.ford Domain Registration - .ford Domains - Register Ford Motor Company Domain Name .ford

The mission and purpose of the proposed .FORD Top Level Domain (TLD) is the creation and operation of a TLD dedicated to the Ford businesses, brands, trade marks, goods and services. As such the objective is that the .FORD TLD will serve as an official, trusted, secure and dedicated name space for the globally renowned FORD brand and services. To this end the Applicant seeks to launch the .FORD TLD and to create and operate an innovative and secure platform in a manner which is consistent with its subject matter whilst committing to the promotion of competition, consumer trust, consumer protection and integrity of the FORD TLD and the associated Internet space.

The Applicant is committed to ensuring that it fully complies with and meets or exceeds the requirements of ICANN in terms of competition, consumer protection, security, stability and resiliency, malicious abuse issues, sovereignty concerns, and rights protection in relation to the expansion of the generic Top Level Domain (gTLD) name space by devising and implementing mechanisms in line with ICANN's Consensus Policies and Temporary Policies.

The Applicant proposes to launch and operate the .FORD TLD to create a new Internet ecosystem dedicated to the Applicant and to enable and facilitate innovations, creation and promotion of new initiatives, platforms, applications and ventures from the Applicant and its Affiliates. The domain name space associated with the .FORD TLD will create a new environment which will enhance diversity, choice and utility of the Domain Name System, based on a segmented approach, hence encouraging specialisation, differentiation, consumer recognition, and consumer choice in line with ICANN policy development.

In order to ensure the integrity, success and to build confidence in the .FORD TLD and the associated domain name space, the Applicant is dedicated to ensuring that appropriate safeguards are put in place with a view to protecting, among other things, public interest, consumers, trade mark owners and other third party rights owners.

Operating and overseeing this new Internet space in a transparent, fair and efficient manner will be essential to create goodwill in the .FORD TLD and to develop confidence and trust in the .FORD TLD.

The fact that the Applicant intends to operate the .FORD TLD as a single registrant/single user registry model will allow the Applicant and its Affiliates to control the operations of the .FORD TLD and prevent violation of public interest, trade mark infringement and other types of malicious conduct. The .FORD TLD will thus create an environment where opportunities for abuse and malevolent conduct will be virtually eliminated.

Furthermore, the Applicant is dedicated to ensuring that the creation and operation of the .FORD TLD will not have an adverse or negative affect on the operational security and stability of the Internet and the Domain Name System.

The .FORD TLD will be a continuously evolving platform and serve as a base for innovative uses, content and services with a view to optimising specialisation, high level of service, reliable quality content, consumer trust and innovation.

The Applicant has considered potential uses of the .FORD TLD which would include allocating second-level domain names that correspond with:

1. The specialisation areas of the Applicant and its Affiliates, such as:
ACCESSORIES.FORD
SHAREHOLDER.FORD
2. Internal management and information, such as:
DEVELOPMENT.FORD
LEGAL.FORD
3. Investor relations and corporate portal, such as:
INVESTOR.FORD
CORPORATEGOVERNANCE.FORD

These are some of the potential uses which have been identified as being in line with the operation of the proposed .FORD TLD following the single registrant/single user registry model. In addition, the Applicant and its Affiliates will actively use and continue to explore new ways of ensuring that the .FORD TLD is an environment which is conducive to innovation, consumer choice and recognition, business visibility and specialisation and may in this respect implement additional types of use of the .FORD TLD within the scope of the Registry Agreement to be executed before delegation of the .FORD TLD.

1.1) The Ford business

The Applicant is the Ford Motor Company, a publicly traded corporation in good standing and listed on New York Stock Exchange in the United States (NYSE: F) and on stock exchanges in Belgium and France. A global automotive industry leader, Ford Motor Company is based in Dearborn, Michigan, USA and manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents. Ford Motor Companyʹs vehicle brands are Ford and Lincoln.

Ford Motor Company was incorporated in state of Delaware in 1919. It acquired the business of a Michigan company, also known as Ford Motor Company, which had been incorporated in 1903 to produce and sell automobiles designed and engineered by Henry Ford. From these beginnings Ford Motor Company has grown to become one of the largest and most profitable companies in the world.

Ford Motor Company is a truly global company with a worldwide workforce of approximately 164,000 employees and 69 manufacturing plants worldwide including 35 in North America, 8 in South America, 14 in Europe and 12 in Asia-Pacific and Africa. In addition to this, Ford is building seven new manufacturing plants with four in China, two in India, and one in Thailand.
As such Ford Motor Company is one of the world's largest producers of cars and trucks and in 2011 the company sold approximately 5,695,000 vehicles at wholesale throughout the world. The net income attributable to Ford Motor Company in 2011 was $20.2 billion.

Ford Motor Company and its subsidiaries also engage in other businesses, including financing vehicles via its wholly-owned subsidiary Ford Motor Credit Company LLC which offers a wide variety of automotive financing products to and through automotive dealers throughout the world. The majority of Ford Credit's business consists of financing Ford vehicles and supporting the Ford dealership network.

1.2) The Ford brand

Since its creation, the Applicant has acquired and constantly developed reputation and goodwill in its FORD brand and services worldwide through continuous and significant investment, use and effort.

The FORD brand, trade marks and domain names are invaluable assets and serve to identify the Ford Motor Company business as a trusted source of the highest quality goods and services globally.

The Applicant owns thousands of trade mark registrations which consist of or contain the term FORD worldwide in most classes of goods and services, including but not limited to: class 12 (motor land vehicles, vehicle bodies), class 11 (lighting installations & apparatus; installations & apparatus for air conditioning, ventilation or heating motor land vehicles), class 36 (insurance, warranty, financing, hire purchase and lease purchase financing services), class 37 (maintenance of motor land vehicles).

The Applicant has secured trade mark registrations which comprise of or contain the term FORD in over 160 countries and territories. The FORD brand is ranked in 50th position in the ʺInterbrand Best Global Brands 2011ʺ list.

The popularity and consumer recognition of the FORD brand have made Ford Motor Company one of the most famous companies and brands in the world. Reflecting its global reach, the Applicant owns numerous domain names consisting of or including the term FORD across a broad range of gTLD and ccTLD extensions.

Moreover, the Applicantʹs FORD trade mark and brand has been recognised by the courts in several decisions as ʺamong the most famous marks in the worldʺ and is an ʺundoubtedly famous markʺ.