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.eu Domain Name Registration FAQ
- When can .eu applications be submitted?
- What is the difference between Phase 1 and Phase 2 of Sunrise?
- Who validates claims?
- What happens if I forget to include a document in the documentary evidence I have sent? Can I resend it to the Validation Agent?
- Are there any specific requirements for documentary evidence?
- How is the documentary evidence validated by PricewaterhouseCoopers?
- Can we already send documentary evidence to PricewaterhouseCoopers?
- What is a "Public Body"?
- What documentary evidence has to be produced for registered national and community trademarks?
- Which registered trade marks are considered during the Sunrise Period?
- What names can be applied for by "Prior Rights Holders"?
- What "documentary evidence" is required to prove that a "prior right" belongs to the registrant?
- How can a registrant track their application?
- What if the name for which I claim a prior right contains special characters, spaces or punctuation that cannot form part of a domain name?
- What if I have a registered trade mark like "abcd.eu", which already includes the ".eu" suffix? Am I entitled to the "abcd.eu" domain name?
- What if I have a prior right in a non-ASCII language?
- Will pending trade mark applications be considered?
- I am not the owner of the registered trademark, but have obtained a trade mark licence from the owner. What can I do?
- What if I have obtained registered trademarks in various EU member states for the same sign? Should I submit all of them?
- Does the EURid accept device marks?
- What if I do not agree with a EURid decision to grant a domain name to another party higher up the queue?
- Can I create nameservers based on the .EU domain name I am applying for?
- How does an applicant determine if they are a valid Public Body?
- What should an applicant do in case the reference to the cover page is lost?
- What does the registry mean by "the registration of the complete name for which the prior right exists"?
- Who can apply for a .EU domain name?
- What countries make up the European Union?
- What is EURid?
.EU FAQ Answers for Registrants
- When can .eu applications be submitted?
The registry operator, EURid, has created a three-phase introduction for .eu:
Sunrise Phase 1: 7 December 2005 - 6 February 2006
- Only for Public Bodies and Holders of Registered Trademark
Sunrise Phase 2: 7 February 2006 - 6 April 2006
- Other prior rights holders protected under their national law
General Availability: 7 April 2006
- Any person or entity with a presence in the European Union
- What is the difference between Phase 1 and Phase 2 of Sunrise?
Phase 1
During phase 1, only applications for the following types of domains will be accepted:
- The full name of a public body;
- The acronym by which a public body is commonly know;
- If applicable, the territory which is governed by a public body;
- Registered national trademarks and registered community (EU) trademarks
Phase 2
During Phase 2, the following types of applications will be accepted:
- The types listed for Phase 1; plus
- Other rights that are protected under the national law of the member state where they are held such as:
- Company names
- Business identifiers
- Distinctive titles of protected literary and artistic work
- Unregistered trademarks
- Trade names
Not all the rights listed are recognised in each member state. Applicants will be required to provide the legal basis that grants the right in community law or the member state's national law where the right is held and provide acceptable documentary evidence to demonstrate their right under that law.
A list of the most commonly recognised rights and the evidence required to prove that the right is held can be found here
- Who validates claims?
Government Validation Points will validate the documentary evidence in accordance with the specific rules to be laid down by them for applications by a public body claiming a domain name corresponding to:
- The complete name of the public body; or
- The acronym that is generally used for the public body; or
- The complete name of the territory for which the public body is responsible and the name under which the territory is commonly known.
PricewaterhouseCoopers will validate all other applications at the request of EURid.
- What happens if I forget to include a document in the documentary evidence I have sent? Can I resend it to the Validation Agent?
No. Only the first set that is actually received and scanned by the Validation Agent will be considered for the purposes of the validation process. All subsequent sets will be disregarded.
- Are there any specific requirements for documentary evidence?
Yes. All documentary evidence must meet these requirements:
- Each application must be supported by one (1) set of documentary evidence; it is not permissible to combine different sets of documentary evidence for different applications in one single package or envelope;
- the size of the sheets of paper must be DIN A4 (29.7 cm x 21 cm) or letter format (27.94 cm x 21.59 cm);
- documents must be printed on opaque white paper;
- the pages must be consecutively numbered, starting with page no. 1, not including the cover letter;
- paper must be printed on one side only;
- documents must be humanly readable when scanned;
- the documentary evidence must not be retouched with ink or correcting fluid or otherwise altered;
- sheets of paper may not be folded, stapled, glued or in any other way attached to each other.
Emailed and/or faxed documents WILL NOT be accepted.
It is the sole responsibility of the applicant to ensure that they comply with these requirements. The Validation Agent is entitled to reject any document or set of documentary evidence that does not comply with the above requirements.
If the evidence is incomplete or not in the prescribed format it will be rejected and the Registry will process the next application for that domain name.
Please also note in this respect that the Validation Agent is not under any obligation to inform the applicant or any third party appointed by the applicant if the documentary evidence received by it does not comply with the above standards or does not contain all the necessary documentation.
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- How is the documentary evidence validated by PricewaterhouseCoopers?
Applications for a .eu domain name during the Sunrise Period will be dealt with on a first come, first served basis.
Once an applicant has received a request for documentary evidence, they must provide it to the Validation Agent within 40 days of the date of their application. The validation agent will assess the documentation. If the documentation proves the right claimed, the application will be approved and the name will be registered on behalf of that applicant. It will only become usable after a 40-day period to allow for any errors or appeals. Any other applicants for the same name will be notified.
If the first applicant for a name fails to provide acceptable documentation within the 40 days allocated, the application will be rejected and the Validation Agent will assess the documentation from the next applicant and so on until a valid application is found and the name is registered.
- Can we already send documentary evidence to PricewaterhouseCoopers?
No. You can only submit documentary evidence after receiving notification from EURid that your application has been received by them.
Documentary evidence needs to be submitted to the address indicated on the pre-formatted document available on the EURid web site.
- What is a "Public Body"?
It is up to the member states or the competent government validation point to define a "public body".
Registration by a public body may consist of:
- The complete name of the public body,
- The acronym that is generally used for the public body, or
- The complete name of the territory for which the public body is responsible and the name under which the territory is commonly known.
- What documentary evidence has to be produced for registered national and community trademarks?
The registry will communicate with the applicant regarding the necessary documentation on a per-application basis.
The following documentary evidence is accepted for registered trademarks during the Sunrise Period:
- Trademark registration certificate;
- Where the initial term of protection has expired, proof of renewal of the trade mark;
- Extract from the register of trademarks or official on-line database.
Please note that extracts from commercial databases will not be accepted as documentary evidence.
- Which registered trade marks are considered during the Sunrise Period?
If the applicant's prior right is based on a registered trademark, the trademark must be
- Registered by a trade mark office in one of the member states,
- The Benelux Trade Marks office,
- The office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (oHIM) or
- Internationally registered, with at least one of the member states of the European Union having been designated.
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- What names can be applied for by "Prior Rights Holders"?
Registration on the basis of a prior right consists of registration of the complete name for which the prior right exists. The applicant must provide documentary evidence proving the right exists.
The domain name requested must match the complete name for which the prior right exists. Apart from the provisions concerning "special characters," the domain cannot include or exclude any letters or numbers from the name. For instance, if you have a registered trade mark for "PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting", a domain name application for "pricewaterhousecoopers.eu" or for "consulting.eu" will not be allowed during the Sunrise phase.
- What "documentary evidence" is required to prove that a "prior right" belongs to the registrant?
- a. An affidavit signed by a competent authority, legal practitioner or professional representative declaring that the type of Prior Right claimed by the Applicant is protected under the laws of the relevant member state, including:
- References to the relevant legal provisions, scholarly works and court decisions and
- The conditions required for such protection; and
b. Proof that the complete name for which a Prior Right is claimed meets all of the conditions set forth in such laws, including the relevant scholarly works and court decisions, and that such name is protected by the relevant Prior Right claimed.
- It is sufficient to submit a copy of a relevant final judgment by a court or an arbitration decision of an official alternative dispute resolution entity competent in at least one of the member states stating that the Applicant has protection for the complete name for which a Prior Right is claimed.
- If, under the law of the relevant member state, the existence of the Prior Right claimed is subject to certain conditions relating to the name being famous, well known, publicly or generally known, have a certain reputation, goodwill or use, or the like, the Applicant must furthermore submit;
a. An affidavit signed by a competent authority, legal practitioner, or professional representative, accompanied by documentation supporting the affidavit or
b. A relevant final judgment by a court or an arbitration decision of an official alternative dispute resolution entity competent in at least one of the member states stating that the name for which a Prior Right is claimed meets the conditions provided for in the law (including relevant court decisions, scholarly works and such conditions as may be mentioned in Annex 1 (if any)) of the relevant member state in relation to the type of Prior Right concerned.
- Any affidavit submitted in accordance with this Chapter must clearly state or include evidence that the signatory qualifies as a competent authority, legal practitioner or professional representative, as referred to in the foregoing paragraphs of this Section.
For more detailed information, please review the Registry Sunrise Rules
http://rrc.tucows.com/wholesale_services/domain_names/eu/sunrise_rules_v1_0.pdf
- How can a registrant track their application?
During the Sunrise Period, a special .eu Sunrise WHoIS database will be made available on the web site of EURid.
By typing in a domain name it will be possible to see:
- How many applications there have been for that name and in what order they were entered into the registration system;
- Relevant contact information of the applicants;
- The deadline for each applicant to send documentation to the Validation Agent;
- The date on which documentation has been received;
- The status of the application (pending, accepted, rejected, etc.).
The Sunrise WHoIS database will be the only point of reference for domain name applicants, registrars, EURid, PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Government Verification Points. No other communications or acknowledgements will be given or correspondence entered into concerning the receipt (or non-receipt) of documentary evidence by EURid and/or PricewaterhouseCoopers.
- What if the name for which I claim a prior right contains special characters, spaces or punctuation that cannot form part of a domain name?
If the name over which a prior right exists contains a space between the textual or word elements, it may be omitted or replaced by a hyphen.
Where the name for which a prior right is claimed contains special characters, spaces or punctuation marks (such as: ! & @ " ' # ( § { } * % £), they will be eliminated entirely from the corresponding domain name, replaced by hyphens or, if possible, rewritten.
For instance, if you have a trade mark "A & B" that is registered as a Community trade mark, you are entitled to apply for the domain names "A-B.eu" and "AB.eu", and also for "AandB.eu", "AetB.eu", "AundB.eu", and the like.
Where the name for which a prior right is claimed contains a hyphen, the hyphen cannot be omitted from the domain name.
- What if I have a registered trade mark like "abcd.eu", which already includes the ".eu" suffix? Am I entitled to the "abcd.eu" domain name?
No. Registration on the basis of a prior right consists of registration of the complete name for which the prior right exists, as written in the documentation that proves that the right exists.
If you have obtained trade mark protection for "abcd.eu" or "abcd.com" you will be entitled to apply for the domain names "abcdeu.eu" or abcdcom.eu" and "abcd-eu.eu" or abcd-com.eu (in accordance with Article 11 of the Public Policy Rules).
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- What if I have a prior right in a non-ASCII language?
For names in other than standard Latin script, the application must contain a transliteration into standard Latin script of the name for which the prior right is claimed. The transliteration has to be done according to generally accepted transliteration standards.
Important: No transliteration of a script not generally used in an official language of the European Union will be accepted.
- Will pending trade mark applications be considered?
No. According to the European Commission, trademark applications do not qualify as a prior right. In order to be accepted, the trademark must either be registered (Phases 1 and 2) or qualify as an "unregistered trade mark" (only Phase 2 - see also below).
- I am not the owner of the registered trademark, but have obtained a trade mark licence from the owner. What can I do?
The applicant must also submit a specific trade mark licence declaration, which is available here
This declaration should be downloaded, completed and signed by both the licensor (the owner of the trade mark) and the licensee (the domain name applicant). The signed document must be added to the documentary evidence evidencing the existence of a prior right. It is not necessary to submit a copy of the licence agreement or proof of recording of the licence in the trademark register.
- What if I have obtained registered trademarks in various EU member states for the same sign? Should I submit all of them?
No. You should only submit documentary evidence that relates to the type of prior right invoked and the country wherein protection is claimed. Submitting additional copies of registered trademarks will not give you more rights and would only impair the efficiency of the handling and validation process.
- Does the EURid accept device marks?
Registration on the basis of a prior right consists of registration of the complete name for which the prior right exists, as written in the documentation proving that that right exists.
Defining the "complete" name for which a prior right exists for these types of trade marks is in a number of cases not obvious or may even be impossible without a great deal of interpretation. Mainly for this reason, device marks have not been accepted during other sunrise periods, as was the case, for instance, for ".us".
During the .eu Sunrise Period, Prior Rights claimed to a name included in a figurative or composite sign (signs including words, devices, pictures, logos, etc.) will be accepted on the following conditions:
(i) The sign exclusively contains a name, or
(ii) the word element is predominant, and can be clearly separated or distinguished from the device element,
Provided that
(a) all alphanumeric characters (including hyphens, if any) included in the sign are contained in the domain name applied for, in the same order as that in which they appear, and
(b) the general impression of the word is apparent, without any reasonable possibility of misreading the characters of which the sign consists or the order in which those characters appear.
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- What if I do not agree with a EURid decision to grant a domain name to another party?
All parties involved in the validation process will use their best efforts to ensure that applications are properly assessed and will assess all applications in good faith. If, however, you believe your application was assessed incorrectly, you will be able to dispute the decision using an Alternative Dispute Resolution.
Please note that, if you successfully challenge the decision of EURid to allocate a name to another party, the registration may be revoked but the name will not be allotted to the complainant. If there is a another Sunrise applicant in the queue for that name, their application will be assessed next. If there are no other applicants for that name, it will become available for registration on a first come, first served basis at the time when general registration begins.
- Can I create nameservers based on the .EU domain name I am applying for?
This will not be supported for the Sunrise period.
- How does an applicant determine if they are a valid Public Body?
Each member state is responsible for validating Public Body applications.
To find a contact for the Validation Contact for each member state, please visit the following URL
http://www.eurid.eu/en/euDomainNames/document.2005-09-09.8321912604
- What should an applicant do if the reference to the cover page is lost?
If the applicant lost or did not receive the e-mail with the reference to the cover page, they should contact us.
- What does the registry mean by "the registration of the complete name for which the prior right exists"?
Example 1, if the trademark held is for consultantsEU:
Allowed - application for 'consultantseu.eu' or 'consultants-eu.eu'
Not allowed - 'consultants.eu'
Example 2, if the trademark is for "PricewaterhouseCoopers Tax Consultants BCVBA":
Allowed - 'pricewaterhousecooperstaxconsultants.eu' or 'pricewaterhousecoopers-tax-consultants.eu'
Not Allowed - 'tax.eu' or 'consultants.eu'
Example 3, if the trademark is for "PricewaterhouseCoopers":
Allowed - 'PricewaterhouseCoopers.eu'
Not Allowed - 'pwc.eu' or 'pricewaterhousecooperstaxconsultants.eu'
Example 4, if the trademark is for "price-waterhouse-coopers":
Allowed - 'price-waterhouse-coopers.eu'
Not Allowed - 'pricewaterhousecoopers.eu'
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- Who can apply for a .EU domain name?
Registrants for a domain under .eu must be:
- Undertakings having their registered office, central administration or principal place of business within the European Union; or
- organizations established within the European Union without prejudice to the application of national law; or
- Natural persons resident within the European Union.
- What countries make up the European Union?
Austria
Belgium
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
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Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
Poland
Portugal
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
The Netherlands
United Kingdom
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- What is EURid?
EURid is the registry operator for the top level domain .eu. Their website can be found at
www.eurid.eu.
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Further Information
 What is a domain name?
Why register your domain with Oscura?
What is included in the Oscura service?
Global and Common Domain Extensions
Personal Domain Name Registrations
Domain Name Registration terms and conditions
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