.lipsy Domain

THE MISSION AND PURPOSE OF THE NEW RESTRICTED .LIPSY gTLD IS TO BENEFIT INTERNET USERS BY ENSURING INCREASED TRUST AND CONFIDENCE THROUGH THE ELIMINATION OF USER CONFUSION AND ASSURANCE OF BRAND AUTHENTICITY.

The new .lipsy gTLD will operate as a restricted registry, in which Lipsy Ltd. (Lipsy) can create and control domain spaces that promote its brand identity and authenticity. In this regard, the .lipsy gTLD will be used by Lipsy to provide product information, services and resources to consumers in a way that promotes trust, convenience and utility. The .lipsy gTLD will provide an authoritative internet space for Lipsy, its affiliates and partners, in which second and third level domains can then be utilised for marketing, online sales and communication purposes of the Lipsy brand, with internet users assured of brand authenticity.

Lipsy is a young British fashion brand established in 2006 and has its headquarters in London. Lipsy designs clothing for women, including day wear, party wear, outerwear, jeans and shorts, including jewellery and accessories. Lipsy has stores in Australia, South Africa, India, Israel, Cyprus, Greece, France, the UK, Ireland, Iceland, Spain (including Canary Island), and the US. Since 2008, Lipsy operates as a subsidiary of Next Group Plc (Next), a UK based retailer offering clothing, footwear, accessories and home products. Next has three main outlets: Next retail, a chain of over 500 stores in the UK and Ireland, Nextdirectory a home shopping catalogue and website with over 2 million active users and Next International, with over 180 international stores. Next is listed on the London stock exchange and is constituent of the FTSE 100 index.

Business activities are increasingly conducted over the internet, allowing for greater levels of interaction between businesses and customers. As a result, both businesses and end users benefit from ease of interaction and a wider range of choices with lower transaction costs. However, the development in this arena in the current domain name system has exposed both businesses and consumers to increased criminal activities over the internet, including data breach, hacking and phishing. These sophisticated criminal activities cause reputational damage to businesses as internet users lose consumer confidence and trust with the businesses targeted by such criminal activities. The .lipsy gTLD will facilitate greater trust and assurance from internet users connecting with Lipsy and the Lipsy brand online, whilst still allowing convenient and efficient interaction.

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

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

- competition: the .lipsy 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 promoting consumer trust. Increased trust in the .lipsy 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 .lipsy gTLD will enable user-driven improvements and innovations assisting Lipsy'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 Lipsy and its Lipsy brand. As Lipsy has effective control over the registration and use of domain names under .lipsy domain space, this will also contribute towards general service innovations on the internet.


Given the restricted nature of the .lipsy gTLD, the projected number of registration is likely to be limited. It is anticipated that a more limited number of domain names (approximately 200) will be registered in the first year. However, over the next few years, the number of registrations is likely to increase to up to 800 domain names as Lipsy develops and implements new services and marketing campaigns.

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

Lipsy intends to create relevant domain names for use including product, services or geographic names in the second or third level domain names. In accordance with registration policy and the proposed measures for protection of geographic names as outlined in response to Question 22, Lipsy will use geographic names to localise its websites in the countries relevant to its operations. The use of geographic names is intended to:

- connect internet users with relevant information as applicable to the territory; and

- comply with required rules and regulations in the national territory and provide country-specific information to its customers.


Lipsy does not intend to utilise Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) at the second level initially. However, as the use of the .lipsy gTLD evolves, Lipsy may wish to utilise IDNs within the .lipsy domain space to allow internet users to engage with .lipsy in their native language, creating a more positive user experience and encouraging diversity.

Lipsy is a well-recognised global brand with its trademarks registered in 36 countries and territories for the following categories: classes 3 (soaps, cosmetics, essential oils), 14 (precious metals), 18 (leather and leather imitations), 20 (furniture, beds), 24 (textiles, plastic material as a substitute for fabric), 25 (articles of clothing, footwear, headgear), 27 (carpets, rugs) and 35 (retail services).

Further, Lipsy has existing domain names related to the Lipsy brand and products with an exact match to the "Lipsy" trademark and the applied for .lipsy string in domain spaces including lipsy.com, lipsy.es, lipsy.co.uk, lipsy.gr, lipsy.com.gr and lipsy.com.es.

Lipsy also has domain names containing the "Lipsy" trademark in domain spaces such as lipsylondon.eu, lipsybasement.co.uk, lipsyfashion.co.uk, lipsystudio.co and lipsylondon.eu.

Recently, Lipsy was successful in securing sunrise application in the .xxx domain spaces based on existing trademark registration×