Domain Names Alert - .CO Domain Names Land Grab Starts Sunday?

According to the L.A. Times today - the domain name registrar Go Daddy (a/k/a godaddy.com) is going to launch a big push this Sunday during the SuperBowl to promote the .co domain name extension. We can’t tell yet whether Go Daddy has accurately figured out that there is a real demand for a new domain name extension or whether they’re making the kind of mistake Coca-Cola made a while back when they tried to introduce “New Coke”. But we do know that good .com domain names are getting harder and harder to register and – again according to the L.A. Times - Go Daddy will probably be paying something like $3 million for each 30 second commercial it runs during the SuperBowl. So….unless they are idiots they must be figuring there’s going to be a good return on that investment.

On the other hand, here’s a blog entry that claims the .co extension is just a waste of money.

So…is this a real opportunity or just a hype? We don’t know yet, but for the $30 being charged for a .co domain name ($28 if you buy six or more at the same time), it might be worth a small investment NOW (i.e., before Sunday) to:

(a) protect your company name and brands with a .co domain name if for no other reason than to block out your competitors and cybersquatters; and

(b) to think creatively about other .co domain names you might want to control as we move forward the next few years.

If you are interested in this but for some reason are not a Go Daddy fan, our local outside IT firm EBrothers Solutions, Inc. is an authorized Go Daddy re-seller that offers domain name registrations for the same price as Go Daddy - but with a local personal presence. You can visit them at www.ebsihosting.com.

We don’t exactly know where this is going to go, but we thought you would want to know sooner rather than later.

Please call (760/637-2400) or write (dbranfman@branfman.com) if you have any questions or thoughts about this.

THE CARE & FEEDING OF DOMAIN NAMES: WEBINAR DE-BRIEFED

Yesterday we presented a webinar entitled "The Care & Feeding of Domain Names: Tips For Businesses & Lawyers" as part of the State Bar of California's Cyber Institute. Presenting via webinar is interesting/challenging because there isn't as much interactivity as in a live presentation. But we had a good group online including both private practice and in-house lawyers. Our theme was: these days it's not enough to just own one or two domain names for your business or your product; managing and maximizing the value of your brand(s) and domain names takes a conscious and concerted effort. The webinar addressed 11 concrete tips for accomplishing this. If you would like a copy of the PowerPoint we prepared, please contact us by phone at (760) 637-2400 or by email at info@branfman.com to request a copy.

THE CARE & FEEDING OF DOMAIN NAMES: WEBINAR ON JANUARY 27TH

These days it's not enough to just own one or two domain names for your business or your product. Managing and maximizing the value of your brand(s) and domain names takes a conscious and concerted effort. That's why we're presenting a webinar entitled "The Care & Feeding of Domain Names: Tips For Businesses & Lawyers" on January 27, 2011 @ 1 pm Pacific. The webinar is being offered under the auspices of the State Bar of California's Cyber Institute. You can sign up here. [The State Bar is charging the fee - not us - and we're doing our part pro bono]. If you can't attend but would like a copy of the PowerPoint we've prepared, please contact us by phone at (760) 637-2400 or by email at info@branfman.com to request a copy.

10 FOR '10: BRANFMAN'S HOT IP TIPS #3

This is the third IP tip in the series. For previous tips scroll down:-

IP TIP #3: ONE IS NOT ENOUGH:

Most businesses these days own one – maybe two – domain names related to their business. But due to clever and unscrupulous cybersquatters, one domain name is not enough. At approximately $11 per year per domain name, it makes sense to allocate a few hundred dollars a year to occupy some Internet real estate and block out cybersquatters by registering a batch of domain names. So if for example your main domain name is groovysurfstuff.com, why not register groovysurfstuff.net, groovy-surf-styff.com, groovysurfstuffs.com, and groovysurfstuff.tv? How about obvious misspellings like grrovysurfstuff.com or groovysurfsutff.com? And then there’s always groovysurfstuffsucks.com. Spending a couple of hundred of dollars a year on your inventory of domain names is a lot cheaper than hiring a lawyer to send a cease and desist letter to a cybersquatter. And compared to the cost of a lawsuit? Small potatoes!

Success Story #1

One of the reasons we like what we do so much is that we have lots of fun, interesting and world-class clients. They range from sales training companies to musicians to hot-rod aftermarket specialists, clothing companies, record labels, surf wax manufacturers, direct mail and response experts and all manner of film, video and Internet-based companies. One of our most fun clients is Opper Sports, one of the world's leading surf documentarians which is run by multiple Emmy-award winner Ira Opper who has recently built an easy-to-use website that allows for entire Opper Sports library of surfing-related films and tv shows to be instantly downloaded . Here is an article about one of Opper Sports most-recent successes. We have helped Opper Sports over the years with music licensing questions, domain name disputes and general competitive strategies.

Domain Name Tips #1 & #2

As the importance of the Internet for business grows, so grows the need to utilize smart strategies for both selecting and maintaining your domain names. Here are the first two of ten tips we've learned that you might find useful in protecting what we refer to as "Internet real estate":

1. Shop Around For Your Domain Name Registrar: In the old days, Network Solutions, Inc. ("NSI") had a virtual lock on the process of registering domain names. That's because NSI was the only official Domain Name Registrar. That’s no longer the case and lots of competitors have popped up; as a result the cost of registering a domain name has dropped. Shop around. We like GODADDY.COM where you can register a domain name for as little as about $10 a year per domain name. Ask around and see which Registrar your friends and colleagues like.

2. Make sure your business name and trademarks are registered: Registering your domain name is not the same as registering your company name or product name as a trademark, so registering your company/product name(s) as trademarks is important too. Trademarks can be registered with the State you operate in, the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (“PTO”) and internationally. The process of registering a trademark could be the subject of a full-length article, but the USPTO website is a good place to get some basic info.

More tips will follow in subsequent postings.