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.biz Domains
Registration
Who is eligible to register .biz?
How long can I
register my .biz domain for?
What are the
registration fees?
Intellectual Property Claim Period
What was the Intellectual Property (IP) Claim Period?
Who was eligible to
register an Intellectual Property (IP) Claim for .biz?
How does the
Intellectual Property (IP) claim process work?
How does the Intellectual Property (IP) dispute process work?
Pre-registration
The .biz domain I attempted to pre-register is on registry
reserve and cannot be registered. What does this mean?
What is the lawsuit
about and how does this affect me?
What is happening
to all the previously pre-registered .biz domain names?
How many times can
I pre-register an affected domain?
I already paid to
pre-register an affected name. Do I really have to apply again for the same
name? Will it cost me anything?
I submitted 5
pre-registrations. Will you put all my fees, in this case, $25, toward domain
registration?
During the initial
process, I did not apply for any of the affected domain names. Can I apply for
one of these names now?
How will the
affected domain names be distributed?
Are IP claims
still valid? Will you accept new IP claims?
Can I pre-register
a domain where an IP Claim exists?
Will the new
applications generate IP claims notifications?
How will I be
notified of the results?
Where can I get
further help?
Can I download the
complete list of Reserve Registry names?
Registration
Who is eligible to register .biz?
The .biz domain is intended for business or commercial use. It is ideal for
enterprises or individuals with e-commerce web sites. You do not have to be a
registered or incorporated business to register a .biz domain.
However, you do need to be involved in the exchange of goods, services or
property; the ordinary course of trade or business; or the facilitation of any
the aforementioned.
A .biz domain can not be used for personal or non-commercial use, and not
solely for the purposes of selling, trading or leasing the domain name for
compensation; or used for the expression of non-commercial ideas.
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Only characters in the range A to Z, 0 to 9 and hyphen are allowed
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Names can not begin or end with a hyphen
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The maximum length is 63 characters (exclusive of the .biz portion)
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How long can I register my .biz domain for?
A .biz domain can be registered for a minimum of two years and up to a maximum
of 10 years.
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What are the registration fees?
Registration fees are $15 USD per year for a minumum 2-year term.
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Intellectual Property Claim Period
What was the Intellectual Property (IP) Claim Period?
The IP Claim period is designed to help organizations protect their
intellectual property by allowing them to file a claim on a domain name.
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Who was eligible to register an Intellectual Property (IP) Claim for
.biz?
Owners of trademarks, common law trademarks or service marks can file IP Claims
to protect their valuable intellectual property.
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How does the Intellectual Property (IP) Claim process work?
The process works by notifying the
prospective applicant or applicants of:
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the name of each business or entity that submitted the IP Claim(s);
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a description of the goods/services for each IP mark;
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the date of first use in commerce for each IP mark; and
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the contact information for the person to receive legal correspondence for each
Claim.
Once the domain name is registered, the IP Claimants are notified
and provided with the Registrant's contact information.
An automatic 30-day hold is put on any domain name registration with an IP
Claim against it. This provides Claimants with an opportunity to resolve any
disputes, or take other appropriate action.
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How does the Intellectual Property (IP) dispute process work?
IP Claimants are essentially first in line for resolving domain name disputes,
using Standing in the Start-up Trademark Opposition Policy (STOP), a dispute
process designed to save Claimants' valuable time and money.
STOP makes it easier for trademark owners to demonstrate that a domain name was
registered in "bad faith". It carries a lower burden of proof than the standard
Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) and provides a more rapid forum for
resolving conflicts.
UDRP requires that a trademark or service mark owner demonstrate that a domain
name was registered in bad faith AND used in bad faith; whereas, STOP requires
that the trademark or service mark owner demonstrate that a domain name was
registered in bad faith OR used in bad faith, not both.
For
example, registering a domain name for the sole
purpose of selling it to a third party constitutes
a violation of STOP.
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Pre-registration
The .biz domain I attempted to pre-register is on registry reserve and
cannot be registered. What does this mean?
Approximately 39,000 domain names submitted during the .biz pre-registration
period are on hold as a result of a California lawsuit involving NeuLevel, the
.biz registry.
This pending litigation affects .biz domains where there were multiple
applicants for the same name. Although these names do not resolve in WHOIS,
they are not available for open registration.
Download a list of all domains on registry reserve.
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What is the lawsuit about and how does this affect me?
The distribution process for .biz domain names is the subject of litigation in
the Los Angeles Superior Court in the State of California. This lawsuit alleges
among other things, that the method for assigning domain names during the
start-up period constitutes an illegal lottery under California law.
The pending litigation delayed the randomization of domains with multiple
applicants, and affected names could be tied up indefinitely. To make these
names available as soon as possible, a new round robin submission process is
being implemented.
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What is happening to all the previously pre-registered .biz domain
names?
All of the affected .biz domain name applications were returned to Afaaq. We
will automatically submit all these affected domains for our customers once the
new registration process begins.
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How many times can I pre-register an affected domain?
We are only submitting one instance of each domain. However, if credit card
pre-authorization fails on the domain that's first in the queue, the order will
be cancelled and the next one chosen.
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I already paid to pre-register an affected name. Do I really have to
apply again for the same name? Will it cost me anything?
To make it easy, Afaaq will automatically resubmit your domain name(s) at no
charge.
As well, we will apply your original pre-registration fee towards the
registration of a domain in any top level domain extension.
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I submitted 5 pre-registrations. Will you put all my fees, in this
case, $25, toward domain registration?
You may apply the $5 deduction to 5 different domains. You may register a
domain in any extension.
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During the initial process, I did not apply for any of the affected
domain names. Can I apply for one of these names now?
Yes. A new pre-registration period will be re-opened to the public for all of
the affected domain names.
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How will the affected domain names be distributed?
The names will be chosen using a round robin process.
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Timeline: During, or around, the first week of February 2002, new domain name
applications for the affected names will be accepted for 30 days.
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Matching Against Intellectual Property (IP) Claims: In early March 2002, after
receiving all the new domain name applications for the affected names, each
domain name application will be matched against the IP Claim database.
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Conflict Notice: If the domain name in an application matches a domain name
with an IP claim, an e-mail notice will be sent to the domain name applicant
notifying them of the conflict. As with the original .biz application process,
this notification will include the IP claimant's alleged trade or service mark,
its contact information, the date the trade or service mark was first used, and
whether the mark is registered, applied for, or protected under common law.
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Proceed/Cancel Process:
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To proceed with the domain application, the applicant that receives
a conflict notice must elect to proceed with the application
despite being notified of its own, or a third parties' IP rights. Please
Note: This is true even is the only conflict contained within the notice is the
applicant's own IP claim.
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To proceed with the application, an applicant needs to follow the
instructions on the conflict notice and comply within two
weeks.
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If an applicant does not wish to proceed, the individual may disregard
the conflict notice and/or delete it. In other words, if a
domain applicant does not respond, the application will be cancelled.
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Round Robin Selection Process: All applications where there were one or more IP
claims and the applicant elected to proceed; or where they did not match an IP
Claim, will be categorized.
All domains in each registrar's queue will be randomized by NeuLevel in
preparation for the round robin selection process.
The round robin selection process consists of a series of selection rounds.
Prior to the start of each round, the selection order for the registrar queues
will be randomized.
During each round, domain name applications matching a previously selected
domain name will be discarded from the selection pool and result in a "lost
turn" for that round for that participating registrar.
The round robin in process will continue until the last domain name in the last
registrar queue has been analyzed.
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Post Round Robin:
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Once selected in the round robin process described above, a domain name will be registered.
If a registration is identified as having previously matched
an IP Claim, the domain name will be entered into the Start-up Trademark
Opposition Policy (STOP) database and placed on a 30-day
hold.
During this period, that domain name will appear as "on
hold" in the
Whois database and will not be operational. In addition, the
domain name cannot be transferred or modified.
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If a registration contains a domain name that did not match an IP Claim,
the domain name will be registered, listed in the Whois
database and immediately available for use by the domain name registrant.
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Are IP claims still valid? Will you accept new IP
claims?
IP claims filed during the first phase of the .biz registry start-up period on
any affected domain names are still valid. We are not accepting any additional
IP claims.
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Can I pre-register a domain where an IP Claim exists?
On the order form, all domains with IP claims are noted. You may pre-register
these domains, but there are no refunds on unsuccessful domain registrations
where an IP Claim exists.
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Will the new applications generate IP claims notifications?
Yes. Any applicant subject to an IP claim will be notified. All applicants
notified of one or more IP Claims must either proceed or cancel their
application (s).
Note: You must elect to proceed or cancel your application even if the
only conflict is with your own claim.
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How will I be notified of the results?
We will notify you by e-mail as soon as we know the which domains have been
successfully registered.
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Where can I get further help?
For details on the .biz situation contact us, at
support@afaaq.com
or call 961 6 423988/9.
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Can I download the complete list of Reserve Registry names?
Click here
to download the complete list in text format.
*Please note: All information
and dates are subject to change at any time.
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