.ifm

Status:	Proposed
Registry Provider:	KNIPP
Type:	Brand TLD
More information:

.ifm is a Brand TLD being proposed in ICANN's New gTLD Program. The applicant is ifm electronic gmbh.

Application Detail

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

". Q 18 (a): Describe the mission⁄purpose of your proposed gTLD.

Since the foundation of the company in 1969 ifm electronic gmbh has continuously optimised technical processes in almost all industries. ifm is one of the worldʹs leading manufacturers in the automation industry. More than 4,300 employees in over 70 countries develop and sell solutions for about 100,000 customers in machine construction and other industries.

1.1 The product portfolio

One of ifm’s strong points is the extraordinarily broad product portfolio that does not only include standard solutions but also caters for special requirements from individual industries. The success story of the family-owned company began in 1969 with the invention of inductive proximity sensors on the basis of film technology. Today the trade name ʺefectorʺ is synonymous with position sensors. The ʺecomatʺ brand stands for systems for mobile machines. The other ifm products cover: sensors for motion control, industrial imaging, safety technology, process sensors, industrial communication, identification systems, condition monitoring systems and connection Technology.

1.2 Quality „Made in Germany“

ifm, a second-generation family-run company with its corporate headquarters in Essen, plus development and production sites on Lake Constance, is closely connected to Germany as a location for industry. Made in Germany – 88 % of the 7,844 ifm products are manufactured here. More than 450 employees in research and development as well as a close cooperation with research institutions, universities and young companies have lead to over 580 patents and approx. 440 active patents ⁄ patent applications as well as innovative product solutions for tomorrowʹs requirements. These approaches ensure the constantly high quality and innovative strength of the entire range of products.

1.3 ifm – close to you

An unusually strong worldwide sales team of about 1,060 sales engineers completes the successful concept. They give a face to ifm, know the special market requirements and country-specific characteristics and offer individual support for any customer. This strategy provides ifm with the flexibility of a medium-sized family-owned company as well as internationality and innovative strength of a group of companies. In 2011 ifm could consequently achieve a turnover of € 570 million.

2. Our mission in the operation of the .ifm gTLD

With a nTLD .ifm we intend to strengthen our brand and to increase our customerʹs and the Internet Communityʹs loyalty and trust. It is our goal to protect our trademark as well as the reputation of our company. Our own TLD will tie together various elements of our brand architecture and will place us as innovation leaders within our sector. With an own TLD our customers and Internet users will receive a seal of quality that a website with our TLD is secure. Plus Internet users seeking reliable first-hand information about our products or our company will benefit largely from the possibility to restrict the search space to the contents of .ifm domains. A great advantage of an own nTLD is that it will allow us to create short and easily memorable domain names. We are expecting an ease of access, for example when people use their mobile phones to connect to the Internet, accessing content online will be much easier thanks to the new domain names. Online marketing will gain many new opportunities, as for example new online marketing campaigns can be created with customized URLs with the .ifm brand extension, offering a wide range of eye-catching slogans. Moreover the own TLD will give us the opportunity to have full control over our Internet presence which is very important to us. ifm will enable us to choose whether we want to restrict use of our TLD to departments within the company or whether we want to allow our partners or resellers to use our brand TLD for company-approved purposes. Therefore we will be able to establish our own requirements and policies that ensure the seal of quality is met at any time. In addition to that operating a new TLD of our own will give us an important competitive advantage. Customers, resellers, and partner companies that are awarded .ifm domains are clearly visible for their customers, potential customers, and the Internet Community as a whole as selected and competent enterprises.

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We are not intending to sell domains to third parties. We will be deciding to offer the second level domains based on our business requirements and priorities. Requesters do not have a right to a particular domain."

Top-Level Domain