In 2012 ICANN received about 2000 applications, of which over 1200 were added to the Internet Domain System. Since 2012 the process of assessing accelerated, and in a resolution approved on July 27, 2023, the Board directed the ICANN Organization (Org) to proceed with the implementation plan for opening the next round of new gTLDs, anticipating that the Applicant Guidebook (AGB) will be finalized in May 2025, enabling the application round to open in Q2 2026 (with a specific goal of April 2026).
Read more about that ICANN program. New gTLD
Then, brand owners have to begin assessing whether and how their organizations may wish to participate in this new gTLD application round. As some brand owners may recall from the 2012 application round, the decision regarding whether to participate, as well as which new gTLD(s) to apply for, requires the collaboration of a broad cross-functional team. Even brand owners who do not wish to apply for their own new gTLDs will need to assess how the next round of new gTLDs will impact their enforcement strategies, in terms of both potential objections to other parties’ new gTLD applications as well as any changes to rights protection mechanisms.
