.Firmdale New gTLD Application
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New gTLD Application Submitted to ICANN by: Firmdale Holdings Limited
String: Firmdale
Originally Posted: 13 June 2012
Application ID: 1-1818-23087
Applicant Information
- Full legal name
Firmdale Holdings Limited
- Address of the principal place of business
21 Golden Square
LONDON W1F 9JN
GB
- Phone number
+44 20 7581 4045
- Fax number
+44 20 7581 1867
- If applicable, website or URL
http:⁄⁄WWW.FIRMDALEHOTELS.COM
Primary Contact
6(a). Name
Mr. Mark Rupert READ
6(b). Title
Group IT Manager
6(c). Address
6(d). Phone Number
+44 7718 062 859
6(e). Fax Number
6(f). Email Address
Secondary Contact
7(a). Name
Ms. Raedene McGary
7(b). Title
Consultant
7(c). Address
7(d). Phone Number
+44 7799 89 0379
7(e). Fax Number
+44 870 487 3919
7(f). Email Address
Proof of Legal Establishment
8(a). Legal form of the Applicant
Firmdale Holdings Limited
8(b). State the specific national or other jursidiction that defines the type of entity identified in 8(a).
Private Limited Company
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
Christopher KB Brotchie Director
Claude Markus Aberle Director
John Paul Gray Director
Timothy John Reginald Kemp Director
11(b). Name(s) and position(s) of all officers and partners
11(c). Name(s) and position(s) of all shareholders holding at least 15% of shares
Marinosan SA Not Applicable
Midina SA Not Applicable
Timothy John Reginald Kemp Director
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.
Firmdale
14(a). If an IDN, provide the A-label (beginning with "xn--").
14(b). 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.
14(c). If an IDN, provide the language of the label (in English).
14(c). If an IDN, provide the language of the label (as referenced by ISO-639-1).
14(d). If an IDN, provide the script of the label (in English).
14(d). If an IDN, provide the script of the label (as referenced by ISO 15924).
14(e). If an IDN, list all code points contained in the U-label according to Unicode form.
15(a). If an IDN, Attach IDN Tables for the proposed registry.
Attachments are not displayed on this form.
15(b). Describe the process used for development of the IDN tables submitted, including consultations and sources used.
15(c). List any variant strings 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.
none known.
- (OPTIONAL) Provide a representation of the label according to the International Phonetic Alphabet (http://www.langsci.ucl.ac.uk/ipa/).
Mission/Purpose
18(a). Describe the mission/purpose of your proposed gTLD.
Mission for new TLD .firmdale
Firmdale Holdings Ltd* is an award winning 5 star boutique hotel group rapidly expanding in US and UK (“Firmdale”). It was established by owners Tim and Kit Kemp with the Dorset Square Hotel in 1985. Over the past 27 years they have gone on to create a globally recognised hotel brand with 8 properties in London and New York. Firmdale has received many prestigious awards by internationally recognised publications such as Andrew Harper’s Hideaway Report, Conde Nast Traveller, The Good Hotel Guide, Vogue and many more. Kit Kemp as group Design Director has been named the Andrew Martin International Interior Designer of the Year, Homes and Gardens Interior Designer and House & Gardens Hotel Designer of the Year. Firmdale’s passion for outstanding service was recognised by winning the Excellence in Customer Service award in the Hotel Excellence Awards 2010.
As a market leader aiming to achieve the highest levels of guest satisfaction, Firmdale seeks to acquire the best internet address for its expanding businesses by a new TLD .firmdale. With TLD .firmdale, Firmdale can expand guests’ services online, meet all present and future internet address needs, promote the awarding winning brand .firmdale, benefit customers from new innovations online and maintain the hidden gem qualities of the individual hotels whilst promoting the umbrella brand .firmdale.
How TLD .Firmdale will achieve its mission
In the first round of gTLD process Firmdale will be able to set itself apart from the competition. This key market differentiation will boost Firmdale’s perception among its very discerning clientele. Firmdale does not expect all hotel chains will seek their own TLD and as such Firmdale self apart from the plethora of .com addressing.
Firmdale is known to be ground breaking in many ways. Firmdale demonstrated its ability to embrace new technology with its own App, use of QR codes, and the virtualisation of its network. Firmdale showcases contemporary art in each of the hotels interiors. World class artists such as Fernando Botero, Jaume Plensa, Tony Cragg and Anslem Keiffer are just a few examples. Firmdale has high environmental standards as part of its green mission. The Crosby Street Hotel is one of the most environmentally responsible hotel builds in the United States. It is certified gold LEED by the US Green Building Council making it one of the very first hotels in New York to do so. (LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). Firmdale expects its online strategy will compliment and promote their green mission.
Guest satisfaction is the key to Firmdale’s success. Firmdale plans to improve its online experience for its customers. This will enable potential customers to find, arrange and book the Firmdale product they desire whether that’s a hotel room or suite, apartment, bar, restaurant, screening room, spa, private event space or afternoon tea venue. Firmdale expects to be actively using under 100 domain names.
Social Marketing
At present Firmdale uses Twitter and Facebook as social marketing tools. Firmdale intends to further advance into new and progressive forms of communication and interaction with guests. It will explore new ways to enhance customer service and feedback. With a new TLD Firmdale aspires to engage with its clientele in ways which will personalise their experience and yet protect their privacy to the highest levels.
Branding Opportunities
Firmdale is associated with hotels, restaurants, bars and events. In the next three years Firmdale will open several new hotels, bars, restaurants, serviced apartments, retail stores, screening rooms, office accommodation, spas and gyms which will create future branding opportunities both online and offline. Other business activities undertaken by Firmdale include Palace Laundry, a collection of exclusive interior design fabric as well as a building and construction business. Firmdale currently produces bespoke gifts such as co-branded bath products and robes, umbrellas, pencils and stationery items. These provide new branding opportunities online or offline. With its own TLD Firmdale will be able to create short memorable domain names to enhance marketing efforts.
As a single registrant TLD, Firmdale will be able to prevent spam, viruses, and other illicit content under its domain space which will promote customer trust in the brand and internet space. A customer wishing to book a room will come to know that they can book in confidence though a dot .firmdale address.
*About Firmdale Hotels
Firmdale Hotels is a group of 9 companies held by, the Applicant, Firmdale Holdings Ltd of the UK, a company registered in England No:4648681. The company structure is set out on the attached, with the hotel operations running through Firmdale Hotels plc and its US Hotels owned by Firmdale Holdings USA Inc of Delaware.
As at March 2012 Firmdale Hotel includes the following Hotels: Haymarket Hotel, The Soho Hotel, Covent Garden Hotel, Charlotte Street Hotel, Knightsbridge Hotel, and Number Sixteen Hotel in London and The Crosby Street Hotel, in New York City. Firmdale Hotels also includes 5 bars & restaurants: Brumus, Refuel, Brasserie Max, Oscar and The Crosby Bar. Firmdale Hotels has a number of acquisitions under development including Ham Yard Hotel, serviced apartments and retail in London’s Soho as well as 56th Street Hotel in New York City. Dorset Square Hotel, which has been re-acquired by Firmdale is due to open in mid-June 2012.
18(b). How do you expect that your proposed gTLD will benefit registrants, Internet users, and others?
- What is the goal of your proposed gTLD in terms of areas of specialty, service
levels, or reputation?
The goal will be to enhance reputation of the Firmdale Hotel group, whilst maintaining the individuality of each hotel. It will permit targeted websites for each hotel, restaurant, bar and other facilities such as the screening rooms, meeting rooms, event spaces, etc. It will assist growth of the business into new ventures and provide for all its internet addressing needs. It will provide new avenues for marketing with key words associated with the brand, and build brand awareness.
- What do you anticipate your proposed gTLD will add to the current space, in terms of competition, differentiation, or
innovation?
The new .Firmdale domain space will provide better umbrella branding to the individual hotels which tend to be known by their unique names. For example our surveys show that guests know the “Covent Garden Hotel”; but they don’t necessarily associate it with “Firmdale” the corporate entity. Firmdale anticipates new innovative ways to enhance customer relations and increased personalisation of customer service. For example events could have their own dedicated website with specific information for a given conference, wedding or family event. There may be dedicated space under .firmdale for personalisation of customer preferences and customer feedback. Using its own domain extension will assist differentiation from other competing hotels and foster its innovative reputation.
- What goals does your proposed gTLD have in terms of user experience?
As stated above for the Firmdale Hotel group, it will provide for the business better branding, increased brand awareness and new marketing avenues. This is to benefit customers and guests, and potential new guests of the Firmdale Hotel group.
- Provide a complete description of the applicant’s intended registration policies in support of the goals listed above.
The registry will be a “single registrant registry” open only to the Applicant, its affiates*, future undertakings and its subsidiaries. All dot firmdale addresses will be for the benefit of the business and to better serve its customers. There will be no spam, illegal content or viruses with a .firmdale. Firmdale has an Anti-Abuse Policy. Firmdale upholds rights of trademark holders and all names will be subject to URS and UDRP in addition to ICANN consensus policies and rules. This will enhance customer trust with the brand.
Firmdaleʹs Rules for the Registration of Domain names includes:
1) All domain names in the TLD shall be registered to Firmdale Holdings Ltd, its subsidiaries, affiliates* or future undertakings. Registrations to third parties are prohibited.
2) Domain names must be 1-63 characters, the characters which may be used in a label are the 26 letters [ʺAʺ-ʺZʺ] of the Roman alphabet without regard to upper- or lower-case, the 10
digits [ʺ0ʺ-ʺ9ʺ] and the hyphen [ʺ-ʺ]. The hyphen may not be used as the initial or final character of a label.
3) Tagged Domain Names not permitted ie Names with ʺ-ʺ on the third and the fourth position may not be used(e.g., ʺbq—1h2n4j4cʺ).
4) Two letter and three letter names must not be used to represent countries or territories (as per draft Registry Agreement Specification 5 restricted names) and must be obviously associated with the business of Firmdale.
5) Firmdale permits IDNs .firmdale.
6) Domain Name abuse is strictly prohibited and includes but is not limited to its Domain Name Abuse Policy (see further answer question 28 amd 29).
7) All domain names shall be subject to Registry “Policies” means any rules, standards, procedures, requirements, practices and other policies of Firmdale Holdings Ltd, or any other competent entity or authority including any ICANN consensus policies and any other rules, standards, procedures, requirements, practices and other policies promulgated by ICANN or as determined by Firmdale.
* “Affiliate” means a person or entity that, directly or indirectly, through one or more intermediaries, controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with, the person or entity specified, and (ii) “control” (including the terms “controlled by” and “under common control with”) means the possession, directly or indirectly, of the power to direct or cause the direction of the management or policies of a person or entity, whether through the ownership of securities, as trustee or executor, by serving as an employee or a member of a board of directors or equivalent governing body, by contract, by credit arrangement or otherwise.
- Will your proposed gTLD impose any measures for protecting the privacy or confidential information of registrants or users?
If so, please describe any such. All domain names.firmdale will be for the exclusive use of the Firmdale Hotel group. The whois record will be public and will show all domains as registered to Firmdale. In the event Firmdale registers domain names for certain uses of its customers such as a dedicated domain name and webpage for events hosted at the hotels, visitors and hotel guests will be protected under its privacy policy in addition to any data protection legislation in force. Firmdale is committed to ensuring online privacy of users and visitors. For example Firmdale does not track visitors to its websites. Information that is voluntarily provided while visiting a Firmdale web site is treated as restricted, sensitive information and Firmdale protects it using advanced technology.
18(c). What operating rules will you adopt to eliminate or minimize social costs?
The Applicant, Firmdale Holdings Ltd, is a five star luxury boutique hotel group with 7 owned and operated restaurants and hotels in UK and US. The TLD .firmdale registry will be a single registrant registry. Only Firmdale Holding Ltd, its affiliates (another company with whom the Applicant has common control), its assigns and its subsidiaries will be able to register .firmdale domain names in accordance with stated policies of the dot Firmdale Registry. All the uses in accordance with its mission set out in question 18a will be the benefit and use of its business in lawful manner.
It will not be open to the public or to other parties to apply for .Firmdale domain names. The string: “firmdale” has no common dictionary meaning in any ASCII scripted language according to research undertaken by the Applicant. It would have no ordinary appeal for consumers of domain names. The Applicant’s policies prohibit all unlawful conduct such as spam, phishing, pharming, botnets, and other abusive practices in accordance with Firmdales Anti-Abuse Policy. Also Firmdale will comply with URS, UDRP, and provide a public whois search.
Since there will not be third party registrations the costs of registration will be an internal matter for Applicant. Firmdale expects to use less than 100 domain names in the next 5 years of operations. Its impact on the internet will be minimal and limited to customers of Firmdale and potential guests and customers in its marketing campaigns.
The Applicant has no issues with giving advance written notice of price increases in accordance with the Registry Agreement, should the event arise.
To comply with ICANN’s Application Guidebook, sunrise and trademark clearing house, URS, UDRP, will be subscribed to in order to meet the Application requirements and its obligations under the Registry Agreement with ICANN and will be subject always to Firmdale’s policy of being a single registrant registry.