Legal Alert: Deadline for Existing Registrants to Claim .uk Domain Extension Approaches

Owners of domain names in the existing UK domain family (i.e., co.uk, org.uk, me.uk, etc.), have until 6:00 AM BST on 25 June 2019 to claim the corresponding .uk domain extension before such registrations become available to the public. Nominet, which launched the .uk domain extension in 2014, gave owners of existing registrations a five-year grace period to claim the .uk equivalent of their domain name. During that time, all .uk domain names with co.uk, org.uk, and me.uk counterparts were blocked from registration by anyone other than the original owner of the existing domain.

Under this scheme, owners of existing domain names registered before 28 October 2013 acquire default rights to the corresponding .uk domain name, providing there was no other corresponding org.uk or me.uk registered. In the event of a clash:

• The co.uk will be offered the .uk equivalent.
• If there is no co.uk equivalent, the org.uk will be offered the .uk equivalent.
• If there is no co.uk or org.uk, the me.uk will be offered the .uk equivalent.

Owners of existing domain names registered after 28 October 2013, but before 10 June 2014, will also acquire rights to the corresponding .uk domain name. However, in the event of a clash, the .uk domain will be offered to whoever registered their domain first, regardless of whether it was co.uk, org.uk, or me.uk.

The opening of .uk registrations to the public means that owners of existing registrations who have not claimed their corresponding .uk domain by 25 June lose their exclusive right to do so, and previously reserved domains will become available for registration by anyone.¹ This could create a situation in which the domains [website].co.uk and [website].uk could be owned by two different parties. Owners of existing registrations should claim their reserved .uk domain equivalent by the 25 June deadline to avoid this outcome and any other potential cyber-squatting issues.

For more information about registering .uk domain extensions, please see Nominet or contact your Fish attorney.

¹ Domain names will be released in tranches beginning on 1 July. Those who have missed the 25 June deadline may still be able to register their corresponding .uk domain name if they are the first to apply.