.eu Domains to Go on Sale in a Month

conJunk writes "The BBC is running an article about the start of .eu TLD sales. From the article: 'The .eu domain was launched in December and opens to the public in four weeks. Trademark holders have had a 'sunrise period' since December to register their own trademarks... and all EU institutions will begin using the .eu domain in their web addresses from April next year.' Winners and Losers? Volkswagen scooped Ralph-Lauren for polo.eu by three and a half minutes." Update: 03/10 15:32 GMT by Z : Volvo != Volkswagen.

Comments

Staggered registrations

[Rob T Firefly]

From TFA:

Trademark holders have had a "sunrise period" since December to register their own trademarks.

Public bodies and some other rights holders were allowed to apply in the initial phase.

The names are given out on a first-come-first-serve basis to applicants who then have 40 days to provide proof they hold a trademark in that name.

I really have to commend the powers that be on this staggered-registration scheme. It's enough to placate the valid trademark holders while cutting down chances of companies who missed out suing whoever gets it after the fact, and I hope the folks in charge of future TLD releases take note of this.