Chinese Top Level Domain Name in Hong Kong Available for Register

Posted on 10/01/2011

Back in June 2010, the Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation Limited (HKIRC) was granted approval by ICANN to administer Chinese equivalent of the ".hk" top level domain name, the ".香港" (the Chinese term for Hong Kong) to eliminate language barriers.  Subsequently, free and priority registration of the Chinese domain ".香港" has been offered to current English domain users, with any new customers able to register both Chinese and English ".hk" domain names for the price of one.
 
HKIRC has now announced its plan to launch [Chinese Characters].香港 domain categories in February/March 2011 (exact dates to be confirmed).  In preparation for the launch, application for [Chinese Characters].hk domain names will no longer be accepted from 18 January 2011 onwards.  From 18 January 2011, you will only be able to register [Chinese Characters].香港, and all existing customers with a registered [Chinese Characters].hk domain name will be automatically allocated a corresponding [Chinese Characters].香港 domain name for free.
 
With the anticipated increase in popularity for Chinese language domain names, there is a need for trade mark owners to secure their Chinese character brands and domain names, especially when mere registration of roman characters only domain names will not necessarily offer protection for corresponding trade marks in Chinese characters.  Brand owners should therefore take this opportunity to obtain priority for Chinese character trade marks in both ".香港" and ".hk" domain names for the price of one registration fee.