A Policy published by the registry .auDA in 2019 and approved in August 2021 establishes the conditions under which .au domain names (second level domains) will be made available in 2022.
The Priority period for the registration of .au domain names is about to open, allowing the registrants of Third-level AU domains (ex: trademark.com.au) already fulfilling the Australian Presence Requirements detailed (auda.au) to apply for registrations of identical .au domains in priority, before the General availability of the .au.
It is an opportunity for trademark holders, among others, to secure .au equivalents of their current .com.au, thus minimizing the risk of cybersquatting.
The Priority period will start on the 24th of March 2022 and last until the 20th of September 2022. The .au domains for which there is no third-level equivalents will be available for registration starting from the 24th of March 2022. On the other hand, During the Priority period, all .au domain names identical to third-level domain names registered before the start of the Priority period will be placed on hold. The registrants of said third-level domains will be the only ones able to apply for these domains, using Tokens provided by the .auDA Registry.
As there could be several third-level domains (.com.au, .net.au, org.au…) identical to a single .au domain, the Registry had to devise a priority system among eligible applicants during the Priority Period. Indeed, the 4th of February 2018 is named the “Cut-Off Date” and used to divide Applicants in two categories:
- Priority Category 1: the third-level domain identical to the desired .au domain has a creation date on or before the 4th of February 2018;
- Priority Category 2: the third-level domain identical to the desired .au domain has a creation date on or before the 4th of February 2018.
.au domain names placed on hold during the Priority Period will be registered according to the rules below:
- No application is placed during the Priority Period by the eligible applicant(s): the domain name will be made available to anyone fulfilling the Australian presence Requirements from the 21st of September 2022;
- An application is made by either one Category 1 or one Category 2 applicant: the .au domain name will be registered in the name of the concerned applicant at the end of the Priority Period;
- one category 2 and one Category 1 applicants apply for the same .au domain during the Priority Period: the .au domain name will be registered in the name of the Category 1 applicant at the end of the Priority Period;
- Two or several Category 2 Applicants apply for the same .au domain during the Priority Period: the .au domain name will be registered at the end of the Priority Period in the name of the Category 2 applicant with the earliest identical third-level domain registration date. The other applications will be rejected.
- Several Category 1 Applicants apply for the same .au domain: the domain will be maintained on hold (even after the end of Priority date) until only one application is left. The Registry invites applicants to make an agreement in order to determine who will register the .au domain.
It is interesting to note that third-level AU domains that will be registered before the 24th of March 2022 will grant a Category 2 Priority on the identical .au domain. This is something that should be considered by brand owners whose eligible trademarks have yet to be secured on the .com.au namespace.
The IP TWINS team is at your disposal to help you protect your brand through registration of .com.au and .au domain names, among (many) others.
