1st New gTLD Contention Auction Scheduled For 4 June 2014

ICANN is publishing the schedule [PDF, 376 KB] of the upcoming Auctions for unresolved contention sets. The first Auction Event is scheduled for 4 June 2014.

As described in Module 4 of the Applicant Guidebook, Auction is the method of last resort to resolve string contention sets. Contention sets have been scheduled for Auction based on the applications’ priority numbers and the eligibility requirements defined in the Auction Rules [PDF, 323 KB].

What action is required from Applicants?

Eligible contention set members have received notifications of intent to Auction. This notification initiates the Auction process for these contention sets. These applicants can be identified from the Current Application Status page or the Contention Set Status page as having an application status of In Auction. Applicants that have received an intent to Auction notification must respond within 28 days of the notification date and submit completed pre-auction materials including the Bidders Agreement and Bidder Forms. These materials are available within the Auctions resources section of the Auctions landing page on the New gTLD microsite as well as within the web form in the Customer Portal. Auction dates for each contention set will be confirmed at least 21 days prior to the Auction.

What if I did not receive a notification of intent to Auction?

Notifications of intent to Auction were only set to the active members of eligible contentions. If you did not receive an intent to Auction notification, then your contention set is not yet eligible per the Auction Rules. ICANN will be assessing eligibility on a regular basis and as contention sets become eligible for Auction, will issue additional notifications of intent to Auction. If necessary, ICANN will update the Auction schedule to accommodate the newly eligible contention set which may result in an Auction being rescheduled to a later event to provide at least the minimum required lead-time for all parties.

Is the Schedule Subject to Change?

The Auction schedule has been developed based on an anticipated volume of 20 contention sets per event. However, several factors including self-resolution of contention sets, eligibility for the Auction, and postponement requests will affect the actual number of contention sets participating in each Auction Event.

Should all contention set members agree that they would like to postpone the auction, ICANN may accommodate such requests per the Auction Rules. To request a schedule postponement, each member of the contention set should make the request using the web form in the Customer Portal when submitting the bidder information. Requests from any fewer than all active members of a contention set will not be honored.

Should all contention set members agree that they would like to advance the schedule, ICANN may be able to accommodate such requests. To request a schedule advancement, each member of the contention set should contact ICANN via the customer portal and submit a request identifying the earliest auction date they can support. Requests from any fewer than all active members of a contention set will not be honored.

The scheduled dates and times of the auctions are as follows:

Please see the full Auction Schedule [PDF, 376 KB] for more the details.

Applicants in contention are encouraged to attend the Auction session at the upcoming ICANN 49 meeting in Singapore.