.goog Startup Policy

Startup periods applicable to .GOOG:

Sunrise Period: end-date
Sunrise Period allocation process: Auction
- Participants will be invited to auction via the email address in the WhoIs record. Exact rules of auction will be made available to participants via the website of the auction provider.
Definitions of registration periods:
1. Sunrise Period
  1. Sunrise Period is an initial registration period, intended to protect trademark owners that precedes the general registration period. A registration is considered a Sunrise registration if it meets the criteria described below and is accompanied by a valid Trademark Clearinghouse (“TMCH”) Signed Mark Data (“SMD”) file.
2. General Registration Period
  1. The general registration period will be a steady state phase for the duration of the Registry Operator’s operation of the Registry TLD. During the general registration period, a registrant that meets the requirements set forth in the Domain Registration Policy may apply for any second level domains in the Registry TLD not registered at that time, and names shall be allocated on a firstcom first served basis, subject to Section 2.3 and Registry Operator’s rights protection mechanisms set forth in Section 2.4 of the RegistryRegistrar Agreement.
3. Sunrise Period
  1. Registration Criteria
    1. Sunrise applications must be on behalf of qualified trademark owners of marks in the TMCH. The applications for Sunrise must be for second level domains that are an identical match to their listed trademarks.
4. Application Fees
  1. The application fees for the Sunrise Period are detailed in the TLD Pricing Policy.
5. Registration Processing
  1. If the Registry Operator receives multiple Sunrise applications for a second level domain, those applicants will enter a contention resolution process (for example, an auction) to allocate the second level domain. Registry Operator will resolve all contentions and process all Sunrise applications before the beginning of the general registration period.
6. Contention Resolution
  1. If a second level domain goes into contention, all applicants will be contacted and invited to the contention resolution process directly.
  2. The rules of the contention resolution process will be made available to all applicants before the process to allocate second level domains begins.
  3. The winning applicant of the contention resolution process will be allocated the second level domain as described in the “Allocation and Registration” section.
  4. If none of the parties participates in the process to the minimum required extent (for example, in an auction, pay the minimum bid), the second level domain will not be allocated to any of the Sunrise applicants, and will be treated as if no Sunrise applications were submitted for it.
7. Allocation and Registration
  1. Once Registry Operator determines who the final recipient of a second level domain is, it will register the name to that recipient and charge their sponsoring Registrar the full registration price of the second level domain, for the entire registration period requested by the applicant.
  2. In order to provide the sponsoring Registrar an opportunity to collect these fees, a Sunrise Add Grace Period (as defined in the TLD Pricing Policy) will apply, during which Registrar can delete the second level domain (if, for example, they never receive payment from their customer), and avoid being billed for it. However, once Registrar sets nameservers for the second level domain, Registrar only has the standard Add Grace Period (as defined in the TLD Pricing Policy) within which to delete the second level domain and avoid being charged.
  3. The registration prices for second level domains awarded during all registration phases are detailed in the TLD Pricing Policy.
8. Failure Scenarios
  1. Domain allocation in the event applicants who are engaged in a contention resolution process do not participate is specified in the “Contention Resolution” section.
  2. In the event that a second level domain is awarded, but then deleted by the Registrar due to nonpayment of registration fees or deleted by the Registry Operator due to SDRP (as defined below) objections:
    1. Registry Operator or an authorized vendor will contact any prior contending applicants, in order of their standing in the contention resolution process, and offer them the opportunity to register the domain.
    2. If none of the prior contending applicants choose to register the domain, then, the second level domain opens up for the general registration period.
9. Sunrise Dispute Resolution Policy
  1. Registry Operator will incorporate a Sunrise Dispute Resolution Policy ("SDRP"). The SDRP will allow challenges to Sunrise Period registrations by third parties for a 10day period after acceptance of the registration based on the following three grounds: (i) at the time the challenged second level domain was registered, the registrant did not hold a trademark registration of national effect (or regional effect) or the trademark had not been court validated or protected by statute or treaty; (ii) the second level domain is not identical to the mark on which the registrant based its Sunrise Period registration; and (iii) the trademark registration on which the registrant based its Sunrise Period registration is not of national or regional effect or the trademark had not been court validated or protected by statute or treaty.
  2. After receiving a complaint challenging a Sunrise Period application via the "Help" link at www.google.com/registry ("Complaint"), the Registry Operator's designated contact ("Sunrise Contact") will review the Complaint to see if the Complaint reasonably 12 asserts a legitimate challenge as defined by the SDRP. If the Complaint does not, the Sunrise Contact will email the complainant within 36 hours of the Complaint to indicate that the subject of the Complaint does not fall within the SDRP, and that Registry Operator considers the matter closed.
  3. If the Sunrise Contact requires further information from the Sunrise Period registrant or if the second level domain is not found to have adequately met the Sunrise Period eligibility requirements ("SERs"), the Sunrise Contact will promptly notify the registrant of the action and the nature of the Complaint, and provide the registrant with the option to respond within ten days to cure the SERs deficiencies. All such actions will be ticketed in Google's customer relationship management software to maintain accurate SDRP processing records. If the registrant responds within 10 business days, its response will be reviewed by the Sunrise Contact to determine if the SERs are met. If the Sunrise Contact is satisfied by the registrant's response, the Sunrise Contact will then notify the complainant that the Complaint was ultimately denied and provide the reasons for the denial. If not, both the registrant and the complainant will be notified that the secondlevel domain will be released.
  4. Registry Operator reserves the right to suspend a second level domain during the pendency of a SDRP dispute, and/or to cancel, transfer, or take other action deemed necessary in its discretion upon completion of its review and/or receipt of a decision under the SDRP. Upon receipt of a decision that the registration does not meet the SERs, Registry Operator expressly reserves the right to cancel, transfer, or take other action deemed necessary in its discretion.