THE MISSION AND PURPOSE OF THE NEW RESTRICTED .嘉里 gTLD IS TO BENEFIT INTERNET USERS BY ENSURING INCREASED TRUST, CONFIDENCE AND UTILITY THROUGH THE ELIMINATION OF USER CONFUSION AND ASSURANCE OF BRAND AUTHENTICITY.
The new .嘉里 (“Kerry”) gTLD will operate as a restricted registry, in which Kerry Trading Co. Limited (Kerry Trading) can create and control domain spaces that promote its brand identity and authenticity. In this regard, .嘉里 will be used by Kerry Trading to provide information, services and resources to customers of the Kerry Group in a way that promotes trust, convenience and utility. The .嘉里 gTLD will provide an authoritative internet space for Kerry Trading, its affiliates and partners that are associated with the brand. Second and third level domains can then be utilised for marketing and customer engagement purposes, with internet users assured of brand authenticity.
The applicant, Kerry Trading, is an investment holding company. Kerry Trading is established in Hong Kong and operates as a wholly-owned subsidiary to Kerry Group Limited (Kerry Group). The “Kerry” brand (also known as 嘉里 in Chinese language) has been identified with Kerry Group’s extensive operations in Asia for almost 40 years. Together with its subsidiary entities, Kerry Group has over tens of thousands employees in offices worldwide. Kerry Group engages in the hotel, property development (commercial, residential and industrial), logistics, media, commodities trading and industrial manufacturing businesses throughout the world, with major operations in Hong Kong and China. Kerry Group strives to strengthen and expand its online brand presence across the world in line with its growth in new markets and sectors. In this regard, building consumer trust, continuous innovation and protection of the Kerry brand are paramount considerations for Kerry Trading. The new .嘉里 gTLD will promote the Kerry brand and strengthen Kerry Group’s online presence.
Business activities are increasingly conducted over the internet, allowing for greater levels of interaction between businesses and customers. As a result, both businesses and end users benefit from ease of interaction and a wider range of choices with lower transaction costs. However, the development in this arena in the current domain name system has exposed both businesses and consumers to increased criminal activities over the internet, including data breach, hacking and phishing. These sophisticated criminal activities cause reputational damage to businesses as internet users lose consumer confidence and trust with the businesses targeted by such criminal activities. The .嘉里 gTLD will facilitate greater trust and assurance from internet users connecting with Kerry Trading and Kerry Group online, whilst still allowing convenient and efficient interaction.
Kerry Trading’s mission and purpose of the proposed new gTLD share ICANN’s initiatives to promote public interest. Kerry Trading is committed to contribute towards achieving such initiatives in line with ICANN’s Affirmation of Commitments, which includes:
- consumer trust: the .嘉里 gTLD registry will be operated in a centralised manner with a restrictive registration policy. Registration of domain names will only be available to Kerry Trading and its affiliate and associated entities, at this stage, which will provide added consumer trust that the .嘉里 domain names are trustworthy. As the .嘉里 domain names are subject to registration standards, policies and procedures under Kerry Trading’s control, this eliminates the possibility of malicious conduct within the .嘉里 domain space;
- competition: the proposed new gTLD is not intended to instigate competition and consumer choice at the level of registration of domain names among prospective registrants. Instead it is anticipated to contribute to ICANN’s initiatives to promote public interest through its operation focused on promoting consumer trust. Increased trust in .嘉里 gTLD will drive existing and new top level domain (TLD) registry operators to make improvements in mechanisms to improve consumer trust of their TLDs; and
- consumer choice: the proposed new gTLD will enable user-driven improvements and innovations assisting Kerry Trading’s marketing efforts through its ability to create new second and third level domain names on demand. These names will provide the consumers with more choices for interacting with Kerry Trading and Kerry Group online. As Kerry Trading has effective control over the registration and use of domain names under the .嘉里 domain space, this will also contribute towards general service innovations on the internet.
Given the restricted nature of the .嘉里 gTLD, the projected number of registration is likely to be limited. It is anticipated that 20 domain names will be registered in the first year. However, over the next few years, the number of registrations is likely to increase as Kerry Trading develops and implements new services and marketing campaigns.
As the new .嘉里 gTLD expands and evolves, Kerry Trading will continue to comply with all operational, technical and policy requirements, as well as maintaining consumer trust and the stability of the internet. Kerry Trading will keep ICANN reasonably informed of any material developments relating to .嘉里 gTLD including compliance with the continued operations instrument obligations as set out in Specification 8 of the Registry Agreement.
Kerry Trading intends to create relevant domain names for use including product, services or geographic names in the second or third level domain names. In accordance with registration policy and the proposed measures for protection of geographic names as outlined in response to Question 22, Kerry Trading will use geographic names to localise its websites in the countries in which the Kerry Group and its companies operate. The use of geographic names is intended to:
- connect internet users with relevant information as applicable to the territory; and
- comply with required rules and regulations in the national territory.
Kerry Trading will also utilise Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) at the second level, initially in Chinese language. The use of IDNs will allow internet users to engage with .嘉里 in their native language, creating a more positive user experience and encouraging diversity. As the use of the .嘉里 gTLD evolves, it is anticipated that the use of IDNs, including additional languages, may increase within the .嘉里 domain space.
Kerry Trading is part of a well-recognised global brand with its “嘉里” trademark registered in 14 countries and territories with pending applications in 3 other countries and its “KERRY” trademark registered in 26 countries and territories with pending applications in 6 other countries by Kuok Registrations Ltd, an affiliate to Kerry Trading, for the following category: Non-metallic building materials (Class 19); Meats and processed foods (Class 29); Staple foods (Class 30); Light beverages (Class 32); Advertising and business (Class 35); Insurance and financial (Class 36); Building construction and repair (Class 37); Transportation and storage (Class 39); Treatment of materials (Class 40); Education and entertainment (Class 41); Computer, scientific and legal (Class 42); Hotels and restaurants (Class 43).
Kerry Trading has 2 existing domain names that have an exact match to the applied-for .嘉里 and the “嘉里” trademark in 嘉里.公司 (IDN .com) and 嘉里.中國 (IDN .cn).
Further, Kerry Trading has 4 existing domain names that have an exact match to the “KERRY” trademark in kerry.biz, kerry.com.hk, kerry.com.cn and kerry.sg.
Kerry Trading believes that the .嘉里 gTLD is unlikely to cause confusion with either a generic term or any existing TLDs. Kerry Group is a leading global brand with significant reputation around the world with its 嘉里 brand used in conjunction with its logistics, property and hotel businesses for almost 40 years. |