Starting October 1st, Donuts Inc., the operator of nearly 200 new generic top-level domain names (gTLDs), will offer DPML Plus, a three-month promotion that builds on its legacy Domains Protected Marks List (DPML) program.
DPML is an innovative service that allows trademark owners to protect their marks and related terms across all of Donuts’ new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) at a fraction of what it would cost to defensively register the same terms. The popular service is employed by thousands of subscribers — several Fortune 500 companies, including Target, Verizon, Costco, Apple, HP, Microsoft and Amazon, count among the many.
The limited-time DPML Plus promotion enhances DPML by allowing brand owners to widen protections, including, for the first time, common misspellings of their marks. Brand owners also are able to:
- Block their marks and mark-related terms from registration for an initial 10-year period.
- Block one exact match term and three additional strings (legacy DPML covers one string) that contain a mark or common misspellings of the mark (further “contains” or misspelled terms beyond these three strings are available to block for an additional fee).
- Also for the first time, block a mark in premium second-level domains across all Donuts’ gTLDs.
DPML Plus blocks are not subject to overrides by other parties with the same trademark. DPML Plus subscribers may submit unlimited overrides of their own blocked terms (for no wholesale override fee) if they elect to register and use their previously blocked terms.
Registration for DPML Plus will open October 1, 2016, and close December 31, 2016. DPML applications may be submitted only through a registrar authorized by Donuts to provide the service.
