ICANN set to reveal 1,616 new gTLD applications as brands face fresh trademark battleground

The identities of applicants behind 1,616 new generic top-level domain (gTLD) applications are set to be revealed today, opening what could become one of the most significant new trademark battlegrounds of the year.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is due to publish the public-facing information on applications proceeding in the 2026 New gTLD Program Round at 18:00 UTC on October 7.

The publication will identify the entities that have applied and the strings they are seeking, together with applicable variant or replacement strings, contention sets, and the public portions of the applications. For brand owners, the significance goes well beyond an expansion of the Domain Name System.

The release will provide the first comprehensive public picture of which companies, organizations, and other entities are seeking control of new top-level domains, potentially revealing applications that could have significant implications for existing brands and trademark portfolios.

A new wave of brand-related applications

ICANN’s new gTLD program allows applicants to seek control of an entire top-level domain — the portion of a web address appearing after the final dot.

The applications can cover a wide range of strings, including generic terms, industry-related terms, geographic names, and company-specific .brand domains. The previous major application round, launched in 2012, ultimately resulted in more than 1,200 new gTLDs being delegated into the Domain Name System.

The 2026 round therefore has the potential to reshape the domain-name landscape once again. The immediate question for trademark professionals is what companies have actually applied for. Among the applications could be major corporate brand strings, generic or descriptive terms sought by competing businesses, industry-specific strings, and applications that sit uncomfortably close to existing trademarks or well-known brands.

Some strings may also have been sought by multiple applicants. Those competing applications will appear in contention sets, allowing applicants and the wider community to identify where two or more parties are seeking the same gTLD string.

Why today’s publication matters to trademark owners

Reveal Day is effectively the point at which the trademark community can begin assessing the practical implications of the new round. A company monitoring the program may discover that another applicant is seeking a string corresponding to, or closely associated with, its brand or business. Other applicants may be seeking generic terms that are strategically important to a particular industry.

The publication may also identify applications that raise questions about string confusion, legal rights, community interests, or limited public interest, issues that can become relevant as the application process moves into its community input and objection stages. However, Reveal Day itself is not the start of the formal Community Input and Objections Period.

Following Reveal Day, applicants will have a two-week String Replacement Period, running from October 8 through October 21, during which eligible applicants can switch from a primary applied-for string to a replacement string identified in their application.

String Confirmation Day will take place on November 17, when ICANN will publish the final list of applied-for strings and an updated list of contention sets. That date also marks the beginning of the Community Input and Objections Period, which will run until March 16, 2027.

The trademark watch begins now

For trademark owners, today’s release should therefore be viewed as the beginning of the monitoring exercise rather than the end of it.

ICANN confirmed in September that 1,616 applications will proceed in the 2026 Round after receiving the required evaluation-fee payments. The application submission window closed on August 12 with 1,663 applications submitted.

The scale of the data also means that the most important developments may not immediately be obvious from the headline number. The real story could lie in the individual strings: a major company entering the .brand space, multiple businesses competing for the same commercially valuable term, or an unexpected applicant seeking a string that could have implications for an established trademark portfolio.

For brand owners, today’s 18:00 UTC publication is therefore more than an ICANN milestone. It is the moment when the next generation of potential domain-name disputes and brand-protection issues becomes visible.

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