Trademark Holders Should Consider Acting During .PAY Domain Sunrise Period

Trademark holders now have an additional two months in which to claim new .PAY web domain names during the sunrise period.

.PAY is a generic top-level domain, or gTLD (the letters “right of the dot,” like .COM). The .PAY gTLD is intended for e-commerce, FinTech and other financial services providers, and is meant to indicate to users that online services offered at a .PAY website are secure and trustworthy.

Trademark owners registered with the Trademark Clearinghouse have until July 20, 2026 to claim .PAY domains in the sunrise period, which is the first time these domains are available for registration. After the sunrise period ends on July 20, the Limited Registration Period begins. In this step of the process, trademark holders and other priority registrants may apply for .PAY domains. Applicants during this period are truly limited:  Applicants in the Limited Registration Period are restricted to those conducting payment transactions online through an approved payment service provider or third-party payment process and they must also agree to use their .PAY domain for certain purposes.  Sunrise applicants do not have to meet such criteria or make such promises.  If there are competing applications, the first in time will be awarded the domain. The Limited Registration Period is set to end February 1, 2027. .PAY will be available to the general public beginning on August 8, 2027. Competition for available domains will be high during this stage.

We recommend e-commerce, FinTech and other financial services providers secure the .PAY domains corresponding to their main trademarks as early in the process as possible. Even if you don’t actively intend to use the .PAY domain immediately, it is wise to act now to secure the domain for use in the future and to keep the domains out of the hands of bad actors who may use .PAY domains for fraudulent purposes. Given the restrictions of the Limited Registration Period we recommend acting during the Sunrise Period if possible.  Womble is a registered agent of the Trademark Clearinghouse and can assist you with the recordation process that will grant Sunrise access to .PAY domains.  

If you have any questions about this alert, please contact the authors or the Womble Bond Dickinson attorneys with whom you normally work.