.oldnavy

Status:	Proposed
Registry Provider:	Neustar
Type:	Brand TLD
Priority #:	416 - The Gap, Inc.
More information:

.oldnavy is a Brand TLD being proposed in ICANN's New gTLD Program. The applicant is The Gap, Inc. The Gap, Inc. (“Gap Inc.”) is a leading global retailer serving the needs of consumers around the world through its five brands – Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Athleta, and Piperlime. Gap Inc. has 134,000 employees and stores or franchises in 31 different countries. Gap Inc.’s products are available for purchase online to consumers in over 90 countries, and Gap Inc. content is accessible in the .COM gTLD and the .CA, .CN, .EU, and .JP ccTLDs.

Application Details

The following is excerpted from the applicant's response to question #18:

"Through a unified corporate approach, Gap Inc. intends to submit five gTLD applications for the strings .gap, .bananarepublic, .oldnavy, .athleta, .piperlime.

Gap Inc.’s brands are among the company’s most valuable assets. The protection and growth of the Old Navy brand are of paramount importance to Gap Inc. in all aspects of its operations, including on the Internet. Operating the brand as a gTLD is expected to be an important part of its digital strategy in the future.

Gap Inc. will be analyzing and evaluating other .BRAND gTLD applications as well as general market adoption to determine short- and long-term potential best-in-class use case options to most effectively serve and enhance Gap Inc.’s online strategy as a leading global retailer. With regard to the Old Navy brand, Gap Inc. maintains operations in the following segments:

RETAIL STORES: Old Navy was launched in 1994 and brings fun fashion and value to the whole family. Old Navy offers a broad selection of apparel, shoes, and accessories for adults, children, and babies, as well as a maternity line, consumables, and personal care products.

OLD NAVY ONLINE: In 2000, Gap Inc. introduced Old Navy Online, an online store found at oldnavy.com. Old Navy Online offers apparel and accessories comparable to those carried in Old Navy retail stores, as well as extended sizes not found in stores. Customers in Canada can shop online at oldnavy.ca, and customers in select international countries can shop online at oldnavy.com.

The intended future mission and purpose of the .OLDNAVY gTLD is to serve as a trusted, hierarchical, and intuitive namespace provided by Gap Inc., its subsidiaries, partners, and affiliates, for Old Navy brand customers and other consumers. Gap Inc. will be the entity to file this application and bring the .OLDNAVY gTLD to market.

Although ICANN has not specifically recognized a .BRAND gTLD specification in the current round, it is widely anticipated in the brand community that this will become a specialty subset of gTLDs. .OLDNAVY is intended to be one of those .BRAND gTLDs, with the goal of protecting Gap Inc.’s online presence and identity, expanding its marketing and promotion efforts, providing a secure channel for online products and services, and offering a platform through which to consolidate many of the intellectual property activities of Gap Inc.

Gap Inc. intends to initially limit registration and use of domain names within the .OLDNAVY gTLD to Gap Inc., its subsidiaries and qualified affiliates and strategic partners. This initial limited use will allow Gap Inc. to establish its operations and achieve full sustainability."