Last week, Luc Seufer, Chief Legal Officer at EBRAND, attended ICANN85 in Mumbai: the last ICANN public meeting before the new gTLD application window officially opens. After 14 years of waiting, the message from Mumbai was unambiguous. The next round is happening, the timeline is confirmed, and the opportunity for brand owners is real.
Here is what you need to know.
The Timeline Is Set
ICANN85 was the final public meeting before the 2026 round of the New Generic Top-Level Domains Program gets underway. The application window opens on April 30, 2026 and remains open for 15 weeks, closing on August 12, 2026.
Once the window closes, ICANN enters a processing phase. If application volumes are similar to 2012 (roughly 2,000 submissions), Reveal Day is expected before ICANN87 in October 2026. Reveal Day is when all applied-for strings are published simultaneously, and the competitive landscape becomes visible to everyone at once. Until that moment, every applicant is operating in the dark.
That dynamic makes one of the key innovations of this round particularly valuable: the replacement string.
The Next Round Replacement String: A Strategic Safety Net
For the first time, applicants can submit a secondary string alongside their primary application: a built-in Plan B. If the primary string is in contention on Reveal Day, the applicant has a limited window to switch to their replacement string, provided that string is also uncontested. This is a meaningful addition: it creates a path to delegation that avoids the cost and delay of an auction.
There is also a formal 14-day Replacement Period immediately following Reveal Day. During this time, applicants can review the published landscape and formally notify ICANN of their decision to switch strings.
For .brand applicants, there is an additional layer of flexibility not available to other applicants. Brand String Change Requests allow a dotBrand to append a descriptive word to the brand name as an alternative string. Unlike the standard replacement string, this option does not need to be declared at the time of application, and dotBrands are given more time to exercise it. It is a meaningful safety valve and another reason the 2026 framework is considerably more brand-friendly than its predecessor.
What Makes a .Brand TLD Different in 2026
The 2026 round gives .brand applicants something the 2012 round did not: formal recognition and a defined contractual pathway from day one.
A Brand TLD is a top-level domain operated exclusively by the brand owner and its affiliates or licensees. There is no obligation to offer registrations to the public. The namespace is entirely under the brand’s control, creating a trusted and secure environment for customers, partners, and internal infrastructure alike.
Crucially, Specification 13 will now be automatically attached to the Base Registry Agreement. This addendum to the Registry Agreement governs how dotBrands operate. In 2012, most dotBrand applicants had to wait months after receiving their standard contracts before Specification 13 was finalised, creating significant uncertainty. That ambiguity is gone. Applicants in 2026 know the full terms upfront.
Eligibility is determined through the Trademark Clearinghouse. Applicants will need to upload their .SMD file as part of the submission, providing a direct link between trademark ownership and TLD eligibility. All applications are submitted through TAMS, the new TLD Application Management System, which manages the full lifecycle of an application from submission through evaluation.
Brands Are the Biggest Story Ahead of the Next Round
At the ICANN Public Forum in Mumbai, ICANN CEO Kurtis Lindqvist left little room for ambiguity on where brand owners fit into this round:
« The really largest interest groups in this round is brand. Brand owners, brand management is phenomenally large interest in this round. […] There’s everything ranging, of course, from trademark protection all the way to infrastructure security. »
Coming from the CEO of ICANN, a computer scientist rather than a marketer, that is a notable statement. It reflects a genuine shift in how the global internet governance community now views .brand TLDs: not as vanity projects, but as serious digital infrastructure.
DNS Abuse in the Spotlight
The new gTLD round was not the only major topic in Mumbai. DNS abuse mitigation commanded significant attention across the week, with multiple sessions dedicated to the ongoing Policy Development Process.
The Governmental Advisory Committee has been vocal about wanting stronger DNS abuse obligations baked into the conditions for the next round. That ambition, while well-intentioned, is unlikely to materialise as a pre-round requirement. With the formal PDP process underway, the Final Issue Report has confirmed the scope of the work. The community is starting to engage with the process, as the confirmation spreads across industries. That being said, sound policy cannot be rushed to meet an application deadline.
Luc Seufer, as co-chair of the Registrar Stakeholders Group DNS Abuse Mitigation Working Group, has been at the centre of these discussions, helping shape both the analytical framework and the registrar community’s engagement with the PDP. The direction of travel on DNS abuse policy is clear; the timeline should serve the quality of the outcome, not the other way around.
Why Now, and Why EBRAND for your Next Round?
The window to apply for a .brand TLD opens in six weeks. The preparation required to submit a strong, compliant application takes considerably longer than that.
EBRAND advises some of the world’s most recognised brands on how to protect, manage, and leverage their digital presence. We’ve earned more than 15 years of experience in the industry, and we’re not going anywhere. Our team combines deep legal expertise, including direct involvement in the ICANN policy processes shaping this very round, with the technical and strategic capabilities to guide a .brand application from initial feasibility through to delegation and live operation. When Luc co-chairs DNS abuse working groups at ICANN and helps define the frameworks that govern the next round, that is not incidental to our advisory work. It is the foundation of it.
Beyond the application itself, a new gTLD strategy does not exist in isolation. It sits within a broader domain portfolio that needs active management. Monitoring for infringement, enforcing against DNS abuse, and securing existing registrations helps you ensure that your brand’s digital infrastructure stays strong. EBRAND supports all of it. From the day your .brand TLD goes live, we can support every renewal, audit, and enforcement action that follows.
If you are a brand owner weighing whether the 2026 round is the right moment to act, Mumbai gave a clear answer. The timeline is confirmed, the framework is more brand-friendly than ever, and the window will not stay open. The question is whether you are ready to move when it does.
Explore EBRAND’s new gTLD services and find out how we can support your application strategy, right here.
