The upcoming launch of the .PAY top-level domain marks a notable development in the domain name landscape, particularly for brand owners concerned with online fraud and consumer trust. Positioned at the crossroads of digital payments and brand identity, this new extension raises immediate strategic and defensive considerations ahead of its Sunrise Period.
According to information published by ICANN, Amazon will be launching the .PAY top-level domain on April 13. Readers will recall that Amazon is one of the few registry operators still holding unlaunched TLDs from the 2012 application round.
Like other recent TLDs launched by Amazon, .PAY is not included in the GlobalBlock service. Defensive registrations must therefore be a consideration even for all brands, regardless of whether they’ve subscribed to GlobalBlock.
The Sunrise Period will run through May 13 and follow the standard process: Applicants will need to have previously registered their mark in the Trademark Clearinghouse and use the resulting .smd file to prove eligibility at the time of registration.
.PAY is a sensitive TLD from a brand protection standpoint, as a brand.pay domain name inherently suggests use as a payment portal for the brand in question. This fact was not lost on Amazon, which has opted for a Limited Registration Period (in lieu of a traditional Landrush) to follow Sunrise and run until February 1, 2027.
While the Sunrise Registration Policy does not include restrictions on the types of entities that may registrar nor what use be made of the domain name, the Limited Registration Period contains both:
On eligible registrants:
…is restricted to Registrants that conduct payment transactions online using an approved Payment Service Provider or Third-Party Payment Processor.
On permitted domain use:
“You agree to use your .PAY LRP Domain Name in connection with payment-related services, including but not limited to processing payments, facilitating e-commerce transactions, or providing payment gateway services.”
The LRP Policies suggest that there will not be an a priori eligibility verification, but rather that they will conduct spot checks and attend to reports of non-compliance. While this opens the door for an infringing website to go live, it also provides a simpler means to take down such a website: It’s generally easier to prove non-compliance with a registry policy than meet the standard of a domain dispute or abuse report.
No dates have been announced for when General Availability will start for .PAY, nor whether the restrictions from the Limited Registration Period will carry over.
In summary, there are at least two, and potentially three characteristics of .PAY that lead us to place a higher priority on defensive registration during Sunrise than for the average TLD launch:
- The inherent risk of a bad actor holding pay, even if it were only for a short period.
- The fact that .PAY is not included in GlobalBlock
- The possibility that a registration made after Sunrise be subject to the usage requirement, thereby removing the option to leave the domain dormant.
IP Twins is currently in communication with its registry partners to confirm costs and other consideration for potential applicants. Account Managers are also receiving expressions of interest in Sunrise Registrations, so if you’d like to be kept in the loop, please reach out at your earliest convenience, as the launch date is rapidly approaching.