.obi
| Status: | Delegated |
| Registry Provider: | Verisign |
| Type: | Brand TLD |
.obi is a Brand TLD delegated to the Root Zone in ICANN's New gTLD Program. The manager of the gTLD is OBI Group Holding GmbH, with back-end registry services provided by Verisign.[1] The string was delegated on 23 September 2015.[2]
Application Details
The following is excerpted from the applicant's response to question #18:
"OBI is one of the leading brands in the worldwide DIY („Do it yourself“) market. Measured by the annual turnover, OBI is the seventh most profitable DIY-company in the world. In Europe, OBI has the third largest turnover and in Germany OBI is the undisputed No. 1. The OBI Group has 143 affiliated companies. Today, OBI operates 579 stores throughout Europe with more than 40.500 employees. Besides the German home market with actually 343 stores, OBI is also present in Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, Switzerland and Ukraine and intends to expand to more countries. The mission of the proposed „.obi“ gTLD is to serve as an exclusive namespace for the OBI brand. Only OBI shall be eligible to register Second Level Domains in the „.obi“ namespace. A right to use registered domain names will be granted to group companies, franchise partners and possibly a limited number of contractors subject to policies and conditions set up by OBI."[3]