.ROCHER New gTLD Application
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New gTLD Application Submitted to ICANN by: Ferrero Trading Lux S.A.
Application Downloaded On: 09 Jan 2014
String: ROCHER
Application ID: 1-1126-33363
Applicant Information
- Full legal name
Ferrero Trading Lux S.A.
- Address of the principal place of business
Rue de Trèves, Findel Business Center
Complexe B Findel - L-2632 LU
- Phone number
+352 349 71 11
- Fax number
+352 34 94 11
- If applicable, website or URL
http://www.ferrero.com
Primary Contact
6(a). Name
Stefano Marzocchi
6(b). Title
Legal Counsel
6(c). Address
6(d). Phone Number
+39 340 700 3590
6(e). Fax Number
6(f). Email Address
Secondary Contact
7(a). Name
Daniel Mathieu
7(b). Title
IT Director
7(c). Address
7(d). Phone Number
+352 3497119769
7(e). Fax Number
7(f). Email Address
Proof of Legal Establishment
8(a). Legal form of the Applicant
Corporation
8(b). State the specific national or other jurisdiction that defines the type of entity identified in 8(a).
Luxembourg
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.
Fervalue S. à r.l. is 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
Name
Position
Arduino BORGOGNO Managing Director and Raw Material Purchasing Manager
Bruno FERRONI Director and Tax, Customs, Policies and Group Insurance Manager
Filippo FERRUA MAGLIANI Director
Giovanni MAGNARELLO Director and Middle East/Africa General Manager
Giuseppe MARANO Managing Director and Area Manager Emerging Markets
Jorge DE MORAGAS Director and Group C.F.O.
Nunzio PULVIRENTI Director, President and Chief Operating Officer of the Product Function
11(b). Name(s) and position(s) of all officers and partners
Name
Position
Arduino BORGOGNO Managing Director
Giuseppe MARANO Managing Director
Jorge DE MORAGAS Group Chief Financial Officer
Nunzio PULVIRENTI Chief Operating Officer of the Product Function
11(c). Name(s) and position(s) of all shareholders holding at least 15% of shares
Name
Position
Fervalue S.ŕ r.l 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
- Provide the applied-for gTLD string. If an IDN, provide the U-label.
ROCHER
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.
- 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 the applied-for gTLD string is not an IDN and is consistent with the requirements of the Applicant Guidebook Section 2.2.1.3.2 (String Requirements), Ferrero does not believe there are any known operational or rendering problems concerning the string.
- 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.
Rocher, known as Ferrero Rocher in the market place, is a renowned boxed chocolate of the Ferrero Group, a leading manufacturer of chocolate and other confectionery products including Nutella, the Kinder range of products and Tic Tac mints.
A private companies’ group founded by the confectioner Pietro Ferrero in 1946 in Alba, Piedmont, Italy, it is still owned by the Ferrero family We operate with more than seventy affiliated companies (including thirty-eight business units, eighteen production plants and three social enterprises) in more than one hundred countries worldwide. The Group employs 21,736 people worldwide and our Net Sales in the financial year ended August 2010 were in excess of 6.6 billion Euro, representing an increase of 4.3% over the previous year, with an EBT of 893 million Euro.
Ferrero strongly believes and invests in research and development and innovation and we have recently been focusing on energy-efficient installations in Italy, Germany, Poland and Belgium. We are also contributing to the development of some of the poorest areas in the world through our Social Enterprises.
We pride ourselves on prioritising high quality, crafted precision, product freshness, careful selection of the finest raw materials, respect and consideration for our customers who are always at the centre of our strategy. We care about hygiene, the environment, social issues and the local communities in which we have a presence. Above all, we are ‘glocal’ – we think globally and act locally.
Ferrero Rocher was introduced in 1982 and it is today the No. 1 boxed chocolate brand in the World, sold in more than one hundred countries. It is well-known for its individual gold packaging and for its iconic advertising campaigns. It is the main pillar within the Ferrero range of boxed chocolates that include Mon Chéri, Pocket Coffee, Confetteria Raffaello, Ferrero Collection and Ferrero Rondnoir
We are very proud of Ferrero Rocher, which is one of our most powerful and most recognized brands. The .Rocher registry will be a standard, not a community-based, registry with the following purpose:
- To protect the intellectual property that Ferrero has on Rocher and to ensure that the integrity of our brand is enhanced at the highest possible level in the domain name system. We have a portfolio of registered intellectual property rights around the world and securing the term, .Rocher will enable us to harmonise our current brand protection policies
- To provide a platform for the delivery of secure digital material for consumers, key stakeholders, business partners and employees, a platform that potentially will host all our digital communication initiatives both from a corporate and a brand perspective across all the Ferrero Business Units
- To ensure Ferrero remains at the forefront of innovation by keeping pace with internet technology developments;
- To provide a platform able to ensure a strong global and consistent presence for the Ferrero Rocher brand in the digital world across all the Ferrero Business Units;
- To provide a platform for the delivery of secure digital material for consumers in primis, business partners and employees
The success of the .Rocher registry will be determined by enhancing the equity of the Ferrero⁄Rocher brand and the security and stability it brings to our communications.
18B. How do you expect that your proposed gTLD will benefit registrants, Internet users, and others?
The registry will be rigorously controlled by authorised Ferrero personnel but it is predicted that it will also benefit the following stakeholders:
- Our customers: a new .Rocher registry will benefit them because it will be a location for authentic, accessible information about the product within the Ferrero family, a transparent, reliable and trusted source of information about the product and consumer activities (e.g. promotion, communications, digital tool) that the different Business Units will put in place; Our employees: a new gTLD will be perceived as demonstrating that Ferrero is at the forefront of developments in internet technology as well as reinforcing our Rocher brand worldwide and providing a more secure communication channel.
What is the goal of your proposed gTLD in terms of areas of speciality, service levels
reputation?
We pride ourselves on the integrity of our Ferrero⁄Rocher and this will be reflected in the treatment of the new gTLD. Our goal is to position ourselves to exploit the latest internet advances in order to enhance our brand and reputation still further.
Furthermore we aim at creating a platform able to deliver useful digital contents (such as widget, apps) for consumers.
The new registry will be designed so that it is 100% ICANN compliant.
What do you anticipate your proposed gTLD will add to the current space in terms of competition, differentiation or innovation?
We are eager to operate a registry with shorter domain names that are universally applicable across the globe. We feel it offers clarity and will enable our customers to place their trust in our registry which will also provide opportunities for enhanced communication.
We look forward to utilising our new registry in conjunction with our current domains and are keen to market under the term .Rocher if the new gTLD process is a success. It enables brands to leave behind complex naming hierarchies inherent in country code extensions.
What goals does your proposed gTLD have in terms of user experience?
We hope that our customers, wherever they may be geographically based, know they are in a trusted and authentic destination once they arrive at the new gTLD. We want them to be confident that they will receive accurate information and that their sensitive personal details will be protected. The Ferrero Group Privacy statement can be viewed here: http:⁄⁄www.ferrero.com⁄legal.php
Provide a complete description of the applicant’s intended registration policies in support of the goals above
Ferrero is the operator of the .Rocher registry. The Ferrero Domain Name Management team is responsible for the development, maintenance and enforcement of the Ferrero Domain Management Policy. This policy defines the rules associated with eligibility and domain name allocation, sets out the license terms governing the use of a .Rocher domain name and describes the dispute resolution policies for the Ferrero gTLD. The policy will be updated and revised regularly to reflect Ferrero’s commercial and strategic interests and, where appropriate, ICANN consensus policies.
Registration of a .Rocher domain name will be undertaken in four steps: Eligibility Confirmation, Naming Convention Check, Acceptable Use Review, and finally Registration. All domains in the .Rocher registry will remain the property of Ferrero.
Each applied for character string must conform to the .Rocher rules of eligibility. Each .Rocher name must:
- Be at least 1 character and no more than 63 characters long
- Not contain a hyphen on the 3rd and 4th position (tagged domains)
- Contain only letters (a-z), numbers (0-9) and hyphens or a combination of these
- Start and end with an alphanumeric character, not a hyphen
- Not match any character strings reserved by ICANN
- Not match any protected country names or geographical terms
Internationalized domain names (IDN) may be supported in the .Rocher registry at the second level.
.Rocher names must be utilised solely for purposes that enhance Ferrero’s strategic or commercial interests. .Rocher domains may not be used in a way which knowingly infringes any third party intellectual property rights or gives rise to moral or public order questions.
.Rocher names may not be delegated or assigned to external organizations, institutions, or individuals.
All .Rocher domains will carry accurate and up to date registration records.
The Ferrero Domain Name Management Team may revoke a .Rocher domain name at any time in line with Ferrero’s corporate and strategic interests.
The Ferrero registry will be ICANN compliant: the registry will interface with the Trademark Clearinghouse, operate a Sunrise and IP Claims and all registrants must comply with the UDRP and the URS.
Will your proposed gTLD impose any measures for protecting the privacy of confidential information of registrants or users?
As a global company, we take our responsibility to protect the confidential information of customers and staff very seriously.
The .Rocher registry will continue our policy of protecting confidential information and measures will be enhanced as now for existing domains. Ferrero will comply with the Personal Data obligations of the ICANN Registry Agreement. As required, approved representatives will be registered as data handlers and trained to ensure compliance with ICANN’s requirements.
We will:
- Document policies and procedures including an escalation process
- Use appropriate levels of encryption and physical security
- Training key staff and ensuring responsibilities are understood and documented in rules of conduct
- Limiting access to records only to those employees or service providers who need access for the performance of their job duties
- Testing procedures
- Monitoring best practice and ICANN’s mandated and recommended policies
- Auditing the work of providers including the Escrow provider and checking data
- Report any attempts to gain unauthorised access to appropriate enforcement authorities as required by law
Describe whether and in what ways outreach and communications will help to achieve your projected benefits?
We will produce and publish guidelines for internal use. These are intended to provide clarity on who can apply for a .Rocher domain and how it is to be used. This is a standard registry closed to third parties so these guidelines should ensure that .Rocher domains are used in accordance with Ferrero’s objectives by authorised Ferrero representatives. It is likely to be necessary to create a home page for the registry, for example, using clear and straightforward messaging for the benefit of internal users so that our policy is understood and complied with. We will also participate in the ICANN Registry Operators Constituency.
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?
As previously stated, the .Rocher registry will be a standard registry closed to third parties and will be used only by pre-validated representatives of Ferrero or selected partners. Social costs and negative consequences on customers are therefore likely to be minimised and possibly even eliminated.
As discussed in greater detail above, one major goal of the .Rocher registry is the protection of consumers from confusion. In a sense, the .Rocher registry is itself a tool to eliminate or minimize that social cost because a .Rocher domain will signpost authenticity. We will control allocation of second level domains very carefully, checking to ensure that requests for domains are authentic and valid.
How will multiple applications for a particular domain be resolved, for example, by auction or on a first come first served basis?
There will be no market in .Rocher domains. Therefore we will not receive multiple applications for a particular domain and so there will be no need for any resolution.
Explain any cost benefits for registrants you intend to implement (e.g. advantageous pricing, introductory discounts, bulk registration discounts).
Because all .Rocher domain names will be registered within the Ferrero Group there will be no cost benefits for registrants.
The Registry Agreement requires that registrars be offered the option to obtain initial domain name registrations for periods of one to ten years at the discretion of the registrar, but no greater than 10 years. Additionally the Registry Agreement requires advance written notice of price increases. Do you intend to make contractual commitments to registrants regarding the magnitude of price escalation?
The Ferrero Domain Name Management Team will set the period of registration for .Rocher domains. We are applying to support our strategic goals and to protect our IP, not to generate revenues from selling domains. Therefore it will not be necessary to consider contractual commitments nor issues around pricing including price escalation, though we will comply with the provisions of Section 2.10 of the Registry Agreement.
Before launching this TLD, Ferrero will develop and publish its policies and guidelines, setting out full details of how the registry will implement its vision and purpose as set out in this answer. Ferrero may adapt its policies and proposed use of the gTLD, in a manner consistent with the Purpose, to reflect changes in its business and the adoption of new gTLDs by the community.