VeriSign offers trademark claims submissions
for .biz domain names on May 21
Mountain View, CA, May 21, 2001 - VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN),
the leading provider of Internet trust services, announced that beginning
today anyone with a registered or common law trademark will be able
to assert rights to their trademarks in connection with the new .biz generic
top-level domain (gTLD) name service. Dot-biz, one of seven new Web
extensions or gTLDs that will increase the supply of useful, memorable
Web addresses, is expected to be rolled out in three phases this year,
with the claims service beginning today, applications for registrations
beginning in July and live registrations in October.
gTLDs, like today's .com, .net and .org, help ease navigation on the Internet by separating Web
addresses into discrete, defined categories. The new .biz gTLD is for those intending to use the Web address for
business or commercial purposes, which makes the assertion of trademark
rights in this arena an especially important issue.
As such, NeuLevel, Inc., the .biz registry, is offering a Trademark Claim Service that allows
trademark holders, whether they hold a registered trademark or have
common law rights to a trademark or service mark, to submit claim forms
specifying the exact name to which they are claiming intellectual property
rights. Filing a claim form serves to set up a notification process
that lets Domain Name applicants know a third party claims rights to
the mark included in a Domain Name application, and to notify claimants
when a third party registers a Domain Name that matches claimed marks.
This NeuLevel form must be submitted before July 9, 2001, after which
trademark holders lose the ability to "lay claim" to specific .biz Domain
Names in advance of formal registration, scheduled to begin October
1, 2001. Filing a Trademark Claim Form through the Network Solutions
Registrar costs U.S. $89 and can be done online at http://newdomains.networksolutions.com/gtld/tm_landingpage.jsp
"This is a unique opportunity for trademark
holders - both businesses and individuals - to assert rights to their
hard-earned intellectual property," said Steve Lorenc, vice president-Web
Identity, VeriSign. "We are advising any customers with a brand
or business name to defend to take advantage of this special claims
period and make "would be" registrants aware of those customers'
claims to certain trademarks."
While the claim form submission is an important
safeguard, it DOES NOT give the trademark holder any special rights
regarding registration of the claimed mark. Any disputes involving Domain
Names based on claimed terms will be subject to NeuLevel's streamlined
dispute resolution process called STOP (Start-up Trademark Opposition
Policy). Contested Domain Names will not function for a 30-day "hold
period" which gives the trademark owner valuable time before the
domain name registration goes live.
Anyone interested in requesting a .biz Domain Name before open registration must submit a Domain
Name Application and can do so at http://newdomains.networksolutions.com/gtld/tm_landingpage.jsp
The first .biz Domain Names, trademarked or not, are expected to be allocated
later this year when the registry processes the accumulated queue of
Domain Name Applications in random order. The .biz registry opens for real-time registration (and registered
Domain Names functioning as Web addresses) on or about October 1, 2001.
Dot-biz is one of seven new gTLDs expected to be
introduced throughout 2001. Beginning in late June, Afilias, the registry
for .info,
will offer a 30-day sunrise period during which anyone with a registered
national trademark can apply for a corresponding .info Domain Name. The two other relatively unrestricted gTLDs
- .pro
and .name
- are expected to open to the public through phased launches, similar
to the introduction of .biz and .info. The other three extensions - .museum, .aero and .coop - are "restricted" gTLDs and are not expected
to require as many phases to launch. For more information, including
an overview of the process of choosing the new gTLDs and how to request
Domain Names in each one, download VeriSign's free White Paper, "Journey
to the Right of the Dot: ICANN's New Web Extensions" at ftp://ftp.networksolutions.com/gtld/final_gtld_5_17.pdf
About VeriSign
VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) is the leading provider of trusted infrastructure
services to Web sites, enterprises, electronic commerce service providers
and individuals. The company's Domain Name, digital certificate and
payment services provide the critical Web identity, authentication and
transaction infrastructure that online businesses require to conduct
secure e-commerce and communications. VeriSign's services are available
through its Web sites (www.verisign.com
and www.networksolutions.com)
or through its direct sales force and reseller partners around the world.
Statements in this announcement other than
historical data and information constitute forward-looking statements
that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results
to differ materially from those stated or implied by such forward-looking
statements. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among others,
potential volatility in VeriSign's stock price, uncertainty of Internet
privatization, increased competition in the Domain Name registration
business including price competition, customer acceptance of new products
and services offered by the company in addition to or as enhancements
of its registration services, risks associated with the company's international
business, uncertainty of future revenue and profitability and fluctuations
in its quarterly operating results. More information about potential
factors that could affect the company's business and financial results
is included in VeriSign's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission,
especially in the company's Registration Statement on Form S-4 filed
on April 12, 2000, as amended, Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year
ended December 31, 2000.
VeriSign is a registered trademark of VeriSign,
Inc. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
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