{"id":537,"date":"2026-10-22T08:50:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T08:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipglobalguard.com\/?p=537"},"modified":"2026-10-04T11:59:38","modified_gmt":"2026-10-04T11:59:38","slug":"icann87-bali-brand-owners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipglobalguard.com\/en\/blog\/icann87-bali-brand-owners\/","title":{"rendered":"ICANN87 in Bali: what brand owners should watch"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>ICANN87, ICANN&#8217;s Annual General Meeting, closes today in Bali after six days of sessions held from 17 to 22 October 2026 in a hybrid format. For brand owners, three strands of the programme matter most: the 2026 new gTLD round, which enters its community input and objections period on 17 November; the review of the rules behind the UDRP and URS dispute procedures; and the policy work on DNS abuse and access to registration data. This article sets out what was on the agenda and which outputs are worth tracking in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n<h2>Key takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>During the meeting days, ICANN scheduled five sessions dedicated to the 2026 round, including a preview of the <strong>Application Comment Forum<\/strong> that opens on 17 November.<\/li>\n<li>An implementation working session discussed proposed updates to the UDRP and URS rules and policies linked to international organisations&#8217; curative rights.<\/li>\n<li>The DNS Abuse Mitigation working group reviewed public comments on its proposal requiring registrars to investigate domains associated with an abusive one.<\/li>\n<li>Registration data access featured in several sessions, from the GAC&#8217;s WHOIS discussion to the GNSO Council&#8217;s work on SSAD supplemental recommendations.<\/li>\n<li>The main written outputs to watch are the GAC Communiqu\u00e9 and any resolutions adopted at the Board meeting scheduled for the last day.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>What is ICANN87 and why does it matter to brand owners?<\/h2>\n<p>ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) coordinates the domain name system and sets the policies that bind registries and registrars of generic domains. Its public meetings are where policy is debated before it is adopted. According to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.icann.org\/en\/announcements\/details\/icann87-schedule-now-available-14-09-2026-en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">announcement of 14 September 2026<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/meetings.icann.org\/en\/meetings\/icann87\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">meeting website<\/a>, ICANN87 is held at the Bali International Convention Centre in Nusa Dua, Indonesia, on local time (WITA, UTC+8), with remote participation. As the Annual General Meeting, it is also when new Board members take their seats. A prep week of online briefings ran from 5 to 7 October.<\/p>\n<h2>ICANN87 sessions on the 2026 gTLD round<\/h2>\n<p>These are the sessions on the round listed in the <a href=\"https:\/\/icann87.sched.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">official ICANN87 schedule<\/a> (times in WITA):<\/p>\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Session<\/th>\n<th>Date<\/th>\n<th>What it covers<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>New gTLD Program: 2026 Round Update<\/td>\n<td>Prep week, 5 to 7 October<\/td>\n<td>Online briefing before the meeting<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>2026 Round: Pre-Evaluation Stage Overview<\/td>\n<td>18 October, 16:30<\/td>\n<td>The stage that ran up to Reveal Day and the replacement period<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>2026 Round: Timeline Overview and What&#8217;s Next<\/td>\n<td>19 October, 13:15<\/td>\n<td>The timeline, the Application Publication and Statistics website and a preview of the Application Comment Forum<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>2026 Round: Application Community Input Stage Overview<\/td>\n<td>20 October, 09:00<\/td>\n<td>Application comments, GAC Member Early Warnings, GAC Consensus Advice, singular and plural notifications, objections and appeals<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>2026 Round: String Evaluation Stage Overview<\/td>\n<td>21 October, 16:30<\/td>\n<td>The evaluation of applied-for strings<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>GDS: 2026 Round Wrap Up and Open Question and Answer<\/td>\n<td>22 October, 09:00<\/td>\n<td>Closing questions on the round<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>The Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC), which brings together governments, also held several sessions on the next round, including two capacity-building sessions on its readiness. That matters because GAC members can issue Early Warnings against applications during the input period that opens on 17 November, as ICANN confirmed in its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.icann.org\/en\/announcements\/details\/icann-announces-date-for-reveal-day-and-other-2026-round-milestones-29-09-2026-en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">announcement of 29 September 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Rights protection: UDRP, URS and registrant recourse<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>21 October: the IGO-INGO Curative Rights implementation review team held an open working session on proposed updates to the URS and UDRP rules and policies. The UDRP is the procedure most brand owners use to recover generic domains, and the URS is its faster suspension-only counterpart, so any rule change affects how complaints are drafted.<\/li>\n<li>19 October: a community plenary on gaps in registrant recourse examined the remedies available to domain holders within the ICANN system and the practices of registries and registrars.<\/li>\n<li>18 and 20 October: the GAC met the Commercial Stakeholders Group, which includes the Intellectual Property Constituency (IPC) and the Business Constituency, and the IPC held an open membership session.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>DNS abuse and registration data at ICANN87<\/h2>\n<p>The DNS Abuse Mitigation policy development process (PDP 1) held four working sessions to review the comments received on its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.icann.org\/en\/public-comment\/proceeding\/dns-abuse-mitigation-pdp-1-initial-report-18-08-2026\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Initial Report<\/a>, open for public comment from 18 August to 28 September 2026. The proposal would oblige registrars to investigate other domains associated with a customer account or registrant when at least one domain is found to be engaged in DNS abuse. For brand owners facing phishing or counterfeit networks, that &#8220;associated domain check&#8221; could turn one report into action against a cluster of names.<\/p>\n<p>On registration data, the agenda included a GAC discussion on WHOIS and registration data issues (18 October), three GNSO Council sessions on the Standardized System for Access\/Disclosure (SSAD) supplemental recommendations, a working session of the team implementing the Privacy and Proxy Services Accreditation policy, and an input group on authentication for law enforcement requests. They connect with ICANN&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.icann.org\/rdrs-en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Registration Data Request Service<\/a>, which intellectual property professionals can already use to request non-public data for generic domains.<\/p>\n<h2>What this means for your business<\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>Put 17 November in the calendar: the Application Comment Forum and the objection window open that day and run until 16 March 2027.<\/li>\n<li>Read the GAC Communiqu\u00e9 when it is published: it signals which applications or categories governments are concerned about.<\/li>\n<li>Check the Board resolutions from the meeting for any decision affecting the round or rights protection.<\/li>\n<li>Follow the DNS Abuse PDP 1 Final Report and the UDRP and URS rule updates; both may change how enforcement works.<\/li>\n<li>Review your enforcement playbook for generic domains once these changes are adopted, not before.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>If you want this tracked for you, our team for <a href=\"https:\/\/ipglobalguard.com\/en\/services\/domain-names\/\">domain name protection and new gTLD monitoring<\/a> follows ICANN outputs and turns them into concrete steps for your portfolio.<\/p>\n<h2>Where brand owners misread ICANN meetings<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Treating sessions as decisions.<\/strong> Most sessions discuss proposals; policy only changes when it is adopted and implemented.<\/li>\n<li>Missing the window that matters. ICANN87 previewed the comment tools, but the deadlines for comments and objections are fixed in the round&#8217;s timeline, not at the meeting.<\/li>\n<li>Ignoring government input. A GAC Early Warning or Consensus Advice can change an application&#8217;s course even if no brand owner objects.<\/li>\n<li>Relying on second-hand summaries. Sessions are streamed and the official documents are published; decisions should be based on them.<\/li>\n<li>Acting alone. Constituencies such as the IPC represent brand owners in policy work, and coordinated comments carry more weight; our <a href=\"https:\/\/ipglobalguard.com\/en\/services\/legal-ip\/\">IP disputes team<\/a> can prepare filings when a specific application or domain is at stake.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Frequently asked questions<\/h2>\n<h3>Where and when is ICANN87 held?<\/h3>\n<p>ICANN87, the Annual General Meeting, runs from 17 to 22 October 2026 at the Bali International Convention Centre in Nusa Dua, Indonesia, on local time (UTC+8). It is a hybrid meeting: in-person registration closed on 14 October, and remote participants can follow the sessions online.<\/p>\n<h3>Does ICANN87 change the dates of the 2026 gTLD round?<\/h3>\n<p>The dates come from ICANN&#8217;s announcement of 29 September 2026: String Confirmation Day on 17 November and a community input and objections period until 16 March 2027. The ICANN87 sessions explained those stages. Brand owners should check ICANN&#8217;s official announcements for any later change rather than rely on meeting summaries.<\/p>\n<h3>What is the associated domain check?<\/h3>\n<p>It is the proposal in the DNS Abuse Mitigation PDP 1 Initial Report to require registrars, when one domain is found to be engaged in DNS abuse, to investigate other domains linked to the same customer account or registrant. The working group reviewed public comments at ICANN87 before finalising its recommendations.<\/p>\n<h3>Can IP Global Guard monitor ICANN developments for our brands?<\/h3>\n<p>Yes. We follow the new gTLD round and the policy work that affects rights protection, screen applications against your marks and prepare comments or objections when needed. Objections before WIPO are prepared and coordinated directly where our professionals are qualified and otherwise through qualified representatives, from a single point of contact.<\/p>\n<h2>How IP Global Guard keeps your brand ready for the next steps<\/h2>\n<p>ICANN87 sets the stage for a busy period: the comment and objection window opens on 17 November, and rule changes on DNS abuse and dispute procedures are moving forward. IP Global Guard, the IP services line of META Channel Corporation Limited, coordinates domain protection, gTLD objections and enforcement across more than 25 jurisdictions; see our <a href=\"https:\/\/ipglobalguard.com\/en\/coverage\/\">coverage in Europe, Latin America and Africa<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Tell us which brands and markets you need covered. We will track the round and the policy changes that affect you and recommend action only where it is justified. <a href=\"https:\/\/ipglobalguard.com\/en\/contact\/\">Get in touch with our domains team<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em>This article is general information, not legal advice, and reflects the published schedule of ICANN87 at the time of writing.<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>Sources<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.icann.org\/en\/announcements\/details\/icann87-schedule-now-available-14-09-2026-en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ICANN, ICANN87 schedule now available (14 September 2026)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/meetings.icann.org\/en\/meetings\/icann87\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ICANN, ICANN87 Annual General Meeting website<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/icann87.sched.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ICANN, ICANN87 official schedule (consulted 2 October 2026)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.icann.org\/en\/announcements\/details\/icann-announces-date-for-reveal-day-and-other-2026-round-milestones-29-09-2026-en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ICANN, Reveal Day and other 2026 round milestones (29 September 2026)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.icann.org\/en\/public-comment\/proceeding\/dns-abuse-mitigation-pdp-1-initial-report-18-08-2026\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ICANN, Public comment on the DNS Abuse Mitigation PDP 1 Initial Report (18 August 2026)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.icann.org\/rdrs-en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ICANN, Registration Data Request Service (RDRS)<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What was on the ICANN87 agenda for brand owners: the 2026 gTLD round, UDRP and URS rule updates, DNS abuse and registration data, and the outputs to track.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":891,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[60,62,64],"class_list":["post-537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-domain-names","tag-icann","tag-new-gtlds","tag-udrp"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipglobalguard.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipglobalguard.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipglobalguard.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipglobalguard.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipglobalguard.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=537"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipglobalguard.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/537\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipglobalguard.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/891"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipglobalguard.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipglobalguard.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipglobalguard.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}