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Domain name registry Donuts has filed two US trademark applications using the terms ‘I am’ and ‘We are’ followed by a dot and a blank space.
The company has sought to use the applications in connection with “promoting goods and services” and domain name registry services.
According to the US Patent and Trademark Office’s trademark database, the applications, for ‘I am.___________’ and ‘We are.__________’, were applied for on April 1.
It is not known what the trademarks will be used for, if they are accepted, but according to domain name news website Domain Name Wire, they could be used as a way of promoting the generic top-level-domains (gTLDs) that Donuts is managing.
Donuts said on its website that it currently operates around 150 new gTLDs including eight of the top 25 and half of the top 50 available, by registration volume.
The list includes .guru (80,584), .photography (51,431), and .email (48,031).
Stuart Fuller, director of commercial operations and communications at NetNames, told TBO that knowing Donuts the company will have "something innovative up its sleeve".
“Donuts has recently started to really market the new gTLDs and the first cut of its renewal figures does show there is an appetite for the generic names,” Fuller said.
In its most recent update Donuts said 81,569 domain names registered in its TLDs have completed their first renewal cycle, with the renewal rate of these being 68.4%.
Fuller added: “We know the key to the success of the gTLD programme as a whole is user education and acceptance, and Donuts is taking the lead on this at the moment. I would expect that these trademarked terms will feature in its next wave of promotion.”
Donuts declined to comment.
domain names, Donuts, gTLDs, trademark
