Summary

  • The option is limited to a qualifying .Brand TLD applicant whose application is in contention.
  • Added words need supporting trademark evidence, and the resulting string must not create or expand contention.

ICANN’s .Brand String Change Request is a bounded contention-avoidance mechanism. ICANN will not consider the request until the application has successfully qualified for .Brand designation, and an ineligible request is rejected.

The filing window follows specific events

The applicant has 30 days after specified contention-set or panel-determination events to submit the request. If it misses the applicable window, the application proceeds on the original applied-for .Brand string.

Added words need provenance

The proposed change must add one or more words to the original string. Those words must appear in qualifying trademark goods-and-services evidence, or in the alternate documentation with legal confirmation permitted by the Guidebook. Translations of words in the trademark registration are not accepted for this purpose.

The second gate is structural: the new string must not create or expand a contention set. Passing the documentation gate therefore does not answer the contention question.

Acceptance opens more process

If the request satisfies the initial requirements, it is accepted for further processing and posted publicly. Community input, objections and String Evaluation still follow. Publication is an open process state, not a final decision.

Some adverse outcomes return the applicant to its original string and contention resolution. Variants must also satisfy the relevant .Brand eligibility rules and be recalculated under the Root Zone Label Generation Rules.

Keep five records separate

BTW recommends preserving eligibility, added-word evidence, contention testing, evaluation results and any reversion to the original string as separate records. That ledger is editorial advice, not an ICANN filing requirement.

Sources