United States - .US Domain Names

Newsletters and Bulletins / May 2002 / United States

Effective February 1, 2002, it is possible to register domain names in the expanded .us domain space. Previously, the .us domain space was restricted to a geographical form, e.g., abc.miami.fl.us. Now, however, it is possible to register second-level domains in the .us domain in the form of, for example, abc.us. It is expected that the .us domain will be extremely popular, rivaling .com as the premier United States domain name extension.

During March and April, owners of trademarks registered or applied for in the United States as of July 27, 2001 were permitted to file “Sunrise” applications for their exact trademarks as .us domains.

All .us applicants must have a sufficient “nexus” to the United States by complying with one of the following prerequisites:

1) a natural person (i) who is a citizen or permanent resident of the United States of America or any of its possessions or territories or (ii) whose primary place of domicile is in the United States of America or any of its possessions or territories, or

2) any entity or organization that is incorporated within one of the fifty (50) U.S. states, the District of Columbia, or any of the United States possessions or territories or (ii) organized or otherwise constituted under the laws of a state of the United States of America, the District of Columbia, or any United States possessions or territories, or

3) any entity or organization (including federal, state, or local government of the United States, or a political subdivision thereof) that has a bona fide presence in the United States.

The “bona fide presence” requirement will be determined on a case-by-case basis. Factors taken into account when making this determination include:

1) regularly performing activities within the United States;

2) maintaining an office or other facility in the United States not solely to permit the registration of a .us domain name; and

3) deriving a material portion of revenue or net income from sales to purchasers located in the United States.

If there were more than one application for the same domain name during the Sunrise period, one of the applications was randomly selected for registration. Following the Sunrise period, .us domains are now available on a “first come, first served” basis.

There are to be two dispute resolution policies: a “nexus” dispute resolution procedure whereby an interested party can challenge whether a .us domain name registrant has a sufficient nexus with the United States; and a modified ICANN Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy, the usTLD Dispute Resolution Policy, concerning the “bad faith” registration of domain names whereby the complainant will need to prove that the .us domain name was registered or used in bad faith.

Perhaps in response to the broadening of the .us domain space, the European Union ministers have recently agreed to introduce the .eu domain space for use by parties with a connection to the European Union. We shall continue to monitor this issue for developments.

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