Full info forOBSERVER
| Application ID | 1-1732-536 |
| Status | IE Pass |
| Prioritization Number | 509 |
| TLD (#13) | OBSERVER |
| IDN Translation (#14b) | -- |
| Applicant (#1) | Guardian News and Media Limited |
| Website (#5) | http://www.guardian.co.uk |
| Application Type | |
| Type | Standard |
| Contested | no |
| Contested Numbers | 1 |
| GAC Early Warning | no |
| Cultural, Linguistic or Religious | no |
| dotBrand | yes |
| Trademark Class A | class 38 (telecommunications) |
| Trademark Class B | class 16 (paper, stationary) |
| Trademark Class C | |
| Industry Keyword | news |
| Remark | Founded in 1791, the Observer is the world’s oldest Sunday newspaper. It has historically known for its liberal, anti-establishment perspective as well as its focus on digital innovation. It was the first newspaper to release podcasts as well as the first newspaper to launch its own blog documenting internal decisions. |
| Availability Data | |
| Sunrise Period: | fromunknown tounknown |
| Landrush Period: | fromunknown tounknown |
| GoLive: | unknown |
| Registration Policy | |
| Restricted | yes |
| Restrictions | dotbrand |
| Backend Provider | CentralNIC |
| Registry Website | |
| Keyword | |
| Keyword | no |
| English Meaning | -- |
| Appeal Ranking | 0 |
| Appeal Remark | Reserved for company and affiliate use only. |
| English | not applicable |
| Spanish | not applicable |
| Portuguese | not applicable |
| French | not applicable |
| Italian | not applicable |
| German | not applicable |
| Dutch | not applicable |
| Swedish | not applicable |
| Danish | not applicable |
| Mandarin | not applicable |
| Russian | not applicable |
| Location | |
| Region | Europe |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Community (#19) | -- |
| Geographic (#21a) | -- |
| Geographic Category | -- |
| IDN | |
| IDN (#14) | No |
| A-label (#14a) | -- |
| Translation (#14b) | -- |
| Script Code (#14d) | -- |
| Allows ASCII | yes |
| Applicant | |
| Applicant (#1) | Guardian News and Media Limited |
| Website (#5) | http://www.guardian.co.uk |
| Applicant Address (#2) | 90 York Way London N1 9GU United Kingdom [GB] |
| Applicant Phone (#3) | +442033353200 |
| Applicant Fax (#4) | +442033533156 |
| Legal Form (#8) | Limited Company |
| Exchange Symbol (#9a) | |
| Parent Company (#9b) | Guardian News and Media (Holdings) Limited - immediate parent company, The Scott Trust Limited - ultimate parent company |
| Joint Venture Partners (#9c) | |
| Primary Contact | |
| Name (#6) | Matt McAlister |
| Title (#6) | Director of Digital Strategy |
| e-mail (#6) | tas-observer-primary@centralnic.com |
| Secondary Contact | |
| Name (#7) | Jenny White |
| Title (#7) | Domain Operations Manager |
| e-mail (#7) | tas-observer-seconday@centralnic.com |
| Mission / Purpose (#18a) | |
| Guardian News and Media (GNM) has chosen to apply for the TLD to provide an accessible, safe, secure, and globally recognized service for high quality, open journalism that simultaneously promotes awareness of GNM’s services and products (as associated with The Observer weekly newspaper and magazines) and facilitates the digital growth and geographic expansion of The Observer brand under the Guardian News and Media umbrella. The TLD will control and protect The Observer brands and services by providing an official digital hub for readers, information-seekers, and investors worldwide as well as fostering consumer trust by creating a secure, reliable, resilient, and technically stable zone that is renowned for excellence and innovation. The Observer’s highly distinctive, open approach to publishing on the web is part of its digital-first strategy, and the choice to apply for the TLD falls squarely within The Observer’s reputation for innovation, excellence, independence, and longevity while echoing its firm commitment to the primacy of digital technology to the future of journalism and publishing. The global deployment of the TLD in parallel with the digital expansion of the Group’s brands will therefore contribute to ICANNʹs commitment to innovation, consumer protection, security, and stability. Founded in 1791, the Observer is the world’s oldest Sunday newspaper. It has historically known for its liberal, anti-establishment perspective as well as its focus on digital innovation. It was the first newspaper to release podcasts as well as the first newspaper to launch its own blog documenting internal decisions. After becoming part of the Guardian Media Group in 1993, the Observer has flourished and was named National Newspaper of the Year at the British Press Awards in 2007. The term “Observer” is associated with a vast array of products and services related to the Observer and they include but are not limited to: a physical Sunday newspaper (The Observer); weekly magazines (New Review, Observer Magazine, Food Monthly); news websites and web content (http:⁄⁄observer.guardian.co.uk⁄); and social media accounts and pages (on Twitter, Facebook, etc.). As a result, millions of internet users and consumers worldwide associate the term “Observer” with the Observer, and this number is only projected to increase with the forecast expansion of the Guardian Group and its brands such as the Observer. The Observer holds Trademarks on the term “The Observer” in 9 jurisdictions worldwide, ensuring not only the protection of the brand but also its public recognition. Headquartered in London, United Kingdom, with an office in New York, The Observer is wholly owned by the Scott Trust, which exists to protect the financial and editorial independence of the Guardian Media Group companies such as The Observer. The Groupʹs portfolio of investments, which help fund its journalism and secure its long term future, ensure that Group companies are able to continue delivering their unique brand of independent liberal journalism to a global audience. Although the media sector as a whole currently faces major challenges - of which the greatest is the ongoing transition from traditional to digital media - the Group successfully developed and implemented new business models and strategies throughout the past twelve months, allowing the Guardian and Observer and its media brands to focus on producing outstanding journalism. The Group is an early adopter of digital media as a means of disseminating news and current events, a pioneer in open APIs, interactive news technologies, and data journalism. The Group’s commitment to digital innovation has seeped into every facet of the Groupʹs internet presence and placed it at the forefront of digital journalism. For example, ʺHack Daysʺ brought together journalists and developers for the first time to create new ways of communicating, and experimentation with new digital ideas resulted in the best concepts being tried and tested by the company at the iconic South by Southwest festival in Texas. The Group’s innovative approach to digital media ensures that it punches well above its weight not only in terms of web reporting but also in its use of Twitter, blogging, social media, and liveblogging. The Group has an established reputation in the online community for innovation and creativity and was one of the first non-US organizations to win a Webby (2005). By 2010, The Group formed the largest web readership of any English-language newspaper group bar The New York Times. The strong performance of the website reflected the high standard of the newspaperʹs journalism and its increasingly significant digital profile (with a daily average of 2.7 million unique browsers). Recent success in launching the company’s iPhone app indicates that the company’s digital strategy is on track, and the Group is planning further digital launches. In addition to its commitment to digital technology and journalistic excellence and integrity, the Group takes its mission of corporate social responsibility very seriously. The Group is considered a leader in sustainability and has developed a program in partnership with Forum for the Future, a sustainable development organization, to investigate ten key areas of change. Sustainability has been reinforced across every organization within the Group - including Carbon Trust certification for the two print sites and main office. The shift toward digital publication will further diminish the Groupʹs carbon footprint, but in a groundbreaking move the Group has gone one step further, partnering with the universities of Bristol and Surrey to understand and reduce its digital footprint. The TLD will provide a digital home for information about all the previously-mentioned services as well as facilitate the future expansion of The Observer’s web presence while contributing to its environmental commitments. The Observer’s web presence currently sits within the Guardian universe; it is GNM’s goal that the deployment of the TLD will bring the Observer brand to greater digital prominence. The TLD will make the Observer digital platform more easily accessible, searchable, and locatable and will help the Observer enlarge the community of contributors by promoting and enabling user interaction. The launch of the TLD falls squarely within The Observer’s mission of empowerment, innovation and engagement and will allow the company to achieve its goals of digital innovation, outreach, and growth while reinforcing its credibility and reputation for uncompromised excellence. Guardian News and Media will retain domains for internal Observer use, providing an innovative platform for the groupʹs various brands as they expand globally. The TLD will allow The Observer to prepare for the future of the digital landscape, and its use will include but is not limited to websites, emails, online applications, online transactions, social media, directories and any new usages of domain names. This platform for innovation will not only promote and protect the Guardian News and Media’s brands but also ensure the effective organization of the Observer’s domain name structure, technical security, and stability of its internet presence, promoting continued innovation to an increasing consumer base without compromise. |
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