Thu, Aug 21, 2025

.TAOBAO New gTLD Application

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New gTLD Application Submitted to ICANN by: Alibaba Group Holding Limited

 

Application Downloaded On: 10 Apr 2015

 

String: TAOBAO

 

Application ID: 1-1041-74793

 

Applicant Information

 

  1. Full legal name

Alibaba Group Holding Limited

 

  1. Address of the principal place of business

Fourth Floor, One Capital Place

P.O.Box 847 George Town, Grand Cayman - KY1-1103 KY

 

  1. Phone number

+ 852 22155100

 

  1. Fax number

+ 852 22155100

 

  1. If applicable, website or URL

http://news.alibaba.com/specials/aboutalibaba/aligroup/index.html

 

Primary Contact

 

6(a). Name

Karen Ka Yan Law

 

6(b). Title

Legal Counsel

 

6(c). Address

 

6(d). Phone Number

+852 2215 5345

 

6(e). Fax Number

+852 2215 5211

 

6(f). Email Address

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

Secondary Contact

 

7(a). Name

Christopher Niemi

 

7(b). Title

Manager, Domain Services

 

7(c). Address

 

7(d). Phone Number

+1 208 685 1857

 

7(e). Fax Number

+1 208 389 5771

 

7(f). Email Address

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

Proof of Legal Establishment

 

8(a). Legal form of the Applicant

An exempted company incorporated in the Cayman Islands with Limited Liability

 

8(b). State the specific national or other jurisdiction that defines the type of entity identified in 8(a).

The Cayman Islands

 

8(c). Attach evidence of the applicant's establishment.

Attachments are not displayed on this form.

 

9(a). If applying company is publicly traded, provide the exchange and symbol.

 

9(b). If the applying entity is a subsidiary, provide the parent company.

 

9(c). If the applying entity is a joint venture, list all joint venture partners.

 

Applicant Background

 

11(a). Name(s) and position(s) of all directors

 

11(b). Name(s) and position(s) of all officers and partners

Name

Position

Joseph Chung Tsai Chief Financial Officer

Timothy Alexander Steinert Secretary

Yun Ma Executive Officer

 

11(c). Name(s) and position(s) of all shareholders holding at least 15% of shares

Name

Position

SOFTBANK CORP. (together with its subsidiaries) Not Applicable

Yahoo! Inc. (together with its subsidiaries) Not Applicable

 

11(d). For an applying entity that does not have directors, officers, partners, or shareholders: Name(s) and position(s) of all individuals having legal or executive responsibility

 

Applied-for gTLD string

 

  1. Provide the applied-for gTLD string. If an IDN, provide the U-label.

TAOBAO

 

14A. If applying for an IDN, provide the A-label (beginning with "xn--").

 

 

14B. If an IDN, provide the meaning, or restatement of the string in English, that is, a description of the literal meaning of the string in the opinion of the applicant.

 

 

14C1. If an IDN, provide the language of the label (in English).

 

 

14C2. If an IDN, provide the language of the label (as referenced by ISO-639-1).

 

 

14D1. If an IDN, provide the script of the label (in English).

 

 

14D2. If an IDN, provide the script of the label (as referenced by ISO 15924).

 

 

14E. If an IDN, list all code points contained in the U-label according to Unicode form.

 

 

15A. If an IDN, upload IDN tables for the proposed registry.  An IDN table must include:

the applied-for gTLD string relevant to the tables,

the script or language designator (as defined in BCP 47),

table version number,

effective date (DD Month YYYY), and

contact name, email address, and phone number.

Submission of IDN tables in a standards-based format is encouraged.

 

 

15B. Describe the process used for development of the IDN tables submitted, including consultations and sources used.

 

 

15C. List any variants to the applied-for gTLD string according to the relevant IDN tables.

 

 

  1. Describe the applicant's efforts to ensure that there are no known operational or rendering problems concerning the applied-for gTLD string. If such issues are known, describe steps that will be taken to mitigate these issues in software and other applications.

 

As is the case with any new TLD that is added to the DNS root zone, some general technical acceptance issues with the delegation of this TLD are expected. The back-end registry services provider selected by the Applicant has a significant experience in introducing new TLDs to the DNS root, including .BIZ, .US, and – more recently – .CO.

 

Following discussions with various domain name experts, we have not been able to determine any particular issues with respect to the applied-for gTLD, since:

 

- the string is entirely in Standard US ASCII characters;

- the length of the string is within the acceptable range of characters, as set out by ICANN;

- similar strings of the same nature have been successfully introduced in the root, including the TLDs referred to above, without the registry operator, registrars, registrants or Internet users having experienced technical, operational or rendering issues with respect to this string.

 

Therefore, the Applicant is of the opinion that there are no particular operational or rendering problems to be expected in relation to the applied-for gTLD string.

 

  1. OPTIONAL.

Provide a representation of the label according to the International Phonetic Alphabet (http://www.langsci.ucl.ac.uk/ipa/).

 

 

18A. Describe the mission/purpose of your proposed gTLD.

 

The Applicant (hereinafter referred to as “Alibaba”) is a privately held holding company which operates a variety of businesses through a number of subsidiaries and affiliates (collectively referred to as ʺAlibaba Groupʺ).  Alibaba Group was founded in 1999 by Jack Ma, a pioneer who has aspired to help make the Internet accessible, trustworthy and beneficial for everyone.   Since then, Alibaba Group has become a global leader in the field of electronic commerce.

 

Alibaba Group operates, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, a family of Internet-based businesses including online marketplaces that facilitate business-to-business (B2B) international and domestic China trade, retail business-to-consumer (B2C) and consumer-to-consumer (C2C) platforms, payment platforms, shopping search engine and data-centric cloud computing services. Alibaba Group reaches Internet users in more than 240 countries and regions, and including its affiliated entities, employs more than 25,000 people in some 70 cities in the Greater China, India, Japan, Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States.

 

In addition, Alibaba Group’s affiliates also provide other Internet based services, such as software applications, domain name registrations, website hosting and solutions, email hosting and technology-related consulting services on various marketplaces and platforms. Most of the operations of Alibaba Group are directed from the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”).

 

Alibaba Group’s major shareholders are the global search engine provider, Yahoo! Inc., and the Japan-based telecommunication service provider, Softbank Corp., both are Internet business giants.

 

Over the past years, Alibaba Group has built a global exposure and a truly international clientele.  One of the subsidiaries of Alibaba Group, Alibaba.com Limited, has been listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange since November 2007 (HKSE: 1688.HK).

 

Since 1999, Alibaba Group has developed and launched various businesses and activities, most of them have been traded and promoted under the highly reputable “Alibaba” brand, including but not limited to “Alibaba Group”, “Alibaba.com”, “Alibaba Japan”, and more recently, “Alibaba Cloud Computing”. Other than the “Alibaba” brand, Alibaba Group also established other core brands, such as “TAOBAO” and “TMALL”.

 

In May 2003, Alibaba Group founded the brand “TAOBAO” (in Chinese “淘宝”) at www.taobao.com (also known as “淘宝网” in Chinese), a Chinese language B2C and C2C Internet retail platform, focused on Chinese consumers but also available to consumers outside the PRC through the services of various agents. In the last eight years, the B2C and C2C platform operated under the “TAOBAO” brand (the ʺTaobao Marketplaceʺ) has grown to become Chinaʹs largest online retail platform and the primary online shopping destination in the PRC. The Taobao Marketplace’s transaction volume exceeded RMB200 billion (US$29 billion) in 2009. According to government statistics, online retail equaled approximately 1.98% of the PRC’s total retail trade in 2009. According to China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), the PRC had 485 million Internet users as of June 30, 2011. The Taobao Marketplace currently holds more than 370 million registered users and over 800 million product listings showcased on its websites.  The Taobao Marketplace receives more than 50 million unique visitors daily and is one of the world’s top 20 most visited websites according to the Alexa and DoubleClick Ad Planner by Google, Inc.

 

The growth of Alibaba Group, and the success of the “TAOBAO” branded services, have garnered a significant amount of media attention and resulted in a high public profile for Alibaba Group and the “TAOBAO” brand globally.  Alibaba Groupʹs B2C and C2C businesses and services are and have always been carried on, supplied and marketed continuously and substantially under and⁄or by reference to the “TAOBAO” brand. The date of first use of the “TAOBAO” brand (including but not limited to, “TAOBAO”, “Taobao.com”, “淘宝”, “淘宝网”) was in May 2003 and since then Alibaba Group has been commonly known under that brand in relation to B2C and C2C Internet retailing services.

 

Alibaba Group has been promoting the “TAOBAO” brand extensively since 2003 via the Internet and through publicity and advertising in trade press and other print media and has expended significant time and efforts in promoting its products and services available at the Taobao Marketplace, including but not limited to, the “TAOBAO” brand, across the Asia Pacific region particularly in Chinese speaking countries.

 

In order to underpin the further international roll-out of the “TAOBAO” brand and its services, the Applicant has decided to submit an application for the .TAOBAO gTLD.

 

According to the Applicant, the purpose of the .TAOBAO TLD may be manifold, as will be further explained below:

 

  1. Reflect the highly distinctive and recognizable “TAOBAO” brand at the top level of the DNS in order to further support the platform’s day-to-day activities, for the benefit of the Applicant, its affiliates, the “TAOBAO” brand connected businesses and consumers;

 

  1. Provide stakeholders of the Applicant, including affiliates, partners, businesses, consumers, sponsorships (i.e. Alibaba’s engagement in sponsoring activities), and their respective directors, officers, employees, with a recognizable and trusted identifier on the Internet;

 

  1. Provide such stakeholders with a secure and safe Internet environment that is mainly or even fully under the control of the Applicant and its subcontractors;

 

  1. Gradually offering content in multiple languages and services to a larger international audience, directly or indirectly accessible under specific domain names registered in the .TAOBAO gTLD, referring to, amongst others, product categories, brands, etc.

 

18B. How do you expect that your proposed gTLD will benefit registrants, Internet users, and others?

 

Alibaba intends to organize the registry operation for the .TAOBAO gTLD in such a manner that it will minimize the likelihood of having multiple applications or registration requests for a particular domain name.

 

According to the Applicant, this can be achieved in any of the following ways, which likely needs to be further refined following ICANN’s award and delegation of the .TAOBAO gTLD to Alibaba:

 

  1. From the Applicant’s perspective, .TAOBAO may bring a high degree of recognition and specialization to the currently existing name space. Where in most cases the specific connotation that has been initially given to the gTLDs (or even ccTLDs) has disappeared, the .TAOBAO top-level domain is currently intended to be unambiguous as regards:

 

  • the identity of Alibaba as the Registry Operator;
  • the source of the content and services offered under the .TAOBAO gTLD, by Alibaba and⁄or a third party appointed by the latter;
  • the affiliation between the Registry Operator and the .TAOBAO gTLD, as well as the domain names registered in such gTLD; and
  • in term, and at the discretion of Alibaba, the affiliation between the Registry Operator and any third party that is authorized by Alibaba to register and⁄or use one or more domain name registrations in the .TAOBAO gTLD, to be delegated and⁄or using such domain name registrations, and providing content under such domain names.

 

  1. As mentioned in the vision and mission statement above, the key reasons why Applicant is applying for .TAOBAO gTLD include but are not limited to:

 

  1. Operate the highly recognizable .TAOBAO gTLD at the top-level of the DNS’ hierarchy, for the benefit of the Applicant and the various stakeholders supported by the Applicant in its current day-to-day activities;

 

  1. Safety and security; and

 

  1. Implement measures – in the near or distant future and when more adequate tools and techniques become available – to mitigate and even avoid abuse, phishing, and even counterfeiting and piracy.

 

  1. The Applicant intends to implement the following policies and procedures with respect to the registration of domain names in the .TAOBAO top-level domain:

 

(i) reservation and registration of domain names in the name of Alibaba. It is likely that this will be the scenario that Alibaba will put in place during the first months or even years of operation of the .TAOBAO gTLD.

 

These names may include, but are not limited to:

 

  1. descriptive names, referring to the actual day-to-day business activities of the Applicant or its affiliates;
  2. descriptive names, referring to the internal departments of the Applicant;
  3. descriptive names, referring to the subsidiaries, affiliates and⁄or joint ventures of the Applicant;
  4. potentially also names relating to other stakeholders of Alibaba, to be determined by Alibaba following ICANN’s award and delegation of the .TAOBAO gTLD to Alibaba;
  5. etc.

 

(ii) launch of the TLD: if and when implemented by the Registry Operator, this is likely going to be a gradual process, whereby selected third parties that meet certain criteria, which Alibaba will be entitled to set at its own discretion, may register domain names in the .TAOBAO gTLD. These processes may include the following:

 

  1. Sunrise: allow physical persons, organizations and entities that meet the eligibility requirements determined by Alibaba at that point in time to choose and, where allowed by Alibaba, to register the domain names that are identical to their trademarks. These parties are generally expected to include Alibaba’s business partners, and the corresponding domain names would then include their product brands;

 

  1. Land rush and general availability: other available domain names may be registered by physical persons, organizations and entities that meet the eligibility requirements in force at that point in time to choose the domain names in accordance with the applicable terms and conditions.

 

Depending on the terms and conditions in force at the time of launch of the TLD, these domain names may or may not be registered in the name of the applicant for the domain name or in the name of the Registry Operator of the TLD (i.e., Alibaba). In any case, Alibaba reserves the right to impose additional and other restrictions from time to time at its sole discretion. These restrictions will be mainly inspired by the following elements and factors:

 

  1. protecting and safeguarding the Applicant’s brand and reputation;

 

  1. the willingness to safeguard the trustworthiness of the .TAOBAO gTLD, especially because of the fact that it will be operated by a respectable company;

 

  1. the Applicants plan to provide users of the .TAOBAO gTLD with a safe and secure experience; and

 

  1. possibly providing – in the rather distant future – business partners of Alibaba with a new indirect or – perhaps in the longer term – a more direct platform to promote themselves in the safe and secure .TAOBAO online environment.

 

  1. Given the fact that the Applicant is a company that is established in the People’s Republic of China, it is subject to national privacy and data protection rules and practices. Within this context, Alibaba will at all times be obliged to carefully consider and, where applicable, implement these policies, and this prior to and during the operation of the .TAOBAO gTLD.

 

  1. At this stage, Alibaba has not developed concrete and tangible plans in order to develop specific domain name registration activities in the .TAOBAO gTLD apart from the activities described above. However, it is clear that the Applicant intends to operate the .TAOBAO gTLD to the joint benefit of the Applicant, its affiliates, business partners and customers. In this respect, the Applicant has different ways in order to make existing and future customers, visitors and stakeholders aware of the (gradual) development of a new online environment under the .TAOBAOTLD, including but not limited to:

 

  1. Direct and indirect marketing and branding initiatives;
  2. By way of brochures and advertisements in newspapers, magazines, its own membership magazine etc.;
  3. Internet advertising campaigns, including paid search, pay-per-click advertising, etc.;
  4. Using its current on line presences, including various URLs under the Applicant’s key Alibaba domain name, in order to drive Internet traffic towards domain name registrations in the .TAOBAO gTLD, hereby promoting this new space, provide relevant content with respect to products that can be purchased over the TAOBAO platform, and the opportunity to make such reservations by way of a secured platform;
  5. Email marketing campaigns;
  6. etc.

 

18C. What operating rules will you adopt to eliminate or minimize social costs (e.g., time or financial resource costs, as well as various types of consumer vulnerabilities)? What other steps will you take to minimize negative consequences/costs imposed upon consumers?

 

In line with Alibaba’s mission and purpose for the .TAOBAO gTLD, it is first and foremost important for Alibaba to safeguard and protect its key “TAOBAO” brand and trademark at the top level of the DNS’ hierarchy. Such protection does not only extend to the actual registration, delegation and use of the TLD, but also to the domain names that are registered therein, and how these domain names are used.

 

Considering the fact that the actual award and delegation of the .TAOBAO gTLD to Alibaba is subject to the successful evaluation of our application, we have not yet defined in detail:

 

  • the types of domain names that will be registered;
  • who will be entitled to select which domain names will be registered
  • who will be entitled to register such domain names;
  • who will be entitled to use such domain names, and;
  • which types of use will be allowed or recommended.

 

As we believe that the development and implementation of one or more business cases could likely take a couple of months or even years, we have only focused on a number of high-level characteristics of our plans in relation to the operation of the .TAOBAO gTLD, as described above.

 

By all means, it is in Alibaba’s self-interest to, on the one hand, make the most of this initiative, promote its own business interests together with those of its key affiliates, business partners, and consumers, whilst mitigating risks for the brands and brand reputation of such stakeholders and reducing the (social) costs for others.

 

In this context, Alibaba will devise policies that encompass and comprise the following features:

 

At least during the initial months or even years following the delegation of the .TAOBAO gTLD to Alibaba, this extension is likely going to be a so-called “single registrant TLD” as contemplated by ICANN in Article 4.5 of the template Registry Operator Agreement (“Transition of Registry upon Termination of Agreement”). For the avoidance of doubt, a “single registrant TLD” is a TLD where “(i) all domain name registrations in the TLD are registered to, and maintained by, Registry Operator for its own exclusive use, and (ii) Registry Operator does not sell, distribute or transfer control or use of any registrations in the TLD to any third party that is not an Affiliate of Registry Operator.”

 

Therefore, parties who are not Alibaba or – insofar and to the extent Alibaba deems appropriate – an affiliate will not be entitled to register domain names in the .TAOBAO gTLD.

 

Alibaba believes this to be in line with two of the main elements in its vision and mission statement, namely:

 

  • Protecting and safeguarding the .TAOBAO gTLD, by keeping full control over the entire operation of the .TAOBAO registry and most if not all domain names registered therein; and

 

  • Guaranteeing to Alibaba’s key stakeholders who are interacting with Alibaba and, as the case may be, its affiliates, by using domain name registrations in .TAOBAO that they are in fact interacting with the brand owner or its authorized affiliates or business partners.

 

Consequently, there will be no (social) costs for non-eligible (third) parties in registering domain names, given the fact that they will be unable to do so in the .TAOBAO gTLD in the first place.

 

However, even if only Alibaba (and, as the case may be, Alibaba’s affiliates) will be entitled to register domain names, this does not exclude the hypothesis that disputes may arise with one or more third parties as regards domain names that are registered in the .TAOBAO gTLD.

 

In order to avoid these risks, Alibaba intends to implement the following policies and processes:

 

First, the domain names to be registered by Alibaba and, as the case may be, its affiliates and⁄or business partners, could relate to the following:

 

  • registered trademarks of Alibaba;
  • names of the affiliates and⁄or business partners of Alibaba;
  • names of departments within Alibaba, its affiliates and⁄or business partners;
  • etc.

 

Furthermore, Alibaba envisages registering a fair number of generic words that are directly or indirectly related to the day-to-day business activities and operations of Alibaba and its affiliates.

 

Prior to effectively registering such domain names in the .TAOBAO gTLD, Alibaba will require its legal and intellectual property department to review the list of these domain names on a regular basis in order to satisfy itself that they will not infringe the rights of third parties.

 

In any case, Alibaba shall claim to have a legitimate interest in these domain names, as they are merely descriptive of the activities, products or services of Alibaba and⁄or its affiliates. So even if one or more of these domain names would be protected by a registered trademark, held by a third party, it is likely that a claim under the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy or Uniform Rapid Suspension policy will fail.

 

As regards the names referred to in Specification 5 to the template Registry Operator Agreement, Alibaba will follow the processes and procedures established by ICANN and the Governmental Advisory Committee.

 

If Alibaba would determine, at its sole discretion, that it will gradually allow certain categories of stakeholders to register domain names in the .TAOBAO gTLD in their own name, Alibaba will devise policies to that effect.

 

However, Alibaba will at all times be entitled to restrict, limit or expand:

 

  • the category or categories of stakeholders who will be entitled to register one or more domain names in the .TAOBAO gTLD, including their criteria for qualification;
  • the choice of domain name(s) registered in the .TAOBAO gTLD by and per such eligible stakeholder (category);
  • the use made by an and per eligible stakeholder of a domain name registered in the .TAOBAO gTLD;
  • the transfer of domain names registered in .TAOBAO;
  • etc.

 

Alibaba shall reserve the right to subject the registration or use of a domain name to internal approval processes and procedures, at each and every step of the domain name life cycle.

 

Given the fact that Alibaba may release such available domain names post launch in a highly controlled manner, this also reduces the likelihood that two or more applicants qualify for the registration of the same domain name in the .TAOBAO top-level domain;

 

As a method of last resort, and subject to the actual domain name registration policy adopted by the Registry Operator and in force at the time of registration, domain names will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.

 

In any event, Alibaba reserves the right to change or restrict any policies, procedures and practices at any point in time if it is of the opinion that there would be a risk that the reputation of the “ALIBABA” or “TAOBAO” brands, or the brands of its stakeholders, would be damaged.

 

The Applicant intends to make the .TAOBAO top-level domain available to qualifying domain name registrants at an acceptable cost to them. Furthermore, Alibaba reserves the right to bundle certain products and services with the registration of domain names in the .TAOBAO gTLD. Furthermore, Alibaba may offer additional services that intend to drive Internet traffic from URLs operated by Alibaba towards domain names registered, controlled, and⁄or operated by such third parties.

 

So, in brief:

 

  1. The Applicant ⁄ Registry Operator may reserve, delegate and use a potentially large number of domain names that are directly or indirectly relevant to Applicant’s business in its own name. Since some of these domain names could be of a descriptive nature, the chances for qualifying ⁄ eligible applicants ⁄ registrants to register such domain names after the launch will be limited;

 

  1. The Registry Operator shall be entitled at all times to release available domain names post launch in a highly controlled manner, which also reduces the likelihood that two or more applicants qualify for the registration of the same domain name in the .TAOBAO top-level domain;

 

  1. As a method of last resort, and subject to the actual domain name registration policy adopted by the Registry Operator and in force at the time of registration, domain names will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, however always taking into account the rights and legitimate interests of third parties, including but not limited to trademark rights;

 

  1. The Applicant intends to make the .TAOBAO top-level domain available to qualifying domain name registrants at an acceptable cost to them, to be determined if and when the Applicant would decide at its own discretion to allow third parties to register domain names, and – as the case may be – bundle such domain name registrations with additional added-value products and services generally offered by Alibaba in the course of its ordinary business activities;

 

  1. If the Applicant ⁄ Registry Operator will be required to increase the fees for the registration of domain names, such increases will keep pace with comparable market rates for such domain name registrations. However, the Registry Operator shall at all times be entitled to bundle the registration of domain names with other products or services offered by or on behalf of Alibaba at a fee to be set by the Registry Operator.