.ABBVIE New gTLD Application
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New gTLD Application Submitted to ICANN by: AbbVie Inc.
Application Downloaded On: 16 Sep 2014
String: ABBVIE
Application ID: 1-1766-21421
Applicant Information
- Full legal name
AbbVie Inc.
- Address of the principal place of business
1 Waukegan Road North Chicago, IL - 60064 US
- Phone number
+1 847 932 7900
- Fax number
+1 847 938 2623
- If applicable, website or URL
http://www.abbvie.com
Primary Contact
6(a). Name
Philip Lodico
6(b). Title
Managing Partner
6(c). Address
6(d). Phone Number
+1 202 223 9252
6(e). Fax Number
+1 202 204 5205
6(f). Email Address
Secondary Contact
7(a). Name
Christopher Jewitt
7(b). Title
Senior Manager, Digital Communications & External Affairs IT
7(c). Address
7(d). Phone Number
+1 847 932 7900
7(e). Fax Number
+1 847 938-2623
7(f). Email Address
Proof of Legal Establishment
8(a). Legal form of the Applicant
8(b). State the specific national or other jurisdiction that defines the type of entity identified in 8(a).
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.
/ ABBV
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
Name
Position
Richard Allen Gonzalez Chairman of the Board
11(b). Name(s) and position(s) of all officers and partners
Name
Position
Carlos Alban Executive Vice President Commercial Operations
Laura Jane Schumacher Executive Vice President, Business Development, External Affairs, and General Counsel
Richard Allen Gonzalez Chief Executive Officer
11(c). Name(s) and position(s) of all shareholders holding at least 15% of shares
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.
ABBVIE
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.
- 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.
AbbVie Inc. anticipates the introduction of this .ABBVIE gTLD without operational or rendering problems. Based on a decade of experience launching and operating new TLDs, Afilias Limited (ʺAfiliasʺ) the back-end provider of registry services for the .ABBVIE gTLD, is confident the launch and operation of this gTLD presents no known challenges. The rationale for this opinion includes:
-The string is not complex and is represented in standard ASCII characters and follows relevant technical, operational and policy standards;
-The string length is within lengths currently supported in the root and by ubiquitous Internet programs such as web browsers and mail applications;
-There are no new standards required for the introduction of the .ABBVIE gTLD;
-No onerous requirements are being made on registrars, registrants or Internet users, and;
-The existing secure, stable and reliable Afilias SRS, DNS, WHOIS and supporting systems and staff are amply provisioned and prepared to meet the needs of the .ABBVIE gTLD.
- 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 .ABBVIE
AbbVie Inc. (“AbbVie”) is a global, research-based biopharmaceutical company that develops and markets advanced therapies to address some of the world’s most complex and serious diseases. AbbVie products are used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, Crohnʹs disease, HIV, cystic fibrosis complications, low testosterone, thyroid disease, Parkinsonʹs disease, ulcerative colitis, and complications associated with chronic kidney disease, among other indications. AbbVie also has a pipeline of promising new medicines, including more than 20 compounds or indications in Phase II or Phase III development across such important medical specialties as immunology, renal care, hepatitis C, womenʹs health, oncology, and neuroscience, including multiple sclerosis and Alzheimerʹs disease. AbbVie employs approximately 21,000 people worldwide and markets its medicines in more than 170 countries. Its online content is accessible in the .COM gTLD and also in multiple ccTLDs. A sample of the ccTLDs in which AbbVie posts content is as follows: .COM.AR, .COM.AU, .DK, .FR, .DE, .IE, JP, .NO, .ES, .CO.UK, .CA, .COM.MX, and .CO.KR.
On January 1, 2013, AbbVie became an independent company as a result of the distribution by Abbott Laboratories (Abbott) of 100 percent of the outstanding common stock of AbbVie to Abbottʹs shareholders. Each Abbott shareholder of record as of the close of business on December 12, 2012 (the Record Date) received one share of AbbVie common stock for each Abbott common share held as of the Record Date. AbbVie was incorporated in Delaware on April 10, 2012. AbbVie’s common stock began trading under the ticker symbol “ABBV” on the New York Stock Exchange on January 2, 2013. For more information, see the below press release: http:⁄⁄abbvie.mediaroom.com⁄2013-01-02-AbbVie-Celebrates-Launch-as-New-Biopharmaceutical-Company-with-Employees-Patients.
The intended future mission and purpose of the .ABBVIE gTLD is to serve as a trusted, hierarchical, and intuitive namespace for consumers of AbbVie’s products and services. Now that AbbVie has become its own legal entity, AbbVie Inc. will take full ownership of the .ABBVIE gTLD from Abbott Laboratories and will bring the .ABBVIE gTLD to market.
AbbVie is committed to moving forward with the .ABBVIE gTLD application. However, at the time of filing and currently, there is not enough information available to fully analyze and evaluate all potential use case options. AbbVie anticipates a limited use of the .ABBVIE gTLD initially, with the possibility of expanding as market information becomes available and AbbVie’s digital strategy develops.
AbbVie will be analyzing and evaluating other .BRAND gTLD applications, as well as general market adoption, to determine short- and long-term potential best-in-class use case options to more effectively serve and enhance AbbVie’s future online strategy as a leading research-based pharmaceutical company.
The potential use of the .ABBVIE gTLD by AbbVie and its various business segments will also be driven by AbbVie’s future business strategies.
Utilizing current projections based upon AbbVie’s existing proprietary pharmaceutical business, AbbVie’s potential business plans, and other strategic factors, AbbVie estimates that second-level domain name registrations will be in line with the projections set forth in the financial template provided in response 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?
The proposed .ABBVIE gTLD has the potential to offer the following benefits to Internet users and consumers:
-Establish a trusted source of information for the millions of consumers who may use AbbVie’s products and services, for investors and third parties seeking information, and for the general Internet user population;
-Provide AbbVie and its future qualified subsidiaries and affiliates with short and memorable Internet addresses; provide improved and integrated navigation to products, services, advertising campaigns, public interest content, public awareness initiatives, etc.;
-Develop a potential platform for secure access to AbbVie’s products and information to consumers, in order to minimize the potential for counterfeit or infringing products and services.
-Increase future awareness of AbbVie and its portfolio of products and services.
Currently AbbVie operates a number of websites that correspond to the various geographic regions in which it has a substantial presence. AbbVie uses a combination of second-level and top-level domain names in connection with these websites. A representative sampling of AbbVie’s websites registered in ccTLDs include:
www.AbbVie.com.ar
www.AbbVie.com.au
www.AbbVie.dk
www.AbbVie.fr
www.AbbVie.de
www.AbbVie.ie
www.AbbVie.co.jp
www.AbbVie.no
www.AbbVie.es
www.AbbVie.co.uk
www.AbbVie.ca
www.AbbVie.com.mx
www.AbbVie.co.kr
AbbVie will adopt a similar approach to geographical names in the .ABBVIE gTLD. The.ABBVIE gTLD can provide an online single-source identifying construct similar to its current construct online today for its current and future customers around the globe.
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 .ABBVIE gTLD is to provide a trusted, hierarchical, and intuitive virtual platform to deliver content and information about AbbVie’s business, focus, products and services. Given that customers are increasingly requesting access to AbbVie and its products through a variety of channels, including via domain names, the same is anticipated for AbbVie. AbbVie believes that the .ABBVIE gTLD has the potential to provide an innovative, virtual avenue to AbbVie’s products that will deepen and broaden the companyʹs relationship with its consumers.
Most importantly, the .ABBVIE gTLD will provide access to AbbVie’s products and online content in a namespace void of piracy, cybersquatting, and other malicious activities. Providing consumers with a reliable online experience is paramount, and the .ABBVIE gTLD will be used to further that goal.
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 the .ABBVIE gTLD are differentiation and innovation. The success of .ABBVIE will not be measured by the number of domain names registered, but rather by the levels of consumer recognition and trust that are placed in the gTLD. Using this as a benchmark, AbbVie will strive to increase recognition and trust until they rise to the levels of those found in the .EDU and .GOV gTLDs. More specifically, AbbVie will aim to communicate to Internet users that the .ABBVIE namespace provides a safe and trusted place to find information about the company and its products and services.
18.2.3 What goals does your proposed gTLD have in terms of user experience?
AbbVie believes that the .ABBVIE gTLD will provide a single, trusted ecosystem experience for the millions of consumers worldwide who use AbbVie’s products, as well as for those seeking information provided by AbbVie, such as investors, health care professionals, insurers and business partners. In addition to providing consumers with short, memorable, and intuitive domain names, the .ABBVIE gTLD will indicate to consumers that the domains and content are owned and controlled by AbbVie and its future qualified subsidiaries and affiliates.
The initial use of the .ABBVIE gTLD will be primarily defensive in nature, with a limited number of second level domain names registered. This initial use will provide IT and security personnel with the ability to run a number of tests to ensure seamless and secure access to AbbVie websites, and interoperability with various software and Web-⁄mobile-based applications. Once the appropriate security and stability issues have been satisfactorily addressed, domain names will likely begin to be allocated for internal corporate use, and new .ABBVIE domain names may redirect to other existing Internet 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.
During this same period of time, AbbVie will continue to evaluate potential strategies for use of the .ABBVIE gTLD in other ways that will advance AbbVie’s corporate mission and goals.
18.2.4 Provide a complete description of the applicant’s intended registration policies in support of the goals listed above.
The .ABBVIE gTLD is intended to be exclusively used by AbbVie and its current and future qualified subsidiaries and affiliates. Because of this condition, any registration and use requirements are more appropriately vested in the corporate agreements between AbbVie and its future subsidiaries and affiliates, and not in a domain name registration agreement.
Notwithstanding this, AbbVie 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 potential partner 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.
As a global research-based pharmaceutical company, AbbVie recognizes that this is an evolving area of law in which there is no international standard. However, due to the fact that every domain name will be registered to AbbVie or its future qualified subsidiaries and affiliates, the company has a vested interest in ensuring that accurate and current domain registration name information is readily available in connection with each .ABBVIE domain name. For the .ABBVIE gTLD, all private and confidential information will be protected.
The operation of the .ABBVIE gTLD will be consistent with the local privacy regulations of AbbVie and its future qualified subsidiaries and affiliates. For AbbVie’s current Statement of Privacy Principles in the U.S. see: http:⁄⁄www.abbvie.com⁄privacy.html.
In addition, AbbVie 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.
As noted above, AbbVie’s driving factor in securing the .ABBVIE gTLD in ICANN’s first gTLD application round is precautionary in nature, and while AbbVie sees the potential for this gTLD to play a large role in AbbVie’s future online strategic initiatives, there are a number of unanswered questions concerning consumer recognition, the adoption of new gTLDs, and the response from search engines in the marketplace that will influence the usage of the gTLD and communication about that usage.
Notwithstanding this, AbbVie plans to start using .ABBVIE domains initially as redirects to existing .COM websites. AbbVie plans to carefully review the release of new gTLDs by others, the response from search engines to branded gTLDs, and consumer perception. As the marketplace evolves, AbbVie will invest in outreach and communication as needed to ensure that its consumers and partners continue to interact with AbbVie content in a simplified and efficient manner.
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 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)?
The proposed operating rules limiting registration to AbbVie and its future qualified subsidiaries and affiliates will provide a trusted online environment for consumers to access AbbVie online content, and will minimize social costs by default. This verified ecosystem will also provide consumers with a single, trusted source for AbbVie’s products with a substantially lower risk of confusion than consumers encounter in .COM and other open gTLDs. AbbVie does not anticipate consumer vulnerabilities; therefore, one way in which social costs will be eliminated is that trademark and brand owners will not need to defensively register second-level domains in the .ABBVIE gTLD. In fact, AbbVie’s expectation is that the usage of a .ABBVIE gTLD will eliminate many of the vulnerabilities that consumers face in the wider Internet today.
18.3.1 What other steps will you take to minimize negative consequences⁄costs imposed upon consumers?
AbbVie believes that the proposed operation of the .ABBVIE 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 benefit consumers.
18.3.2 How will multiple applications for a particular domain name be resolved, for example, by auction or on a first-come⁄first-serve basis?
AbbVie does not envision multiple applicants for the same domain name, as domain names will only be registered to AbbVie and its future qualified subsidiaries and affiliates (once identified and determined), at least in the first three years of operation.
18.3.3 Explain any cost benefits for registrants you intend to implement (e.g., advantageous pricing, introductory discounts, bulk registration discounts).
AbbVie does not envision the implementation of any advantageous pricing, introductory discounts, or bulk registration discounts because these marketing⁄commercial initiatives are inconsistent with the mission and purpose of the .ABBVIE gTLD as a trusted online source identifier. Moreover, domain name registrations are planned to be provided to AbbVie and its future qualified subsidiaries and affiliates at no cost.
18.3.4 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.
AbbVie is committed to providing the domain name registration periods set forth in the Registry Agreement. However, as noted above, as a branded gTLD, the registration of the domain name is conditioned upon separate subsidiary or affiliate relationships with AbbVie. Therefore, providing contractual commitments in a domain name registrant agreement regarding the magnitude of price escalations does not seem relevant or appropriate.
AbbVie 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, AbbVie, as the sole registrant within the .ABBVIE gTLD, will only be registering domain names on an annual basis. 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, i.e., no multi-year registration or deferred revenue.