The Domains Protected Marks List (DPML) is a blocking service from the registry operator Identity Digital: with one order, the label matching your trade mark is withdrawn from registration across its portfolio of nearly 300 domain extensions. To use it, the mark must be recorded in the Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH) and you need the Signed Mark Data (SMD) file the TMCH issues. This guide explains what a block covers, what it leaves open and when it costs less than registering defensive domains one by one.<\/p>\n
Identity Digital (formerly Donuts) operates a large group of new generic extensions. On its registrar products page<\/a> it describes DPML as a service that “defensively blocks registrations of trademarked brands” across its portfolio, and refers elsewhere on the same page to a portfolio of nearly 300 TLDs. Once the block is in place, matching names in those extensions are reserved and only the trade mark holder can register them.<\/p>\n A block is ordered through an accredited registrar, for a minimum term of one year, by uploading the SMD file; the registrant details must match those in the file, as Identity Digital explains in its help article on purchasing a block<\/a>. Anyone can check whether a label is blocked: a WHOIS lookup on an Identity Digital extension returns a notice that the name is blocked because the string is a trade mark.<\/p>\n Three things, in this order:<\/p>\n The same SMD file also gives access to other registries’ blocking products. The TMCH’s blocking page<\/a> lists GlobalBlock, AdultBlock, AdultBlock+, DPML, NameBlock and ShortBlock.<\/p>\n Identity Digital does not publish DPML retail prices on these pages; registrars quote them. The useful comparison is therefore structural:<\/p>\nWhat do you need to block a mark?<\/h2>\n
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DPML or defensive registration: which costs less?<\/h2>\n