Not all .mobi domain names can be registered in the normal way.
mTLD has developed a special registration procedure of its own for
a number of popular names that are especially interesting for domain grabbers.
This shall prevent the registration of valuable terms with the help of
tricky trademark registrations as it has happened on a big scale during
the introduction of .eu domains.
Overall, the registry intends to ensure a fair competition in the allocation of
the most popular .mobi domains. First, trademark holders were given the chance
to register their trademarked names from the list before the remainder of the
Premium Names is now being allocated via auctions and proposals.
Premium Names are
domain names of grade A.
“Premium Name Application Process”
The “Premium Name Application Process” was developed in cooperation
with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
In the time from September 15 until october 13, 2006, trademark holders
could apply for .mobi domains from the list of Premium Names
at the WIPO for a processing fee of USD 1,500.
Premium Domain Names that have not been applied for during the now concluded
WIPO Premium Names Application Process for Trademark Holders are now being
sold by dotMobi. There will be several allocation mechanisms including:
The sales of Premium Names are expected to be ongoing until 2008. In the
following, you find a short overview of each of the three allocation mechanisms.
The registry expects Premium Names
to sell like hot cakes.
Live Auctions
The first set of ten .mobi domain names will be made available
via auction at the “T.R.A.F.F.I.C. East Domain Conference”
(http://www.targetedtraffic.com)
in Hollywood, Florida, on October 27, 2006:
The first ten .mobi domains to be auctioned:
flowers.mobi
US$ 200.000,-
fun.mobi
US$ 100.000,-
hot.mobi
US$ 40.000,-
stockquotes.mobi
US$ 27.000,-
cams.mobi
US$ 23.600,-
party.mobi
US$ 13.000,-
wow.mobi
US$ 9.000,-
gossip.mobi
US$ 5.000,-
laugh.mobi
US$ 3.000,-
celebs.mobi
US$ 2.250,-
On their Website, dptMobi rates this first and so far only Live Auction a
success and announces that they may conduct similar events in the future,
without naming any more details, however.
Request for proposals (RFP)
Starting on November 11, 2006, Premium Names will first be allocated per
“Request for proposals” (RFP).
mTLD states that the main objective of this process is to ensure that the
applicant has carefully analyzed the financial, business and operational
aspects of the proposal.
The .mobi domains allocated via RFP can be applied for
with detailed utilization proposals.
The first domain names to be sold via RFP:
news.mobi
ringtones.mobi
sports.mobi
weather.mobi
Proposals must be submitted to mTLD
no later than 3pm GMT on Friday, February 16th, 2007.
mTLD currently plans to announce the outcome of its review of proposals in
March 2007. The selected applicant then has
to agree to and sign an approved contract with mTLD and may then register the
domain in or about April 2007.
mTLD points out that the target dates given above may still change. In fact,
the deadline has already been deferred once (from 12/18/2006 to 02/16/2007).
As usual, interested parties can trustfully contact Knipp. Our experienced
support team will inform you and help you with any issue during the
application for Premium Names, e.g. with a precheck of your documents,
if desired.
For each application for a Premium Name,
a processing fee of 875,00 Euros becomes due.
Documents that have to be handled by Knipp should reach us no later that one
week before the deadline of mTLD,
that is on February 9th, 2007.
The following documents have to be submitted to mTLD before the deadline
given above:
An electronic copy of the proposal (PDF or Word document accepted),
two hard copies, separately bound.
By submitting a proposal, the applicant agrees to a set of rules while
mTLD reserves a number of rights, like:
the right to select any proposal in its sole discretion;
the right to reject any and all proposals for any reason;
the right to re-issue the RFP.
The proposals' content
Section 1
Proposal Summary
Briefly discuss the highlights, key features, and distinguishing points of the proposal,
including how the applicant's operation of the website as set forth in the proposal
would achieve the objectives set forth in the Overview to the RFP.
Section 2
General Company Information
This section is used to evaluate the legitimacy of the applicant's business.
Section 3
Business Capabilities And Plan
The purpose of this section is to provide information that substantiates the
robustness of the organization and a business plan that provides detailed, verifiable
business and financial information about the applicant.
Section 4
Technical Capabilities
This section of the proposal should describe the applicant's plans to develop a .mobi
website around the offered Domain Name and the applicant's technical ability to do so.
Online Auctions
dotMobi has not published any information about the course of events for
Online Auctions yet, nor has it released any information on which of the
Premium Names will be sold that way.
The only reliable information is that the sale will commence in 2007.
For further helpful details, please refer to the compilation
of
frequently asked questions on Premium Names on the Website of the .mobi registry.
In addition to that, you can find the latest information on Premium Names
below the following links: