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News
21 May 2010
Registration of Domain Names in non-Latin Characters
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ("ICANN"), the entity responsible for overseeing the domain name system, recently introduced internationalized domain name ("IDN") extensions for country code top-level domains ("ccTLDs").
ICANN now allows alphabets such as Arabic or Chinese to be used in the last portion of an address name - the part after the dot such as ".com", ".org" and ".ie". These characters include, for example, the Swedish å, the German ü and the Greek alphabet. As a result, businesses and individuals will be able to register domain names which are comprised entirely of non-Latin characters.
The introduction of IDNs is intended to create a more globally inclusive Internet and to allow brand owners to market goods and services more effectively to potential customers. The first country codes approved were the codes for Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE (all in Arabic characters) and for Russia (in Cyrillic).
Unfortunately, IDNs may also create new opportunities for cyber squatters to abuse brand names through infringing domain name registrations and so you may want to register domain names for your brands in non-Latin characters to prevent cyber squatting.
If you market in countries where Latin-character trademarks are easily replaced by local language trademarks, you should take this opportunity to ensure that your marks/domains are adequately protected in both Latin characters and the local equivalent translation and/or transliteration, for example Cyrillic, Arabic or Chinese.
An apparent benefit in applying for a Cyrillic domain name is attracting a much larger audience of Russian Internet users who do not know any English or do not use the Latin alphabet. Thus registering a domain name in the Cyrillic domain gives even greater exposure to your business.
On December 10, 2009, registrations commenced for .eu domain names featuring non-Latin characters. The .eu IDNs support the 23 official languages of the European Union as well as the entire alphabets. With the European Union's 27 member states, these domain names are of significant importance for .eu.
If you are interested in registration or need any further information, please do not hesitate to contact us.
