The Registry for .PW - the Professional Web, today announced that the Sunrise Period will be extended for a week, until 15th February, 2013. Sunrise was originally scheduled to end on 8th February and has been extended further based on the late interest from brand owners.

Once a namespace reaches General Availability, domain names are available on a first-come, first-serve basis. To avoid brand name infringement in such scenarios, a restricted phase is opened exclusively for trademark holders, commonly known as the Sunrise Period.

“Trademark owners were protecting their presence in the .PW namespace at a constant pace, however last week we experienced a persistent spike in the number of applications submitted. Rather than have brand owners go down the UDRP route in case their TMs are violated, we decided to support them with an extended Sunrise” said Sandeep Ramchandani, Business Head, .PW Registry.

Trademark owners can apply for domain name strings that represent a common misspelling, an abbreviation or include the addition of keywords such as a prefix or suffix of their mark, under just a single application.

The TM protection process is completely paperless and convenient for brand owners to protect their marks via any of the featured registrars. Many Fortune 500 Brands like Apple, Pfizer, Volkswagen and Nokia have already protected multiple brands and products in the .PW namespace.

“Brands can make use of this valuable time to secure their domains in the Sunrise period instead of putting themselves at risk of being squatted and spending thousands of dollars to resolve a dispute”, added Ramchandani.

Come March, .PW domains will be available as a low cost alternative to .COM globally, through 100 Accredited Registrars which include world’s leading ICANN Domain Registrars like eNom, ResellerClub, Key-Systems, OVH, XinNet, Name.com, RU-Center and InterNetX.