.farmers

The Applicant is an inter-insurance exchange owned by its policyholders and organized under the laws of the State of California. The Applicant is an insurer within the Farmers Insurance Group, a group that includes two other exchanges, and other subsidiaries and affiliates of all three exchanges. The Applicant, directly or through its subsidiaries, offers automobile, homeowners, personal umbrella, and business owners insurance throughout the United States. In particular, Applicant is licensed as an insurer and operates as an insurer in the following states: AL, AZ, AR, CA, CO, DE, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, and WY.

The Applicant owns the FARMERS brand. FARMERS is one of the largest and most respected insurance brands in the United States. Indeed, the insurers comprising the Farmers Insurance Group, operating under the FARMERS brand, have been leaders in the insurance industry for over 80 years.

Applicant has invested significant resources to develop and protect its FARMERS brand and to achieve brand recognition. For example, Applicant, through its attorney-in-fact, Farmers Group, Inc., owns various trademarks in the United States and various domain names related to the FARMERS brand.

Applicant, through its attorney-in-fact, owns the distinctive and famous FARMERS trademark and variations thereof incorporating "FARMERS" (the "FARMERS Marks"). Applicant, through its attorney-in-fact, has common law rights and also U.S. federal registrations for the FARMERS Marks.

Applicant, through its attorney-in-fact, owns the following U.S. federal registrations for the FARMERS Marks, including FARMERS INSURANCE GROUP (Reg. No. 1,821,673); FARMERS (Reg. No. 1,899,192); FARMERS INSURANCE GROUP SYMBOL OF SUPERIOR SERVICE & Design (Reg. No. 953,862); FARMERS FLEXIBLE UNIVERSAL LIFE (Reg. No. 1,657,608); FARMERS ANNUITY PLUS (Reg. No. 1,659,107); FARMERS INSURANCE GROUP OF COMPANIES (Reg. No. 1,821,672); FARMERS FRIENDLY REVIEW (Reg. No. 1,834,032); AMERICA CAN DEPEND ON FARMERS (Reg. No. 1,837,037); FARMERS INSURANCE EXCHANGE (Reg. No. 1,920,139); FARMERS NEW WORLD LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY (Reg. No. 1,966,130); FARMERS EASYPAY (Reg. No. 2,228,194); FARMERS. GETS YOU BACK WHERE YOU BELONG (Reg. No. 2,345,790); FARMERS EASYPAY DIRECT (Reg. No. 2,532,525); FARMERS FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS (Reg. No. 2,582,990); FARMERS FASTQUOTE (Reg. No. 2,665,732); FARMERS FINANCIAL SERVICES (Reg. No. 2,723,435); UNIVERSITY OF FARMERS (Reg. No. 2,994,359); FARMERS CIRCLE OF DEPENDABILITY (Reg. No. 3,044,980); IFARMERS (Reg. No. 4,016,753); FARMERS NEXT GENERATION (Reg. No. 3,337,085); FARMERS. FOR YOU. (Reg No. 3,499,990); FARMERS LIFE (Reg. No. 3,558,501); FARMERS FLEX (Reg. No. 3,627,616); FARMERS VALUE INSURANCE PACKAGE (Reg. No. 3,686,546); FARMERS VIP (Reg No. 3,502,466; FARMERS BUSINESS INSURANCE EXPRESS (Reg. No. 3,505,986); FARMERS ESSENTIAL LIFE (Reg. No. 3,389,557); FARMERS LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY (Reg. No. 3,627,476); and FARMERS SERVICEPOINT (Reg. No. 3,358,260).

Applicant markets its products and services under the FARMERS Marks and the FARMERS brand. Applicant has continuously used the FARMERS Marks and FARMERS name in commerce in the United States. Applicant prominently uses and promotes the FARMERS Marks in advertising, sales, and in various other ways. Applicant's sales and advertising expenses under the FARMERS Marks have been extensive and in the tens of millions of dollars annually. The FARMERS Marks are highly regarded, well-known and widely recognized by consumers, and serve to identify and indicate the source of Applicant's products and services to the consuming public, as well as to distinguish their products and services from the products and services of others. As a result of Applicant's longstanding and extensive use and promotion of the FARMERS Marks, these marks represent considerable goodwill and value to Applicant.

Applicant, through its attorney-in-fact, also owns various domain names related to the FARMERS brand. For example, Applicant, through its attorney-in-fact, has owned Farmers.com since 1996 and FarmersAgent.com since 2000. Applicant actively uses farmers.com to provide insurance products and services and information to its policyholders. Applicant actively uses FarmersAgent.com for electronic communications related to its provision of insurance products and services.

The Applicant, through its attorney-in-fact, has registered domains for many of its trademarks and also has registered domains separate from its trademarks. The Applicant's trademark portfolio and domain name portfolio demonstrate the Applicant's significant and continued investment while protecting its brand and achieving brand recognition both online and offline. Applicant is also present online on Facebook and Twitter.

Against this background, the mission and purpose of the applied-for gTLD includes:

i. securing and protecting the Applicant's brand as a gTLD;

ii. reflecting and operating the Applicant's brand at the top level of the DNS' hierarchy;

iii. providing stakeholders of the Applicant (e.g. policyholders; exclusive and independent agents; employees of Applicant and its affiliates; wholly-owned direct and indirect subsidiaries; business groups) with a recognizable and trusted identifier on the Internet; and

iv. providing such stakeholders with a secure and safe Internet environment, mainly or even fully under the control of the Applicant, which increases brand awareness and stakeholder trust, both of which are important within the insurance industry.×