Internet Enabling Better Connection with Global Customers

While much attention and debate has been focused in recent months on the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers' (ICANN) plans to expand the generic top level domain (gTLD) space with new names like, .sports, .berlin, .brand, in the wings critical technical and policy work has been taking place to expand the Internet with new Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) versions of country code extensions (ccTLDs) like .cn, .rf, .in. This work has taken years and has involved technologists and governments alike.

Consider these statistics. There are currently over 6900 languages spoken in world. While English ranks 4th on the list with over 340 million who can speak the language, over 873 million speak the top language of Mandarin Chinese, quickly followed by Hindi at over 370 million and Spanish at over 350 million. However, to date the domain name space has predominantly operated in the English character set. It is true that there has been some availability of Internationalized characters by some domain name registries before "the dot", however, the IDN ccTLD initiative by ICANN will now bring Internationalized character sets after "the dot", finally enabling non-English speakers and keyboard users to type domain names into their browsers with native scripts.

So when will this happen? Launches of various IDN ccTLDs will likely begin in November/December of this year and stretch into 2010. Final policies are expected to be determined at the ICANN Meeting in Seoul, Korea October 25th-30th. ICANN is expecting as many as 50 new ccTLD IDN variations to become available in the first phase of this rollout.

The implications for business are potentially enormous. Billions of new consumers will now be able to easily navigate directly through their browser bar to company websites and online stores. To capitalize on this new revenue opportunity, companies should consider these recommendations offered by CSC:

1. Look at your current trademark/brand portfolio. Identify the trademarks/brands that are in non-English scripts. Are there any brands you are considering having transliterated or branded in non-English scripts? If so, you should start those efforts sooner, as opposed to later.
2. For your internationalized brands, identify which you have trademark registrations for and where and when they achieved registered trademark status. If there are brands you use in non-English speaking countries that you have not registered in native scripts, consider the pros and cons of starting the trademark process now.
3. Look at your domain name portfolio. What ccTLDs do you currently have? Review your current strategy and identify which names give you the most return on investment (ROI)and which countries/territories you may want to investigate IDN ccTLD availability.
4. Review any online brand monitoring programs you have in place. Are they prepared for IDN ccTLDs? Will the introduction of IDN ccTLD result in the need to adjust search parameters, and the personnel you have reviewing results? Plan ahead.
5. Think about what impact this change will have on your trademark, brand monitoring and domain name budgets in 2010. If you do not already have written policies in this area, you should begin this process to ensure that you can develop a 2010 budget which enables you to get the most for your money, and that you are able to protect your brand where it counts most without breaking the bank.

As the preferred provider of corporate identity protection services for more than 50% of the 100 Best Global Brands, CSC has staff, products and services that are prepared to guide you through this important change. To get up to speed on all the details, please join CSC for our FREE web seminar on October 8th, where the IDN ccTLD initiative will be discussed, strategies will be explored, and our in-house experts will take your questions.