Speednames Launches Intellectual Property Claim Service

Digital domain name registrar Speednames has launched an intellectual property claim service for customers that have queued or want to queue for .biz domain names on q.speednames.com.

“There are more than 15 million trademarks worldwide and many more common names or terms to which companies and individuals may have a valid claim. The new Top-Level Domain .biz is intended for businesses, and before the registration of .biz is opened to the public, there will be a period in which companies and individuals will have a chance to make an intellectual property claim,” said Martin Roll, vice-president of Global Marketing and PR.

The new service — offered by Speednames and the central registry behind .biz — will run from May 21 to July 9, 2001, and charges US$140 per claim. There are no restrictions on the number of intellectual property owners that may file trademark claim forms for a given domain name, but trademark owners cannot submit a claim after the claim period.

“We have already queued up several thousand .biz domain names for our customers on q.speednames.com. We believe this new service will be very valuable for companies which market products and services on the Internet, and also for all the service companies offering protection of brands and trademarks for their customers,” he added.

Company officials stress that it is necessary to submit applications for a .biz registration separately on q.speednames.com, as the intellectual property claim is not a registration application in itself.

The claim filing is not a guarantee of obtaining the specific domain name, but it does help warn off cybersquatters and those who might unknowingly infringe on another business’ intellectual property, Speednames said in a statement. In warning off a potential registrant before the domain is registered, the new service enables claimants with a legitimate interest to prove that the registrant was in bad faith.