Dispute Resolution Status for New TLDs

FITCHBURG, Wis. - Oct. 20, 2013 - PRLog -- Today, there are just 22 generic TLDs - like .Com and .Biz. In 2012, ICANN held an historic application round inviting companies from around the world to apply to create new Top Level Domains - or, TLDs for short. 1,930 applicaitons for new TLDs were filed in ICANN's historic 2012 application round. The first new TLDs from the 2012 application round are expected to launch in 2014.

As part of the Application Process for new TLDs, individuals and organizations were permitted a period of time in which to object to a particular TLD application after the list of TLD applications had been made public. During the Dispute Resolution phase of the ICANN application process for new TLDs, objections could be filed against any application for a new TLD. The Objection Filing stage closed earlier this year, so at this point, no new objections can be filed. Objections were permitted on the basis of four objection grounds from objectors who have standing to object (the criteria for who has standing to object is different depending on the type of objection filed.) Objections could be filed on the following grounds: Legal Rights, Community Objection, Limited Public Interest, and String Confusion. ICANN’s Independent Objector could also file a dispute against an applicant. (Note:  We will discuss that in next week's article on the Independent Objector.)

Objection Status
There were a total of 263 objections filed during the Dispute Resolution phase. To date, 44% (or 116) of the objections filed are still In Progress.

* 40% of the objections were Community Objections. 2% of these prevailed. 75% of them are In Progress.
* 26% of the Objections were Legal Rights Objections. 84% of these Prevailed
* 25% of the objections were String Confusion. 54% of the objections prevailed
* 9% of the objections were Limited Public Interest Objections. 91% of these are In Progress. None have prevailed at this time.

Most Common Objection Types
The most popular type of TLD objection was the Community objection.

* 40% of the objections were Community Objections. 2% of these prevailed. 75% of them are In Progress.
* 26% of the Objections were Legal Rights Objections. 84% of these Prevailed
* 25% of the objections were String Confusion. 54% of the objections prevailed
* 9% of the objections were Limited Public Interest Objections. 91% of these are In Progress. None have prevailed at this time.

Visit http://www.DotAnything.co/News for news and information about new TLDs.