.au domain name changes are here.
Last year, AuDA the regulatory policy body for the .au Top Level Domains, released its draft Licensing Rules. The proposed changes seek to narrow the eligibility rules regarding non-Australian entities with no connection to Australia. This will limit overseas domain name business from hoarding .au domain names that prevents Australian business from registering domain names related to their businesses.
The current eligibility rules allow an offshore entity without an Australian connection to register any domain name in the .com.au and .net.au name spaces, provided it holds an Australian trade mark registration application. An international body just needs to include an unrelated trademark number from another country and they have right to register an .au domain name.
The proposal changes will tighten the definitions around satisfying the ‘Australian presence requirement’ meaning non-Australian entities that otherwise have no connection to Australia can no longer rely on overseas trademarks.
The three key proposed .au domain name changes are:
- An applicant for, or the owner of, an Australian trade mark registration will only be able to register a domain name that is an exact match to their Australian trade mark application or registration.
- restricting sole reliance on eligible trade mark applications or registrations to word marks. In addition, eligibility to hold a domain name is lost if the trade mark registration relied upon is cancelled or removed from the Register, or if the trade mark application lapses.
- Conforming what ‘Australian Presence’ means across all namespaces (e.g com.au, net.au etc) to eliminate any inconsistency and confusion around eligibility.
Any business that have in the pat relied on trademarks to register their .au domain names should look to update their registration status. Contact brandsec for a review of your domain names eligibility status and remove any risk of losing domain names.
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