Nominet wants to open up rights to register short uk domain names

Nominet – the not-for-profit body in charge of regulating the registration of domain names ending in ‘.uk’ – has revealed plans to introduce some more popular and sought after names. Until now, it has not been possible to register domain names of one letter (such as ‘A.co.uk’) and two letters have been severely restricted. It is now consulting on opening these up. People have until 8^th June to respond to the consultation. If the plan goes ahead, there would be a ‘sunrise period’ during which people with UK registered trade mark rights and then unregistered trade mark rights would get priority. What is not clear at this stage, however, is what happens if two or more people have rights over the same name. If you want to claim a short domain name, take part in the consultation or at least watch this space.