Legal News & Analysis – Asia Pacific – Indonesia –  Intellectual Property

 

The Indonesian Domain Name Forum has recently introduced a new Top Level Domain called ‘Anything.id’. With the introduction of this ‘Anything.id’ Top Level Domain, anyone who wishes to use a ‘.id’ domain name will no longer need to use the available Second Level Domain names of ’co.id’, ‘biz.id’, ‘web.id’, ‘my.id’, ‘or.id’, ‘sch.id’, ‘ac.id’, ‘desa.id’, ‘net.id’, ‘go.id’ and ‘mil.id’. 

 

An applicant can instead simply use ‘.id’ as a domain name, for example ‘John.id’

 

Pengelola Nama Domain Indonesia or the Indonesian Domain Names Administrator (PANDI), the official registry or administrator of domain names in Indonesia, will officially launch the ‘Anything.id’ Top Level Domain on 17 August 2014. However, before such date PANDI will introduce the following early launch periods.

 

Early Launching Periods

 

Sunrise Period (20 January 2014 to 17 April 2014)

 

Registration during this period is open only to an owner of a registered trademark or anyone who has already filed for a trademark application in Indonesia. In registering for a Top Level Domain name, the proposed name must be identical to the name of the trademark so appearing in the relevant certificate of trademark registration or trademark application form.

 

Grandfather Period (21 April 2014 to 13 June 2014)

 

Registration during this period will only be open to an owner of an already registered Second Level Domain. In order to obtain an ‘Anything.id’ Top Level Domain name, the proposed name must be identical to the name of the Second Level Domain already registered.

 

Landrush Period (16 June 2014 to 15 August 2014)

 

Only an Indonesian citizen or an eligible Indonesian institution may register for an ‘Anything.id’ Top Level Domain name during this period.

 

In any of these periods, if the ‘Anything.id’ Top Level Domain is registered by one applicant only, then the applicant will have the rights to use the domain name. However, if more than one applicant applies for the same ‘Anything.id’ domain name, then such name will be assigned to the party who pays the highest acquisition price, if both parties have registered or pending trademarks covering the domain name. If there are two applicants claiming similar domain names where one is based on a registered trademark and one is based on an application, then the administrator will prioritize the party that owns the registered trademark.

 

General Availability Period

 

This period will start on 17 August 2014 or after the end of the early launching periods. During this period, anyone can register for an ‘Anything.id’ Top Level Domain name on a first come, first serve basis and by taking into account the general requirements for registration. These requirements are, among others:

 

• The owner of an anything.id Top Level Domain name must adhere to Indonesian laws and regulations,
• the applicant must have valid identity as an Indonesian citizen,
• the applicant is entitled to register for the use or administration of the ‘Anything.id’ domain name,
• the applicant is deemed to have technical capabilities and to understand the technical aspects of registering for an ‘Anything.id’ Top Level Domain name.

 

Guidelines For Naming

 

Further, in order to register for an ‘Anything.id’ domain name, PANDI sets out that:

 

• If the ‘Anything.id’ domain name relates to a trade mark/trade dress/copyright or other Intellectual Property rights of an applicant or entity, then it must be proven with the relevant evidence of registration.
• If the domain name is similar to or forms part of or is an abbreviation of an applicant’s or entity’s company name, then it must be proven with the relevant corporate documents.
• If the domain name relates to a product name or service name of an applicant or entity, then it must be accompanied with the relevant certificate or statement letter.
• If the domain name relates to a name of a representative, agent or distributor of an applicant or entity, then it must be proven with the relevant official appointment letter as representative/agent or distributor.
• If the domain name relates to a person’s name, then it must be proven by his/her relevant identity card.

 

The ‘Anything.id’ Top Level Domain can consist of letters a – z, A – Z, numbers 0 – 9 or hyphen (‘–’) characters. The name should also consist of a minimum 5 and a maximum 63 characters. If the domain name consists of less than 5 characters, then the applicant must submit a written request to PANDI for such name to be accepted. PANDI will then set out the requirements and mechanism for its registration.

 

Conclusion

 

Following the introduction of the ‘Anything.id’ Top Level Domain, a trademark owner who wishes to protect its trademark by way of the ’Anything.id’ Top Level Domain, has been granted priority to do so through the Sunrise Period.

 

Even if the Sunrise Period expires, by registering its trademark as an ‘Anything.id’ Top Level Domain name, a trademark owner will be accorded certain levels of protection from the potential registration of the same trademark as an ‘Anything.id’ Top Level Domain name.

 

 

For further information, please contact:

 

Joel Smith, Partner, Herbert Smith Freehills

[email protected]

 

David Dawborn, Partner, Herbert Smith Freehills

[email protected]

 

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