Donuts Inc., a registry that manages nearly 200 new gTLDs, has announced an expansion to its domain-blocking services with its new offering called DPML Plus. They also announced that they will be raising the price for their standard DPML block beginning January 2017.

For those who are unfamiliar, a Domains Protected Marks List (DPML) block prevents unauthorized third parties (i.e. domain squatters) from registering your trademark within any of the Donuts TLDs. For example, Lexsynergy could purchase a DPML block for the trademark “lexsynergy” and this would block other parties from registering domains like lexsynergy.business, lexsynergy.email or lexsynergy.guru. This standard block only includes domains that are an exact match to the trademark.

DPML Plus

The new DMPL Plus allows trademark owners to block an exact match of their trademark plus three additional terms that are either misspells or contains the exact match. For example, with a single DPML Plus purchase, Lexsynergy could receive a block on all of the following:

* Lexsynergy – the exact match
* Lexsynergyinc – contains the trademark
* Lexsynergydomains – contains the trademark
* Lexssynergy – a misspell

Here are some of the features of the DPML Plus:

* The blocks are for 10-years vs. the current 5-year standard block (renewals are still for 1-year)
* It blocks the terms across all Donuts TLD, including all standard and premium domain names
* Includes unlimited free overrides for the duration of the 10-year term
* The DPML Plus blocks are not subject to override registrations by other parties with the same trademark (this is allowed with the standard 5-year block).
* There is an option to add additional misspells/contains for an additional fee.
* Current Donuts DPML holders can purchase a DPML Plus block and replace their current block for 10 years.

A DPML block has been a cost-effective way for trademark owners to protect their brands within the new gTLD space.  Donut’s new pricing levels, especially the DMPL Plus, may make a block less feasible for trademark owners; however, it is still an efficient and cost-effective option. A standard DPML block or a DPML Plus block should be carefully considered for high priority trademarks.

DPML Plus is only available from now until 31 March 2017. If you are interested in purchasing a new DPML block or converting your standard DPML to a DPML Plus please contact your account manager or email our support team at [email protected] as soon as possible so we can process this for you. If you have any additional questions or would like to receive the pricing for DPML Plus, please email [email protected]