The .au Domain Administration (auDA) recently announced that Australians will soon be eligible to secure their domain name with Direct Registration.

What does this mean?

From 24 March 2022, you will be able to obtain your domain name with the .au Direct Registration extension. 

Currently, Australian dedicated domain name extensions such as example.com.au and example.net.au are available.

Direct Registration is establishing a new domain name space, meaning you will be able to register your domain name as example.au. 

This will give Australians the opportunity to secure a shorter, cleaner and more appealing domain name for their websites. 

Things you need to know

  1. For anybody who is a current domain name holder with an extension of .com.au, .net.au, .asn.au, .id.au, .gov.au, or .edu.au, a priority allocation process will become available from 24 March 2022. 

This means you will be eligible to request a priority allocation for your Direct Registration. 

For any domain name holders who share the same name as another party, your priority status will fall into either Category 1 (for the original domain names secured prior to 4 February 2018) and Category 2 (for the original domain names secured after to 4 February 2018). 

Category 1 takes priority over Category 2. 

For those Category 2 individuals who find themselves in a dispute with another Category 2 party over an identical contested domain, the successful party will be whoever secured their original domain first.

For those Category 1 individuals who find themselves in a dispute with another Category 1 party over a contested domain, the successful party will be determined by negotiation. If negotiation cannot be achieved, the domain will remain on priority hold until there is only one remaining active applicant. 

Further information on the exact requirements for this process can be seen here. 

  1. The priority allocation period will only be available for six (6) months, so be sure to lock in the date so that you do not miss out. Check out the auDA Priority Allocation Overview here. 
  2. You can apply for priority allocation through accredited domain name registrars such as VentraIP Australia. 
  3. The introduction of Direct Registration is undoubtedly going to create competition for domain names and brand name owners in the marketplace.

This introduction of this entirely new domain space is also likely to affect trademark owners in Australia.

Therefore, if you are an individual or business who currently owns a domain or business name, now is the time to ensure that you are ready to claim priority for Direct Registration and to ensure that your business names are protected under a trademark registration. 

If you would like to know more information about your Direct Registration and how to claim priority allocation, or you simply want to know more about protecting your brand, please contact the Intellectual Property Team at Rouse Lawyers.