.bms Domain

THE MISSION AND PURPOSE OF THE NEW RESTRICTED .BMS 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 .bms gTLD will operate as a restricted registry, in which Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMS) can create and control domain spaces that promote its brand identity and authenticity. In this regard, the .bms gTLD will be used by BMS, its affiliates and partners to provide authoritative information, services and resources to consumers regarding BMS' range of innovative medicines in a way that promotes trust, convenience and utility. Second and third level domains can then be utilised for specific websites about BMS' medicine products and therapeutic treatments, as well as for communication and marketing purposes, with internet users assured of brand authenticity.

BMS is a leading global biopharmaceutical company with about 27,000 employees whose mission is to discover, develop and deliver innovative medicines that help patients prevail against serious diseases. BMS develops, manufactures, licenses, markets, distributes and sells pharmaceutical products around the world. BMS was originally incorporated as Bristol-Myers Company in 1899 and became Bristol-Myers Squibb Company in 1989 when Bristol-Myers Company merged with Squibb International. BMS is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, as BMY, with a market capitalisation of approximately USD55 billion and revenue in 2011 of over USD21 billion. BMS' medicines help millions of patients worldwide in their fight against diseases including cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hepatitis B, HIV/AIDs, psychiatric disorders and rheumatoid arthritis. Since 2002, BMS has delivered 13 key new products to patients with serious diseases. BMS is committed to social and environmental responsibility and philanthropic endeavours, such as BMS' ground-breaking USD150 million program to help confront HIV/AIDs in Africa. BMS continually invests in Research and Development (R&D), including USD3.8 billion in 2011, and is widely recognised as having one of the most productive pipelines in the pharmaceutical industry. In this regard, continuous innovation and consumer trust are paramount considerations in all its activities. The new .bms gTLD will strengthen BMS' global brand and online presence and provide an intuitive reference point for users to access information about BMS' medicines and therapeutic treatments, social responsibility and philanthropic programs.

Since the inception of the current domain name system, business activities conducted on the internet are constantly changing and evolving with increased complexity. The volume of commercial transactions over the internet is constantly growing and bringing benefits of simplicity and lowered transaction costs to businesses and consumers. However, at the same time, criminal activities over the internet including data breach, hacking and phishing activities have also become more sophisticated resulting in loss of consumer confidence beyond mere monetary harm. The .bms gTLD will facilitate greater trust and assurance from internet users connecting with BMS online, whilst still allowing convenient and efficient interaction.

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

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

- competition: the gTLD is not intended to instigate competition and consumer choice at the level of registration of domain names among prospective registrants. Instead it is anticipated to contribute to ICANN's initiatives to promote public interest through its operation focused on promoting consumer trust. Increased trust in the .bms 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 new gTLD will enable user-driven improvements and innovations assisting BMS' marketing efforts through its ability to create new second and third level domain names on demand. These names will provide consumers with more choices for interacting with BMS. As BMS has effective control over the registration and use of domain names under .bms domain space, this will also contribute towards general service innovations on the internet.

Given the restricted nature of the .bms gTLD, the projected number of registration is likely to be limited. It is anticipated that about 5 domain names will be registered in the first year. However, over the next few years, the number of registrations is likely to increase to around 500 domain names as BMS expands, develops and delivers new innovative medicines and therapies, and implements services and marketing campaigns.

As the new .bms gTLD expands and evolves, BMS will continue to comply with all operational, technical and policy requirements, as well as maintaining consumer trust and the stability of the internet. BMS will keep ICANN reasonably informed of any material developments relating to .bms gTLD including compliance with the continued operations instrument obligations as set out in Specification 8 of the Registry Agreement.

BMS intends to create relevant domain names including products, services, programs and geographic names in the second or third level domain names. In accordance with registration policy and the proposed measures for protection of geographic names as outlined in response to Question 22, BMS will use geographic names to localise its websites in countries in which it operates. The use of geographic names is intended to:

- connect internet users with relevant information as applicable to the territory; and
- comply with required rules and regulations in the national territory.

BMS has its registered "BMS" trademark with an exact match to the .bms gTLD in 38 countries and territories, including the European Community, India and the UK, primarily for the following categories: Pharmaceuticals for human use (Class 5); Surgical, medical and dental apparatus and instruments (Class 10); Printed matter and brochures relating to pharmaceuticals and disease prevention (Class 16); Educational materials (Class 41); Pharmaceutical research and development services (Class 42); Advertising and business development services (Class 35); Chemicals (Class 1); and Bleaching preparations (Class 3).

BMS has existing domain names with an exact match to the "BMS" trademark and applied-for .bms string in the following spaces:
- gTLDs: bms.com and bms.org
- ccTLDs: bms.es, bms.mx, bms.pe, bms.ph, bms.pk and bms.pt.

BMS also has nearly 500 domain names containing the "BMS" trademark. Recently, BMS was successful in securing Sunrise application for the .xxx domain space based on existing trademark registration.

BMS believes that the .bms gTLD is unlikely to cause confusion with either a generic term or any existing TLDs. BMS trademarks are a leading global brand with significant reputation in countries all around the world. BMS has used the term Bristol-Myers in conjunction with its pharmaceutical and therapeutical businesses for over 110 years and the term BMS for 23 years. As such, the BMS brand is well known for developing and delivering innovative medicines that help patients around the world prevail over serious diseases.×