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| Acceptance Guidelines for CN Keywords (Updated Sept 25 2002)
These guidelines are designed to help applicants of CN Keywords understand the basis for acceptance and rejection of CN Keywords. These guidelines have been drafted with both the applicants of CN Keywords and our Internet users in mind. Our users benefit by having easy and direct navigation to relevant web sites. Applicants of CN Keywords will benefit if our users are happy and continue using our service.
We reserve the right to reject any application for CN Keywords in our sole discretion. We may also change these guidelines over time, such changes being effective immediately upon the new guidelines being posted on our website.
(Note - "Business" means "not personal" - a business website includes all websites that promote products or services and also includes websites for educational institutions, clubs, organisations, etc.)
There are two types of CN Keywords - CN Keyword and CN Keyword Plus.
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Contents
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1.0 Guidelines for a CN Keyword
We will look at the following issues when assessing an application for a CN Keyword.
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1.1
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The name must be a company, brand, product or service name, or phone number
For a term to be accepted as a CN Keyword, the term must be the company, brand, product or service name of the applicant.
For example, the following company names would be acceptable as a CN Keyword as long as the applicant is the company that owns the name: "IBM", "Amazon", "Sony", "ABC Video", "John’s Book Shop".
The following brand/product name examples would also be acceptable as a CN Keyword as long as the applicant is the actual company that owns the brands/products: "IBM ThinkPad", "PlayStation", "Sony S300", "Amazon Books". The key here is that the terms are the actual brand names or trademarks of the applicant.
However, the following example terms would be available to any relevant applicant as CN Keyword Plus: "Rolex Watches", "Ray Ban Sunglasses", "PlayStation Shop", "IBM Computers". The key here is that there is another word as part of the term that is not part of the company, brand or product name. See guideline 2.3 in the CN Keyword Plus section for more information.
The following example terms would clearly not be acceptable as a CN Keyword because they are generic terms: "Books", "Music", "Travel", "Mortgage Rates".
Phone numbers of applicants may be registered as a CN Keyword. The number must include the area code so that our system will know which site to resolve to if there are duplicate numbers at the local level.
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1.2
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The name must be specific enough and relevant to the website that it is linked to
The name must specifically reflect the applicant’s business.
For example, a business named "ABC Video" could not register the CN Keyword "ABC" - it must register "ABC Video".
Also, the name must be directly relevant to the business that the applicant’s website encapsulates.
For example, if an applicant is applying for "ABC Fishing Equipment" as a CN Keyword, then the website that the CN Keyword is linked to must be the company’s website (or part of a website) that relates to fishing equipment.
Web sites that merely provide links to other websites may not be linked to a CN Keyword.
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1.3
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Domain names and some symbols are not allowed
Domain names may not be registered as CN Keyword (e.g . For example, any term ending in .com, or .co.uk, etc).
Also, a name may not be registered as a CN Keyword if it contains any of the following symbols: @ ? /
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1.4
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The applicant must not infringe on the goodwill of another party
The name must not be misleadingly similar to a mark or name of another party. We will also reject a name if we believe that a name is being registered in bad faith (e.g. to disrupt the business of a competitor).
When there is a dispute over who is entitled to a name that we cannot resolve ourselves, we refer the matter to our officially appointed arbiters, the World Intellectual Property Organisation. See our Dispute Resolution Policy for more details.
For example, if an applicant is applying for "ABC Fishing Equipment" as a CN Keyword, then the website that the CN Keyword is linked to must be the company’s website that relates to fishing equipment.
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1.5
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The name must be in line with Internet user expectations
The name must be in line with the association that Internet users would attribute to the name.
For example, if users type in "Amazon", the vast majority are likely to be expecting to go to the Internet retailer Amazon as opposed to a small company also named Amazon.
Also, a company must operate in some way, sell to or be known in a country to be able to register a CN Keyword for that country.
Unfortunately we sometimes have to make judgment calls as to user expectations.
We reserve the right to reject any name that we believe is too generic (i.e. users typically would want to see a search list) despite the fact that it is a company, brand, product or service name.
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1.6
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The website must be active within 60 days of application
An applicant may apply for a CN Keyword even if it does not have a live website, as long as the website is live within 60 days of the application date. The applicant needs to advise that it wishes to reserve the name. If the website is not live within 60 days of the application date, the reservation will lapse. The onus is on the applicant to advise CommonName that its website is live.
The applicant’s own company, product or brand names must indicate that the applicant is entitled to the name in accordance with these guidelines.
The applicant may link the CN Keyword to a ‘holding page’ during the 60-day period, as long as the page contains the company name, address, contact details and description of business/products. The applicant may not link the CN Keyword to any other website.
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1.7
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The applicant and website must be business related
Generally, a CN Keyword may only be registered by a business. This is to ensure that our users receive relevant navigation results. We will only allow a personal website to register a CN Keywords if the name is not well known and is not the name of a business.
We also reserve the right to reject any application where CommonName is in the affiliate program of the applicant.
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1.8
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The name or website must not contain unacceptable themes
A website may not be linked to a CN Keyword if it contains material that is racist, discriminatory, illegal, incites violence or hate or is grossly offensive in nature. We will be the sole judge of whether a website contains such material. Likewise a CN Keyword itself must not reflect any of these themes.
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2.0 Guidelines for a CN Keyword Plus
The purpose behind a CN Keyword Plus is to provide a direct navigation service for some terms that are generic or partly generic in nature.
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2.1
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Some very generic terms are not available
Some very generic terms are not available. A term will be very generic if it qualifies under at least one of the following tests:
- The term is broad enough to have many meanings such that the likely intention of the user is not known. For example:
- "Baseball" - does the user mean fixtures, results, clothes, tickets, news, etc?
- "Swimming" - does the user mean pools, clothes, clubs, results, coaching, etc?
- The term is so big in concept that no one business should own the term. For example:
- "Major League Baseball"
- "World Cup Soccer"
(Note - it is possible that a "big concept" term could be allowed as a CN Keyword to a body that warranted the term)
- The term is hugely popular as an Internet search term and users are used to seeing full-blown search results containing numerous supplier options for the term.
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2.2
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The term must be specific enough and relevant to the website that it is linked to
The term must be directly relevant to the business that the applicant’s website encapsulates.
For example, if an applicant is applying for "London Fishing Equipment" as a CN Keyword Plus, then the website that the CN Keyword Plus is linked to must be the company’s website (or part of a website) that relates to fishing equipment.
The website must deal seriously with the content that is reflected in the term, not just be a small part of the site. Websites that merely provide links to other websites will certainly not be approved for a CN Keyword Plus.
Importantly, the term must be geographically relevant. This means that if an applicant wants to register a CN Keyword Plus that is not specific to a particular area, then the products or services must be capable of easily being delivered on a nationwide basis.
For example, a lawyer could only register the term "Personal Injury Lawyer" if the lawyer had offices throughout the country. If not, then the lawyer would need to register say "Las Vegas Personal Injury Lawyer". A business that delivers books nationally, however, would be permitted to register say "Sport Books".
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2.3
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The term must not qualify as a CN Keyword
If a term qualifies as a CN Keyword (e.g. a company, brand, product or service name - see Guideline 1.1), then it may not be registered as a CN Keyword Plus by another applicant.
However, if a further word is added to a term that would otherwise qualify as a CN Keyword for another applicant, then the term will be acceptable as a CN Keyword Plus. For example, the following terms would be available to any relevant applicant: "Rolex Watches", "Ray Ban Sunglasses", "PlayStation Shop", "IBM Computers". The key here is that there is another word as part of the term that is not part of the company, brand or product name.
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2.4
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Domain names and some symbols are not allowed
Domain names may not be registered as CN Keyword Plus (e.g. for example, any term ending in .com, or .co.uk, etc).
Also, a name may not be registered as a CN Keyword Plus if it contains any of the following symbols: @ ? /
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2.5
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The applicant cannot register competitor names
The applicant must not infringe on the intellectual property rights of a competitor. This includes registering a name that is misleadingly similar to a competitor’s name or mark, and registering a name that is in our opinion registered in bad faith. For example, an applicant must not name a competitor or competitor product in its term. Therefore, ABC Video Shop would not be able to register "XYZVideoShop".
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2.6
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The term must be in line with user expectations
The term must be in line with the association that our users would attribute to the term.
For example, if users type in "Britney Spears Fan Club", it is likely that the user is looking for the official Britney Spears Fan Club site rather than one of the non-official sites.
Unfortunately we sometimes have to make judgment calls as to user expectations.
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2.7
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The website must be active within 60 days of application
An applicant may apply for a CN Keyword Plus even if it does not have a live website, as long as the website is live within 60 days of the application date. The applicant needs to advise that it wishes to reserve the term. If the website is not live within 60 days of the application date, the reservation will lapse. The onus is on the applicant to advise CommonName that its website is live.
The applicant’s own company, product or brand names and business description must indicate that the applicant is entitled to the name in accordance with these rules.
The applicant may not link the CN Keyword Plus to a ‘holding page’ during the 60-day period. The CN Keyword Plus will be reserved, but not active, during the 60-day period. The registration period will include the reservation period.
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2.8
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The applicant and website must be business related
Generally, a CN Keyword Plus may only be registered by a business. This is to ensure that our users receive relevant navigation results. We will only allow a personal website to register a CN Keyword Plus if the term is not well known and is clearly a personal term.
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2.9
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The applicant’s website must not override the CN Keyword Plus page frame
The applicant’s website must not be coded such that it overrides or interferes with the left-hand frame on the CN Keyword Plus results page.
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2.10
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The name or website must not contain unacceptable themes
A website may not be linked to a CN Keyword Plus if it contains material that is racist, discriminatory, illegal, incites violence or hate or is grossly offensive in nature. We will be the sole judge of whether a website contains such material. Likewise a CN Keyword Plus itself must not reflect any of these themes.
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3.0 Other Guidelines
Cancellation of a CN Keyword and CN Keyword Plus
We may, at our entire discretion, cancel the registration of any CN Keywords at any time that we believe breaches any of these guidelines. We may do so regardless of whether the application was accepted initially. For example, if we have accepted an application for a name and we subsequently discover that another party is more entitled to the name, then we may cancel the original registration.
Disputes
We accept that our review process is not perfect. If you believe that we have incorrectly rejected an application, contact us at support@commonname.com with the reasons supporting your argument.
In the event of a dispute regarding registration of a name, we refer registrants to our Dispute Registration Process. Our Dispute Resolution Policy is administered by the World Intellectual Property Organisation. All registrants are bound by this policy.
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