Are in! Donuts sunrises typically get 100+ domains, but they also got gamed — The numbers

Most of Donuts domain names received at least 100 sunrise registrations, and some of them are of questionable merit.

Donuts has just published its zone files for the seven domain names that recently exited sunrise. Most of the domains have at least 100 domains in their zone files, but there’s also some curious activity: it appears Donuts got gamed by some of its fellow applicants.

First, some caveats. The zone files, dated 1-31, are post sunrise and include a lot of domain names registered through sunrise. They also include domains registered on the first day of the “Early Access Program.” Still, it’s possible some domains were registered but aren’t in the zone files. (An example is wordpress.guru, which was registered in sunrise but doesn’t have nameservers.) The zone files also don’t include domains that were ordered but on the name collision block list, nor do they include domains blocked through the Domain Protected Marks List. It’s also early on, so there could be some quirks.

In other words, these numbers ought to be viewed as the lower bounds for the actual number of registrations.

Of the 7 domain names (.bike, clothing, .guru, .holdings, .plumbing, .singles, .ventures), four of them show between 100-200 domain names.

Two of the domain names show fewer than 100 domains, while one has over 500. Care to guess?

Answer: .plumbing and .singles are below 100. On the upside, many brands were adamant regarding protecting their marks in .clothing.

I suspect the numbers will increase in later sunrises as more people become aware of fresh TLDs and the intellectual property rights protection options.

Some brands are apparently going to register their brand in every extension. Why TD Ameritrade chose to register TDAmeritrade.plumbing instead of just get it with the Domain Protected Marks List is beyond me.

Although I didn’t check all of the domains, I did find one example of a domain name that someone appears to have purchased on the fist day of Early Access. That means the buyer paid at least $10,000 for it: soccer.guru, which is now registered to an Ontario, Canada man.

OK, now on to a potentially problematic issue.

Remember how when .eu, .info, and other domains came out, domainers “gamed” the system by applying for joke trademarks and using this to get the domain names in sunrise?

Well, the fresh Trademark Clearinghouse is full of marks of questionable quality. Although each registry may interpret the contract differently, fresh TLD registries are basically obligated to give a sunrise registration to someone with a registration in the Trademark Clearinghouse.

Donuts had to cough up domains like luxury.guru, cloud.guru, bet.guru, realestate.guru, wedding.clothing, travel.singles, and finance.holdings at sunrise prices of under $200.

All of the claimed trademarks were from Switzerland. And do you know who owns these trademarks and got the above mentioned domains through sunrise? Other fresh TLD applicants.

Specifically, all of them have an address of 427 N. Camden Drive in Beverly Hills. That’s the address for .Luxury, What Box? Holdings (another TLD applicant) and lawyer Thomas Brackey. I’ve also discovered that What Box? has a mark with the TMCH for “credit.”

I think Uniregistry was smart to add a provision to its contracts that make it very difficult for sunrise registrants to ever transfer their domains to someone else. Others ought to follow.