.lego Domain

THE MISSION AND PURPOSE OF THE NEW .LEGO gTLD IS TO BENEFIT INTERNET USERS BY ENSURING INCREASED TRUST AND CONFIDENCE THROUGH THE ELIMINATION OF USER CONFUSION AND ASSURANCE OF BRAND AUTHENTICITY.


The new .lego gTLD will operate as a restricted registry, in which LEGO JURIS A/S (LEGO) can create and control domain spaces to support an authentic and unified LEGO brand online. In this regard, the .lego gTLD will be used by LEGO to provide information, services and resources to consumers in a way that promotes trust, convenience and utility. It will provide an authoritative internet space for LEGO, its affiliates and partners that are associated with the brand. Second and third level domain names can then be utilised to promote LEGO products, with internet users assured of brand authenticity. Geographic names and Internationalized Domain Names ("IDNs") may also be utilised by LEGO to provide relevant information to its customers, as well as present information in their native language.

LEGO is a subsidiary of KIRKBI A/S, and was created to own and administer the industrial property rights of all LEGO entities (the LEGO Group). LEGO A/S is the owner of the LEGO Group and LEGO A/S is in turn owned by the ultimate parent entity KIRKBI A/S. The LEGO Group is the world's fourth largest manufacturer of toys, with its products on sale in over 130 countries. The LEGO Group seeks to develop innovative new products and expand electronic activities. In this regard, innovation and consumer trust are paramount considerations in all of its activities.

Commercial activities are increasingly conducted over the internet, allowing for greater levels of interaction with customers and businesses. As a result, both businesses and the end users benefit from ease of interaction and a wider range of choices with lower transaction costs. However the increase in such activity in the current domain system has left business and consumers vulnerable to increased criminal activity over the internet, including data breach, hacking and phishing. These sophisticated criminal activities cause reputational damage to businesses as internet users lose consumer confidence and trust with the businesses targeted by such criminal activities. The .lego gTLD will facilitate greater trust and assurance from users connecting with LEGO online, whilst still allowing convenient and efficient interaction.

LEGO's mission and purpose of the proposed new gTLD share ICANN's initiatives to promote public interest. LEGO is committed to contribute towards achieving such initiatives in line with ICANN's Affirmation of Commitments, which includes:

- consumer trust: the .lego gTLD registry will be operated in a centralised manner with restrictive registration policy. Registration of domain names will only be available to LEGO and its affiliate entities, which will provide added consumer trust that .lego domain names are trustworthy. As .lego domain names are subject to registration standards, policies and procedures under LEGO's control, this eliminates the possibility of malicious conduct within the .lego domain space;

- competition: the proposed new gTLD is not intended to instigate competition and consumer choice among prospective registrants. Instead it is anticipated to contribute to ICANN's initiatives to promote public interest through its operation focused on strengthening consumer trust. Increased trust in .lego gTLD will drive existing and new top level domain (TLD) registry operators to make improvements in mechanisms to improve consumer trust of their TLDs; and

- consumer choice: the proposed new gTLD will enable user-driven improvements and innovations assisting LEGO's marketing efforts through its ability to create new second and third level domain names on demand. These names will provide the consumers with more choices for interacting with LEGO. As LEGO has effective control over the registration and use of domain names under the .lego domain space, this will also contribute towards general service innovations on the internet.

Given the restricted nature of the .lego gTLD, the projected number of registration is likely to be limited. It is anticipated that a more limited number (5-200) of domain names will be registered in the first year. However, over the next few years, the number of registrations is likely to increase up to about 800 domain names as new services, products and marketing campaigns for the LEGO brand are developed and implemented. As the new .lego gTLD expands and evolves, LEGO will continue to comply with all operational, technical and policy requirements, as well as maintaining consumer trust and the stability on the internet. LEGO will keep ICANN reasonably informed of any material developments relating to the .lego gTLD including compliance with the continued operations instrument obligations as set out in Specification 8 of the Registry Agreement.

LEGO will be able to create relevant domain names on demand for use, including for product and service names in the second or third level domains. LEGO may also use Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) at the second level, including the use of 32 languages from countries in which they operate: Spanish, Russian, German, Arabic, Indian, French, Portuguese, Serbian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Chinese, Croatian, Greek, Czech, Danish, Estonian, Finnish, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Malaysian, Norwegian, Polish, Swedish, Taiwanese, Turkish and Vietnamese. The use of IDNs will allow internet users to engage with .lego in their native language, creating a more positive user experience and encouraging diversity. As the use of the .lego gTLD evolves, it is anticipated that the use of IDNs, including additional languages, will increase within the .lego domain space.

LEGO may also use geographic names at the second level. In accordance with registration policies and the proposed measures for the protection of geographic names as outlined in response to Question 22, LEGO will use geographic names and IDNs in countries and regions in which LEGO currently operates. The use of geographic names intends to:

- connect internet users with relevant information as applicable to the territory; and

- comply with required rules and regulations in the territory.

LEGO is a well-recognised global brand with its trademarks registered in 180 countries and territories for amongst others the following category: construction toys, clothing, bags, electronic goods, video games, board games, educational and teaching materials, educational service, entertainment services, books, paper goods. LEGO has extensive domain name registrations containing the "LEGO" trademark in more than 700 country-code TLDs (ccTLDs) and 300 gTLDs. Furthermore, there are almost 100 domain names which are exact matches to the "LEGO" trademark. Some of these domain spaces include:

- gTLDs: .com, .mobi

- ccTLDS: .nl, .eu, .cn, .dk

Recently, LEGO was successful in securing sunrise application for the following domain spaces based on existing trademark registration: .eu, .me, .tel, .qa, .mobi.
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