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The next round of New gTLDs is live, image of people celebrating
Blog Post / Published, February 13, 2025

The Application Program for the New Round of New gTLDs is Live! 

overview

If you're considering applying for a new generic Top-level Domain (New gTLD), you have until 19 November 2025 to submit your application. Find out more about the program for registering New gTLDs (sometimes also referred to as Dot Brand, Brand TLD, and Branded Top-level Domains), including how Questel's New gTLD consulting and registry services could assist. 

More than 41 million domains have already been registered since the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) launched the original new gTLDs program back in 2012. More than a decade later, the next round of New gTLDs has been launched finally.   

This provides brand owners with the opportunity to secure their own unique Brand TLD web domain, as we covered in our December 2024 webinar 'Unleashing Brand Power with ICANN’s New gTLDs.’ Here, we summarize some of the key points discussed, including how our New gTLD consulting and registry services could assist. 

In a Nutshell: The First Round of New gTLDs

 
  • ICANN received 1,930 applications for 1,400 unique strings during the 2012 gTLD application window. More than 600 applications were for Brand TLDs. 
  • More than 1,000 New gTLDs have been launched, including Brand TLDs such as .bmw, .emerck, and .dvag. 
  • Brand TLD owners operate and control their own namespace and can create as many domain names as they wish, such as tv.dvag, next100.bmw, or magazine.emerck.  
  • Many Brand TLDs have already become very successful, and consumers are learning that these domain names are safe harbors where only the brand itself can be found. 
     

To find out more about the first round of New gTLDs, watch our recent webinar 'Unleashing Brand Power with ICANN’s New gTLDs.’ 

Should You Register a Brand TLD?

 

If you are considering applying for and operating your own Brand TLD, it's important to start analyzing the risks and opportunities of the New gTLD program as soon as possible. Undertaking competitor analysis, risk assessments, and feasibility studies, as well as gaining a general understanding of the application process and the ICANN world, are all recommended steps. For example: 

  • Market Analysis: What are my competitors doing? What are big brands doing? Did other companies in my industry apply in 2012?
  • Benefits & Risks: What benefits could be achieved and what are the potential risks of participating or not in the new round?
  • Feasibility & Decision-Making: How do I gather and present data for our go/no-go decision?
  • Application Process: What does it take to apply for and run a Brand TLD and what are the costs and timeline? 
     

As part of our domain name management service, we provide a dedicated New gTLD service to support brand owners to navigate this decision-making process effectively. We assisted a dozen brands in the first round of New gTLD applications we are now operating their Brand TLDs in compliance with ICANN policies. 

Testimonials About Our New gTLDs Service

 

Thomsen Trampedach, our center of excellence for domain name management, supported many companies in the first round of New gTLDs, including: 

BMW Group

“We chose Thomsen Trampedach, a Questel company, as our full-service provider for all aspects of our New gTLD applications for the .BMW and .MINI Top-level Domains (TLDs), including the outsourcing of all operational tasks and systems. From initial risk analysis, over project planning for the application, cost and resource allocations, concept of use over application writing, and ongoing analysis of the changes to the gTLD program and the filing of our trademarks in the Trade Mark Clearance House (TMCH), Thomsen Trampedach has been a trusted and timely source for advice and helped us professionally solve all tasks. We enjoy working with Thomsen Trampedach as they give unbiased advice, are transparent in their pricing, and challenge us with new suggestions for optimizing online brand protection and related processes.”   

Domain Manager
Trademark Department BMW AG
MERCK

“Thomsen Trampedach is our preferred consulting company in regard to our applications for the new gTLDs, .MERCK and .EMERCK. Thomsen Trampedach shows a superior understanding of our company-specific brand protection strategy and internal resources.” 

Jonas Kölle
Merck KGaA
Director and Rechtsanwalt/Senior Corporate Counsel
DOTDESI

“When navigating the ICANN application process our team realized quickly that we needed to engage professionals to assist us. After an exhaustive search, we chose Thomsen Trampedach and have not regretted it. From the very beginning, we received invaluable industry insight and made key strategic contacts that would not have been there for us otherwise. We consider them to be not just a resource but a trusted advisor. Our relationship has been galvanized throughout this process, and we look forward to working with Thomsen Trampedach for many years to come.” 

Jeff Brown
Desi Networks, LLC
Managing Principal
CNNIC  

“We work with Thomsen Trampedach, who support us in promoting our New gTLDs,  
.公司 (.Company in Chinese) and .网络 (.Network in Chinese). They provide not only the best practices for domain name operations and right protection mechanisms, but also valuable advice for the solutions best for overseas “.CN” registrants. Thomsen Trampedach comes with sincerity, integrity, and responsibility to become a dynamic partner in CNNIC’s New gTLD operation."

薛 原   Shawn Xue  
中国互联网络信息中心/China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) 
业务管理部 业务管理中心   Business Management Center  

Interested in Our New gTLDs Service?

 

Step 1: Planning  

We facilitate analysis and preparations to help inform your go/no-go decisions, including: 

—Feasibility Studies/Risk Assessments: Will the investment pay off? Do you face the risk of objections from third parties, governments, or ICANN? Are you in conflict with any third-party trademarks? Is your gTLD string in conflict with any ISO codes/geographical indications/International Governmental Organization (IGO) names? Could your string be interpreted as offensive to public morality and order in foreign languages, or could it be interpreted as a “sensitive or a generic string?” 

—Concept of Use and Roll-Out Plan (short/mid/long term): How will you use your own Brand TLD? Should it be for internal use only or should you allow subsidiaries, resellers, customers, and partners to register domain names in the gTLD too? How will it impact your current domain name and online branding strategy? 

—Budgeting: What are the internal and external costs related to applying for and operating a Brand TLD? 

—Project Planning and Management: How much can you do on your own and how much should you outsource to partners? What should the ownership structure be within your organization (which legal entity should apply)? What is the purpose, policy, or concept of use for the new TLD? What are the key milestones? Who will negotiate with registry service providers (backend system), and WHOIS data escrow providers, registrars, and monitoring companies? What documents and data do you need? 

Step 2: Applying 

Applying for a New gTLD is a time-consuming and technical task. We are here to assist you in preparing your application, including demonstrating your internal and external technical and operational capabilities, and financial capabilities.   

—Preparation: Thomsen Trampedach, our center of excellence for domain name management and New gTLDs will assist by drafting and gathering the necessary documents including: 

  • List of directors and board members
  • Copy of annual reports
  • Letter of fund commitments
  • Budgets (expected/worst/best case scenarios)
  • Internal cost allocation schemes
  • IDN tables
  • IT risk assessment plans
  • Letter of support/non-objections from third parties
  • Various technical documents provided by registry service providers 

A New gTLD application in the 2012 round typically consisted of 250 pages and around 50 supporting documents. All of our New gTLD clients exceeded the threshold for passing ICANN’s evaluation. 

—Application: We will assist in drafting the application and all supporting documents, including all required policies and contracts, such as 

  • Registration and use policies
  • Anti-abuse policies
  • DNSSEC policies
  • Launch policies
  • Premium name policies
  • Terms and conditions
  • Registry-Registrar agreements 

—Evaluation/Guidance: In the 2012 round, we successfully guided our New gTLD clients through the application process and any unforeseen obstacles, such as GAC advice (sensitive strings, closed generics), clarifying questions (enhanced security measurements), name collision occurrence management, geo-panel objections, legal rights objections, community priority objections, and auctions. 

Step 3: Launch and Operation 

We will guide you through all launch phases and help you with the coordination and communication of the actual delegation and launch of your TLD, including managing the following key steps: 

  • Registry agreement with ICANN (including specification 13 and request for release of country names and two characters domains, or any IDN scripts)
  • Contracts with registrars
  • Connection to the Trademark Clearinghouse
  • Pre-delegation tests
  • Registry website creation and tests
  • Name collision management
  • Launch phases
  • ICANN reports and audits
  • Ongoing communication with ICANN and providers
  • Anti-abuse and complaint management
  • Management of all invoices (ICANN and service providers)
  • Updates on ICANN policies  

In the 2012 round, we gained experience with all types of challenges and types of gTLD applications such as cultural TLDs, geographical TLDs, IDNs, and community-based gTLD applications. We also have considerable experience overcoming GEO objections, providing GAC advice, and guiding clients through the management of sensitive strings, closed generic issues, and enhanced security requirements. 

As important, our New gTLD concept is flexible. You can choose to work with us in any phase of your project or outsource all the tasks including the operational tasks to us. 

Support to Register gTLD Domains: What We Offer

 

Our New gTLDs service helps brand owners assess, prepare, and apply for Brand TLD assets. If you would like to find out more, including starting the process to register gTLD domains, watch our webinar 'Unleashing Brand Power with ICANN’s New gTLDs' or contact our dedicated team today.