.blanco Domain

TO BENEFIT INTERNET USERS BY ENSURING INCREASED TRUST AND CONFIDENCE THROUGH THE ELIMINATION OF USER CONFUSION AND ASSURANCE OF BRAND AUTHENTICITY.

The new .blanco gTLD will operate as a restricted registry, in which Blanco GmBH + Co.KG (Blanco) can create and control domain spaces to strengthen its brand identity and authenticity. The .blanco gTLD will provide an authoritative internet space for Blanco, its affiliates and local partners that are associated with the brand. In this regard, the .blanco gTLD will be used by Blanco to provide information, services and resources to consumers in a way that promotes consumer confidence, brand authenticity, convenience and utility. Second and third level domain names can then be utilised for direct communication, promotion campaigns and information purposes to target different groups of consumers by providing country-specific or group- specific second level domains, with internet users assured of brand authenticity.

Blanco and its affiliate entity Blanco CS GmbH + Co KG (Blanco CS) are subsidiaries of EGO Electro-Geräte GmbH & Co Holding KG, which forms the Blanco group of companies (Blanco Group). Blanco and its own subsidiaries form the Blanco kitchen technology group, which produces and sells household kitchen sinks and is one of the world's leading providers of high quality sinks, mixer taps and waste systems for domestic kitchens. Blanco CS is involved in manufacturing catering equipment, medical care and industrial components. Blanco Group was established in 1925 with its headquarters in Oberderdingen, Germany and Blanco currently has over 1,200 employees worldwide with a network of own subsidiary companies and long term partners in approximately 100 countries worldwide. In 2010, Blanco consolidated net sales of 242 million EUR, a 9% increase in revenue from the previous year and its export share in total sales increased to 62%. Blanco owns the majority of the "Blanco" trademarks and always aims to achieve further development and innovation of system solutions for its customers. In this regard, consumer confidence, brand reputation and continuous innovation are paramount considerations in all its activities.

Since the inception of the current domain name system, business activities conducted on the internet are constantly changing and evolving with increased complexity. The volume of commercial transactions over the internet is constantly growing and bringing benefits of simplicity and lowered transaction costs to businesses and consumers. However, at the same time, criminal activities over the internet including data breach, hacking and phishing activities have also become more sophisticated resulting in loss of consumer confidence beyond mere monetary harm. The .blanco gTLD will facilitate greater trust and assurance from internet users connecting with Blanco online, whilst still allowing convenient and efficient interaction.

Blanco's mission and purpose of the proposed new gTLD share ICANN's initiatives to promote public interest. Blanco is committed to contribute towards achieving such initiatives in line with ICANN's Affirmation of Commitments, which includes:

- consumer trust: the .blanco gTLD registry will be operated in a centralised manner with a restrictive registration policy. Registration of domain names will only be available to Blanco and its affiliate entities, which will provide added consumer trust that .blanco domain names are trustworthy. As .blanco domain names are subject to registration standards, policies and procedures under control of Blanco, this eliminates the possibility of malicious conduct within the .blanco domain space;

- competition: the proposed .blanco gTLD is not intended to instigate competition and consumer choice at the level of registration of domain names among prospective registrants. Instead it is anticipated to contribute to ICANN's initiatives to promote public interest through its operation focused on strengthening consumer trust. Increased trust in the .blanco gTLD will drive existing and new top level domain (TLD) registry operators to make improvements in mechanisms to improve consumer trust of their TLDs; and

- consumer choice: the proposed new gTLD will enable user-driven improvements and innovations assisting Blanco's marketing efforts through its ability to create new second and third level domain names on demand. These names will provide the consumers with more choices for interacting with Blanco. As Blanco has effective control over the registration and use of domain names under .blanco domain space, this will also contribute towards general service innovations on the internet.


Given the restricted nature of the .blanco gTLD, the projected number of registrations is likely to be limited. It is anticipated that a rather limited number of domain names (between 60 and 140) will be registered in the first few years. However, the number of domain name registrations is likely to increase as Blanco develops and implements new services and marketing campaigns.

As the .blanco gTLD expands and evolves, Blanco may consider offering the use of second level domain names to its partners and distributors at a later date. In this endeavour, Blanco will continue to comply with all operational, technical and policy requirements, as well as maintaining consumer trust and the stability on the internet. Blanco will keep ICANN reasonably informed of any material developments relating to .blanco gTLD including compliance with the continued operations instrument obligations as set out in Specification 8 of the Registry Agreement.

Blanco intends to create relevant domain names for use including group-specific content or geographic names in the second or third level domain names. In accordance with registration policies and the proposed measures for protection of geographic names as outlined in response to Question 22, Blanco will use geographic names to localise its websites in the countries in which it currently operates. The use of geographic names is intended to:
- connect internet users with country-specific content; and
- comply with required rules and regulations in the national territory.


Blanco will utilise Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) at the second level, initially in German, Russian and Chinese. The use of IDNs will allow internet users to engage with .blanco in their native language creating a more positive user experience and encouraging diversity. As the use of the .blanco gTLD evolves, it is anticipated that the use of IDNs, including additional languages, will increase within the .blanco domain space.

Blanco is a well-recognised global brand with its trademarks registered in over 30 countries and territories in categories including: 6 (kitchen worktops), 11 (sinks, mixing taps, washstands, sink units), 19 (non-metallic sinks), 20 (furniture units for kitchen), 21 (household, waste collectors) and 42 (kitchen design)

Blanco has an extensive portfolio of domain names registered in over 200 TLDs, including 3 gTLDs and over 50 country-code TLDS (ccTLDs) that are an exact match to the "Blanco" trademark, including, blanco.asia, blanco.eu, blanco.cn, blanco.be and blanco.fr.

Recently, Blanco was successful in securing sunrise application in .asia and .eu domain spaces based on existing trademark registration.

Blanco believes that the .blanco gTLD is unlikely to cause confusion with either a generic term or any existing TLDs. Blanco trademarks are a leading global brand with significant reputation worldwide, Blanco is equally the trade and company name by which the company has established itself as a world leader in its field. Blanco has registered several product names including blanco, such as Blancoaxon and Blancostone over the past years. As such, the Blanco brand is well known for its high quality products within the kitchen technology industry.×