domain. Back in 2012, several lifetimes ago in internet terms, ICANN sought to reduce the pressure on the .com TLD and ran a similar process. More than 1200 new gTLDs were added during this round.
Brands that chose to take up the option included Barclays, Pioneer, Microsoft, Sky, and Google. In the interim, these domains have largely been used for corporate websites; there’s value in having a global presence that isn’t tied to a country-code top-level domain (ccTLD). Barclays uses https://home.barclays to inform customers and investors of its news, offer market insights, talk about sustainability activities, and host its careers hub. Canon uses https://global.canon/en/ similarly.
In the retail space, brand gTLDs can been used to target specific customer segments, creating country-specific sites, such as “usa.pioneer”, with regionally relevant information. It’s also easy to set up secure event-specific sites to capitalise on opportunities like Black Friday. By optimising sales and marketing channels in this way, brands can improve consistency and reduce costs.
Other brands registered their gTLDs as a precautionary measure, even if they have no active sites to date.
What’s the cost and potential ROI of a brand gTLD?
The initial application fee for a TLD registration is expected to be £171,592.16, although there are additional fees for designation as a brand gTLD due to the additional verification processes required. Annual fees will also be required to maintain the registration. For large global brands, this is not a huge investment compared to the customer protection and brand authenticity benefits the gTLD will deliver.
Emilie Turbat, Marketing and Commercial Director at France’s .fr domain registry, calculates that a major international brand might spend €545,000 on registering and maintaining its gTLD over the first five years. During that time, she believes the brand will save €600,000 through avoiding secondary market purchases, cutting the costs of managing cybersquatting and phishing issues, reducing management costs, and gaining a faster time-to-market and better SEO. The longer the gTLD operates, the greater the anticipated savings.
How to apply for a brand gTLD
ICANN has published comprehensive guidance for all parties applying for a new gTLD in the coming round. The application window is scheduled to open in April 2026
Applicants for a brand designation must include one or more Trademark Clearing House Signed Mark Data (SMD) files in support of their application, and the applied-for gTLD string must exactly match the textual elements of a registered trade mark verified by the trademark clearing house via the SMD files.
Potential applicants who lack financial resources and expertise can access ICANN’s new gTLD Applicant Support Program – but note that the deadline to apply is 19 December 2025.
Act now or risk missing out
In today’s digital environment, where trust is hard to gain and easy to lose, applying for a brand gTLD represents a strategic investment. Businesses seeking to bolster their online identity, reinforce customer trust, and safeguard their brand’s reputation should consider capitalising on the coming opportunity, as it may be some time before the next round opens.
The potential for long-term savings, enhanced security, and improved marketing flexibility outweighs the initial and ongoing costs, especially for large and internationally recognised brands. By securing a dedicated space on the internet, organisations can ensure greater control over their digital presence, streamline operations, and deliver a consistent, trusted experience to customers worldwide.
While they may not have originally been viewed as an IP right, domain names are now an important element of a brand’s IP estate in the digital realm. CedarIP’s next generation IP management system is designed to streamline the management of domain names, with the potential to integrate with third-party protection solutions.
Further reading: https://tldz.com/how-brand-tlds-are-revolutionizing-technology-retail-and-finance/