.SCJOHNSON New gTLD Application
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New gTLD Application Submitted to ICANN by: Johnson Shareholdings, Inc.
Application Downloaded On: 11 Mar 2014
String: SCJOHNSON
Application ID: 1-1248-67439
Applicant Information
- Full legal name
Johnson Shareholdings, Inc.
- Address of the principal place of business
1525 Howe Street Racine, Wisconsin - 53403-2236 US
- Phone number
+1 262 260 2620
- Fax number
+1 262 260 4253
- If applicable, website or URL
Primary Contact
6(a). Name
Joshua Bourne
6(b). Title
Managing Partner
6(c). Address
6(d). Phone Number
+1 202 223 9252
6(e). Fax Number
6(f). Email Address
Secondary Contact
7(a). Name
Tricia Binder
7(b). Title
Digital Marketing Manager
7(c). Address
7(d). Phone Number
(262) 260-0995
7(e). Fax Number
(262) 260-2074
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).
Wisconsin
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.
S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc.
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
Mark H. Eckhardt Director
Sherri Carl Hampel Director
Thomas P. Howard Director
11(b). Name(s) and position(s) of all officers and partners
Name
Position
Gustavo R. Grunbaum Assistant Secretary
Mark H. Eckhardt Vice President
Sherri Carl Hampel Secretary
Susan K. Ruedinger Treasurer
Thomas P. Howard President
11(c). Name(s) and position(s) of all shareholders holding at least 15% of shares
Name
Position
S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc. 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.
SCJOHNSON
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.
Johnson Shareholdings, Inc. foresees no known rendering issues in connection with the proposed .SCJOHNSON gTLD for which it is applying. This answer is based upon consultation with Johnson Shareholdings, Inc.’s selected back-end provider, VeriSign, Inc., which has successfully launched a number of new gTLDs over the last decade. In reaching this determination, the following data points were analyzed:
-ICANN’s Security Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC) entitled Alternative TLD Name Systems and Roots: Conflict, Control and Consequences (SAC009);
-IAB - RFC3696 “Application Techniques for Checking and Transformation of Names”
-Known software issues which Verisign has encountered during the last decade launching new gTLDs;
-Character type and length;
-ICANN supplemental notes to Question 16; and
-ICANN’s presentation during its Costa Rica regional meeting on TLD Universal Acceptance.
- 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.
18.1 Mission and Purpose of .SCJOHNSON
Johnson Shareholdings, Inc.’s (“Johnson Shareholdings”) parent company, S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc. (“SC Johnson”), is a leading global manufacturer of household brands with operations in more than 70 countries and products sold virtually in every country around the world. As a family company with 125 years of history, SC Johnson employs nearly 13,000 people globally and generates more than $9 billion in sales annually.
SC Johnson markets a variety of home cleaning, pest control, air care, home storage, and shoe care products. SC Johnson’s product portfolio includes global brands such as Pledge®, Duck®, Mr. Muscle®, Windex®, Scrubbing Bubbles®, Glade®, Raid®, OFF!®, Baygon®, Kiwi® and Ziploc®. In all of its global operations, SC Johnson maintains its focus on environmental sustainability and its role as a community leader, as well as striving to create a positive work environment for its employees.
Recognizing the potential dynamic evolution of the .SCJOHNSON gTLD as a trusted brand namespace, SC Johnson has decided to use a wholly owned subsidiary, Johnson Shareholdings, as the entity to file this application and bring the .SCJOHNSON gTLD to market.
Through a unified approach, Johnson Shareholdings intends to submit eight gTLD applications. In addition to .SCJOHNSON, Johnson Shareholdings is submitting applications for .RIGHTATHOME, .OFF, .RAID, .GLADE, .DUCK, .MRMUSCLE, and .AFAMILYCOMPANY.
The intended future mission and purpose of the .SCJOHNSON gTLD is to serve as a trusted, hierarchical, and intuitive namespace provided by SC Johnson for SC Johnson’s customers, and Internet users in general.
Although ICANN has not specifically recognized a .BRAND gTLD specification in the current version of the Applicant Guidebook, it is widely anticipated within the brand-owner community that this will become a specialty subset of gTLDs. The .SCJOHNSON gTLD is intended to be one of those .BRAND gTLDs, with the goal of protecting SC Johnson’s online presence and identity; expanding its marketing and promotion efforts; providing a secure channel for online products and services; and offering a platform through which to consolidate many of the intellectual property activities of SC Johnson.
Johnson Shareholdings intends to initially limit registration and use of domain names within the .SCJOHNSON gTLD to SC Johnson and its qualified subsidiaries and affiliates. This initial limited use will allow Johnson Shareholdings to establish its operations and achieve full sustainability. This limited distribution, coupled with the other requirements set forth in Specification 9 of the template Registry Agreement, is intended to exempt Johnson Shareholdings from its annual Code of Conduct Compliance requirements.
After Stage 3 (see below), Johnson Shareholdings will evaluate whether opportunities exist to carry out the business strategy for the .SCJOHNSON gTLD through expansion that continues the sustainable operations of the registry through fee-based registrations to parties other than SC Johnson and its qualified subsidiaries and affiliates.
Johnson Shareholdings currently plans a four-stage rollout for the .SCJOHNSON gTLD:
- Stage 1
The initial stage of implementation of the gTLD will involve Johnson Shareholdings registering a limited number of .SCJOHNSON second-level domain names.
This initial use will provide Johnson Shareholdings’ IT and security personnel the time to run a number of tests to ensure seamless and secure access using the .SCJOHNSON gTLD domain names, interoperability with various software and Web-based applications, and unbroken and secure use of all names. This initial allocation will also allow the appropriate Johnson Shareholdings’ staff to coordinate with the internal and external staff responsible for the delegation and setup phases of the .SCJOHNSON gTLD to ensure a proper transition from delegation to full operation.
- Stage 2
Once all testing has been successfully completed, Johnson Shareholdings will begin allocating domain names in .SCJOHNSON for more widespread internal corporate use. During this same period of time, SC Johnson will begin evaluating strategies to potentially migrate traffic away from SC Johnson’s current patchwork network of second-level domain names, which are registered in a variety of TLDs, to the .SCJOHNSON gTLD.
It is in Stage 2 that SC Johnson will evaluate expanding the operations of the .SCJOHNSON gTLD to permit registration by other registrants such as licensees or other strategic partners. Should an assessment of its expansion strategy lead to a decision to extend registration rights to other parties, this expansion is currently planned to take place during Stage 3, and likely after the first three years of operation. However, any expansion would be conditioned upon a review of Specification 9 (Registry Code of Conduct) set forth in the template Registry Agreement to ensure compliance with Johnson Shareholdings’ business model.
- Stage 3
Depending upon the analysis of evaluations undertaken in Stage 2, SC Johnson may begin to implement the permanent migration of Internet traffic away from the TLDs in which SC Johnson’s domain names are currently registered, and toward the .SCJOHNSON gTLD. It is in this stage that Johnson Shareholdings also may implement SC Johnson’s decision to extend registration rights to licensees or strategic partners, depending upon compliance with Specification 9 as noted above. The dates of such expansion are subject to change depending upon business, strategic, and industry factors at the time.
After consideration of the following factors: analysis of SC Johnson’s existing domain name portfolio; internal analysis of marketing initiatives; and the fact that Johnson Shareholdings will have full control over the number of registrations in the .SCJOHNSON gTLD namespace, Johnson Shareholdings is confident that the number of domain name registrations will be less than 10,000 in the first five years of operation.
- Stage 4
Based on its experience with any expansion implemented in Stage 3, Johnson Shareholdings and SC Johnson will assess whether their business plan and expansion strategy should be augmented by extending registration rights to a broader class of registrants, including potential suppliers, partners, or customers. It is anticipated by Johnson Shareholdings that changes to the domain name industry, and particularly the impact of .BRAND gTLDs, will take at least five years to be realized and assessed.
Any decision to expand the gTLDs beyond corporate and qualified subsidiary⁄affiliate use will take into account this experience as well as the technical analysis of potential expansion.
The potential use of the .SCJOHNSON gTLD by these or other business segments will primarily be driven by SC Johnson’s future business strategies.
Utilizing current projections based upon SC Johnsonʹs existing businesses, future business plans, current domain name portfolio, and other strategic factors, Johnson Shareholdings estimates that second-level domain name registrations will be in line with the projections set forth in the financial template provided in the answer to Question 46 of this application.
18B. How do you expect that your proposed gTLD will benefit registrants, Internet users, and others?
18.2 How do you expect that your proposed gTLD will benefit registrants, Internet users, and others?
Johnson Shareholdings believes that the proposed .SCJOHNSON gTLD has the potential to offer numerous benefits to Internet users and consumers, and to establish a trusted online marketplace for the millions of customers using SC Johnson’s online resources to learn about the SC Johnson brands and access family and home tips and advice, as well as to third parties seeking information, and to the general Internet user population.
In addition, the .SCJOHNSON gTLD will provide SC Johnson and its qualified subsidiaries and affiliates with short and memorable Internet addresses and increased ability to navigate to information about SC Johnson products and offers, while minimizing the cost and need for defensive registrations because domain names within the .SCJOHNSON gTLD will only be allocated by Johnson Shareholdings to its parent company, SC Johnson, as well as qualified SC Johnson subsidiaries and affiliates.
Currently, SC Johnson operates a number of corporate websites using a combination of second-level and top-level domain names. A representative sampling of SC Johnson websites that incorporate geographical identifiers into domain names include:
Johnson.co.jp
KoreaJohnson.co.kr
SCJohnson.com.ph
SCJohnson.com.au
SCJohnson.co.nz
SCJohnson.co.id
SCJohnsonandSon.com.mx
SCJohnson.ca
Johnson Shareholdings believes that the .SCJOHNSON gTLD can provide an online single-source identifying function for SC Johnson’s global customers, instead of the present approach SC Johnson must currently resort to as it expands into different markets around the world, which consists of registering the domain names that are available, rather than those that may be the most intuitive.
18.2.1 What is the goal of your proposed gTLD in terms of areas of specialty, service levels, or reputation?
The primary mission and purpose of the .SCJOHNSON gTLD is to provide a trusted, hierarchical, and intuitive online marketplace in which to aggregate SC Johnson content and other offers and services. As the technology for delivering such content and services evolves, SC Johnson has continued to pursue and expand upon new opportunities to distribute content to consumers, in the U.S. and internationally, on a variety of platforms, including the Internet and mobile devices, among others. SC Johnson believes that the .SCJOHNSON gTLD has the potential to provide an innovative, virtual avenue that will deepen and broaden its relationship with online audiences.
Most importantly, Johnson Shareholdings will be able to provide access to SC Johnson’s products and online content in a namespace devoid of piracy, cybersquatting, and other malicious activities. Providing consumers with a trusted experience is paramount to Johnson Shareholdings and SC Johnson, and the .SCJOHNSON gTLD would be used to further that goal. Given the high saturation of brand and informational websites, including many that offer misleading or outright incorrect information to users, the .SCJOHNSON gTLD could help ensure that current and prospective SC Johnson customers are receiving authorized and up-to-date information.
While companies such as SC Johnson fight a constant battle to protect their brand and image online, the .SCJOHNSON gTLD would potentially offer consumers a safe and intuitive means of accessing authorized content from SC Johnson and its qualified subsidiaries and affiliates.
18.2.2 What do you anticipate your proposed gTLD will add to the current space, in terms of competition, differentiation, or innovation?
As a branded gTLD, the primary driving factors behind .SCJOHNSON are differentiation and innovation. The success of .SCJOHNSON will not be measured by the number of domain names registered. Instead, it will be measured by the level of consumer recognition and trust that is placed in the gTLD.
Using this benchmark, Johnson Shareholdings will strive to build consumer recognition and trust that rise to the level of that found in the .EDU and .GOV gTLDs.
As noted above, Johnson Shareholdings is a subsidiary of SC Johnson, a leading manufacturer of household brands that leverages emerging technologies to deliver products and services to its consumers on an international scale. The .SCJOHNSON gTLD has the potential to serve as a cornerstone of this online strategy, if the potential benefits that ICANN has projected become a reality.
18.2.3 What goals does your proposed gTLD have in terms of user experience?
Johnson Shareholdings believes that the .SCJOHNSON gTLD will provide a single, trusted ecosystem experience for the millions of consumers worldwide that use its household brands and access its online content for information, tips, coupons, and offers. In addition to providing consumers with short, memorable, and intuitive domain names, Johnson Shareholdings will substantially lower the risk of users encountering infringing or pirated content within the .SCJOHNSON gTLD.
The initial use of the .SCJOHNSON gTLD will involve Johnson Shareholdings registering a conservative number of second-level domain names. This initial use will provide Johnson Shareholdings’ IT and security personnel the ability to run a number of tests to ensure seamless and secure access to the SC Johnson websites, and interoperability with various software and Web-⁄mobile-based applications. Once appropriate security and stability issues have been satisfactorily addressed, Johnson Shareholdings plans to begin allocating domain names for internal corporate use at SC Johnson and may redirect new .SCJOHNSON domain names to pre-existing content. This phased rollout will likely take place over a multi-year period, but is subject to change depending upon a range of external factors, and will be in line with SC Johnson’s marketing strategy and technology needs.
18.2.4 Provide a complete description of the applicant’s intended registration policies in support of the goals listed above.
The .SCJOHNSON gTLD is currently intended to be exclusively used by SC Johnson and its qualified subsidiaries and affiliates. Because of this condition precedent, any registration and use requirements are more appropriately vested in these corporate⁄affiliate agreements and not in a domain name registration agreement.
While Johnson Shareholdings is fully supportive of, and committed to, ICANN’s bottom-up, consensus-driven model, the SC Johnson mark is a valuable brand whose protection is of paramount importance; therefore, any registration and use requirements (e.g., trademark quality control provisions) must vest in these other agreements.
Notwithstanding these concerns, Johnson Shareholdings will incorporate all required ICANN consensus policies and other legal⁄policy requirements imposed on new gTLD applicants into the terms and conditions of the domain name registration agreement that each subsidiary and affiliate will execute.
18.2.5 Will your proposed gTLD impose any measures for protecting the privacy or confidential information of registrants or users? If so, please describe any such measures.
Johnson Shareholdings recognizes first hand that this is an evolving area of law in which there are no international standards. SC Johnson respects the privacy of its customers and other consumers. SC Johnson employs a variety of physical, electronic, contractual, and managerial safeguards to protect personal and confidential information in its properties and on its websites. Johnson Shareholdings will take similar precautions to protect registrant and user data associated with the .SCJOHNSON gTLD.
Johnson Shareholdings will ensure that the operation of the .SCJOHNSON gTLD will be consistent with SC Johnson’s On-Line Privacy Policy and Practices, see http:⁄⁄www.scjbrands.com⁄privacy⁄.
In addition, Johnson Shareholdings intends to incorporate contractual language in its Registry-Registrar Agreement (RRA) modeled after language that has been included in the template Registry Agreement and that has been successfully utilized by existing ICANN gTLD Registry Operators.
The template Registry Agreement states, “Registry Operator shall (i) notify each ICANN-accredited registrar that is a party to the registry-registrar agreement for the TLD of the purposes for which data about any identified or identifiable natural person (“Personal Data”) submitted to Registry Operator by such registrar is collected and used under this Agreement or otherwise and the intended recipients (or categories of recipients) of such Personal Data, and (ii) require such registrar to obtain the consent of each registrant in the TLD for such collection and use of Personal Data. Registry Operator shall take reasonable steps to protect Personal Data collected from such registrar from loss, misuse, unauthorized disclosure, alteration or destruction. Registry Operator shall not use or authorize the use of Personal Data in a way that is incompatible with the notice provided to registrars.ʺ
18.2.6 Describe whether and in what ways outreach and communications will help to achieve your projected benefits.
Johnson Shareholdings sees the potential for this gTLD to serve as a component of SC Johnson’s future online strategic initiative; however, there remain a number of unanswered questions concerning consumer recognition and adoption of new gTLDs in the marketplace that first must be fully answered to Johnson Shareholdings’ satisfaction.
Johnson Shareholdings plans to start using these domain names primarily as redirects to existing .COM domains. After careful analysis and study of a targeted pilot rollout using the new .SCJOHNSON domains as addresses, Johnson Shareholdings may plan to engage in a broader, strategic initiative, should the results be positive. The actual usage of .SCJOHNSON domain names will dictate what public communications and consumer outreach may be done to encourage navigation to the .SCJOHNSON gTLD. This is not limited to, but may include, advertising, media outreach, and email campaigns.
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?
18.3.1 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)?
Johnson Shareholdings’ proposed operating rules to limit registration to SC Johnson and its qualified subsidiaries and affiliates will provide a number of benefits, as well as a trusted online environment for consumers of SC Johnson content and other information and services. Trademark and brand ownersʹ costs will be mitigated, since there will be no need to defensively register second-level domains in .SCJOHNSON. In addition, this verified ecosystem will provide consumers with a single, trusted source for SC Johnson content with a substantially lower risk of exposure to phishing, fraud, and⁄or other Internet scams, thus reducing the level of consumer vulnerability.
18.3.2 What other steps will you take to minimize negative consequences⁄costs imposed upon consumers?
Johnson Shareholdings believes that the proposed operation of the .SCJOHNSON gTLD as set forth in this application has no known negative consequences or cost implications to consumers. On the contrary, the proposed operation of this registry will likely lead to direct and quantifiable benefits to consumers.
18.3.3 How will multiple applications for a particular domain name be resolved, for example, by auction or on a first-come⁄first-serve basis?
Johnson Shareholdings does not envision multiple applicants for the same domain name, as domain names will only be allocated to SC Johnson and its qualified subsidiaries and affiliates, at least for the first three years of operation.
18.3.4 Explain any cost benefits for registrants you intend to implement (e.g., advantageous pricing, introductory discounts, bulk registration discounts).
Johnson Shareholdings does not envision any advantageous pricing, introductory discounts, or bulk registration discounts because these marketing⁄commercial initiatives are inconsistent with the mission and purpose of the .SCJOHNSON gTLD as a trusted online source identifier for SC Johnson and its qualified subsidiaries and affiliates. Moreover, Johnson Shareholdings plans to provide domain name registrations to SC Johnson and its qualified subsidiaries and affiliates, at no cost, though Johnson Shareholdings reserves the right to reevaluate this decision and may choose to impose a nominal fee in the future.
18.3.5 Note that 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 ten 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? If so, please describe your plans.
Johnson Shareholdings is committed to providing the domain name registration periods set forth in the Registry Agreement. However, as noted above, the registration and use of a .SCJOHNSON domain name is conditional upon a separate affiliate relationship with SC Johnson.
Therefore, providing contractual commitments in a domain name registrant agreement regarding the magnitude of price escalations does not seem relevant or appropriate. Additionally, as noted above, the current business model envisions Johnson Shareholdings providing domain name registrations at no cost.
Johnson Shareholdings acknowledges that the current template Registry Agreement requires that the Registry Operator “shall offer registrars the option to obtain registration periods for one to ten years at the discretion of the registrar.” However, SC Johnson and its qualified subsidiaries and affiliates, as the sole registrants within the .SCJOHNSON gTLD, intend to only register domain names on an annual basis through a single registrar.
This is done to better account for costs on an annual basis as well as to provide for more concise financial statements in Question 46 (e.g., no multi-year registration or deferred revenue).