.brother

Status:	Proposed
Type:	Brand TLD
Priority #:	1286 - Brother Industries, Ltd.
More information:

.brother is a Brand TLD being proposed in ICANN's New gTLD Program. The applicant is Brother Industries, Ltd.

Application Details

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

"The TLD is intended to benefit Internet users by enabling Brother Industries, Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as ʺThe Companyʺ) to communicate more easily and effectively with all Internet users, and particularly with The Companyʹs numerous customers, employees and affiliates. The TLD will become a supporting branding, technology and services platform for The Companyʹs mission and its businesses.

The Company is a long established and well-known multinational corporation, with a history spanning more than 104 years. It was founded in 1908 as ʺYasui Sewing Machine Co.ʺ and was incorporated in 1934 as ʺNippon Sewing Machine Manufacturing Co.ʺ It has been developing its business under the present corporate name from 1962. Its headquarters are located in Aichi, Japan. The Company is currently comprised of a group of 68 companies, undertaking business in over 44 countries with a total workforce of 29,873 employees (as of June 23, 2011, consolidated basis).

The Company is considered to be one of the leading companies in the manufacture and sale of laser MFPs and printers for business. The net sales for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2011 were up to JPY502,830,000,000 (consolidated basis).

The Company has established a long-term, sustainable vision for the development of its business and its strong internet presence, along with technologies such as the World Wide Web and email, are central to this development. This is also reflected by The Company’s domain portfolio, of over 70 domains registered in many generic TLDs and country code TLDs. These domains contain the word ʺbrotherʺ and are used in relation to The Company and not in relation to the generic meaning of the word. The Company envisions that the .BROTHER TLD and the domain names registered under it will provide a great opportunity to interact online with current and potential customers and stakeholders.

The brand ʺBROTHERʺ is the name of the company itself and is a well-known multinational corporate brand. This brand was established in 1928, and since 1962 has been used as the name of the company. In general, the word ʺbrotherʺ is quite a universal word that means ʺmale sibling.ʺ However ʺBROTHERʺ the brand, is as well-known as the original definition of the word and this indicates the prominence of The Companyʹs goods and services. As The Company has registered this corporate brand in over 130 countries and⁄or trademark jurisdictional regions, this corporate brand serves to clearly remind general customers of the companyʹs goods and services.

The .BROTHER Registry will provide an Internet space, under the control of The Company, to allow for the distribution and exchange of information among The Company and its stakeholders by means of, but not limited to, websites, social networks, email and other technologies that will reside within the .BROTHER domain name space. In addition, ancillary services may be provided in relation to registration of domains within the TLD, including but not limited to website hosting, SEO, marketing and consulting services.

The Company initially intends to reserve all names within the TLD for itself, and to primarily use any of those domain names for promotional and navigational purposes relating to The Companyʹs online presence and⁄or provision of goods and services.

Eventually, though not likely for at least three years post-delegation, The Company anticipates the possibility that Affiliates could license the use of domains within the TLD from The Company. However, such licenses could only be made via contract which limits the use of the domain name to purposes specified by The Company. Such terms would be enforced via monitoring and quick action to mitigate any negative effects of any such abuse, if any. Licenses of the domain names could be revoked by The Company at any time, for any reason."

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