DPML Donuts

Donuts has registered over 300 planned TLDs, and is certain to get at least 200 of these. DPML was introduced to enable trademark holders to protect their marks (identical match or a content-based match) by blocking domain names attached to any of the extensions managed by Donuts. It protects trademark holders against cybersquatting at minimal cost in comparison to the cost of defensive registrations.

A trademark must be registered with the TMCH (Trademark Clearinghouse) to qualify for the DPML. Once registered in the DPML, all domain names using this trademark will be blocked in all TLDs managed by Donuts for an initial 5-year period, which can then be renewed for between 1 and 10 years.

There are two important points to note:

• A domain blocked by the DPML is not functional, which means that it cannot be used to create a URL, e-mail address or FTP account.
• A person or entity with an identical (but not similar) trademark can override the DPML block at any time and request the registration of the domain name matching the blocked term.

Donuts predicts that its first TLD will be launched at the end of 2013, and the final TLD in mid-2014. As registration in the DPML is not retroactive, the earlier your trademarks are registered, the more effective the protection will be as more extensions will be covered. Trademarks registered before the launch of the priority (Sunrise) registration period for the first TLD launched by Donuts will be granted the highest level of protection.