OnlineDomain.com Domain Name News & Opinions
ICANN released today the string similarity contention sets for New gTLD program. ICANN focused on the visually similar gTLD strings that resulted in only 2 “Non-Exact Match Contention Sets”:
.hotels & .hoteis (small l is visually similar with small i) and
.unicorn & .unicom (rn is visually similar to m)
It seems that ICANN followed the new gTLD “Applicant Guidebook”:
“a contention set is a group of two or more applications containing identical or visually similar applied-for gTLD strings.”
There are 230 exact match contention sets as expected and 754 total applications in contention. It seems that not even singular and plural of the same word is considered as visually similar. e.g. .hotel and .hotels
The contention sets were identified by the string similarity review for applications submitted as part of the New gTLD Program. Review the full list of contention sets here: PDF [162 KB], CSV [65 KB] or from the Applicants’ Corner page on the new gTLD microsite.
Overall statistics about Contention Sets
- 2 Non-Exact Match Contention Sets
- .hotels & .hoteis
- .unicorn & .unicom
- 230 Exact Match Contention Sets
- 754 Total Applications in contention
The Current Application Status page on the new gTLD microsite will be updated to reflect these contention sets.
The role of the String Similarity Panel is to assess whether a proposed gTLD string creates a probability of user confusion due to similarity with any reserved name, any existing TLD, any requested IDN ccTLD, or any new gTLD string applied for in the current application round.
Per the Applicant Guidebook, a contention set is a group of two or more applications containing identical or visually similar applied-for gTLD strings. For more information on string contention procedures, please refer to Module 4 [PDF, 428 KB] of the Applicant Guidebook.
As a reminder, the objection filing period is open until 13 March 2013. For more information refer to the Objection & Dispute Resolution page.
