Domain blocking offers an effective and low-cost means of brand protection to secure trademarks and product names on the internet.

Why block domains?

Implementing a defensive domain registration strategy and using the TMCH Sunrise Service require trademark holders to invest human and financial resources. The domain blocking services offer a cost-effective alternative to protect your brand against unauthorised domain registrations. Depending on the selected service and provider, registrations under the corresponding character strings are blocked.

  • GoDaddy
  • Identity Digital
  • ShortDot
  • Uniregistry

AdultBlock services (GoDaddy)

The services AdultBlock & AdultBlock plus by GoDaddy are explicitly intended for protecting trademarks and brand labels under the adult TLDs .xxx, .porn, .sex and .adult. Holders can use these services to proactively protect online reputation by preventing registrations relevant to their trademark under these TLDs.

AdultBlock
AdultBlock+

DPML blocking services (Identity Digital)

With the Domains Protected Marks List service (DPML service) trademark holders can protect their trademarks in the new gTLD cosmos under all Identity Digital TLDs. The DMPL blocking service as well as the DMPL plus blocking service can be booked with different periods directly at InterNetX in AutoDNS.

DPML
DPML+

ShortBlock services (ShortDot)

The domain blocking service offered by ShortDot covers many keyword variations. Depending on the selected service, exact match combinations, homonyms, IDNs and premium domains in different languages can be protected against unauthorised registration. Five names can be blocked per trademark. 

ShortBlock Business
ShortBlock Homonym
ShortBlock Wildcard

Uni EPS blocking services (Uniregistry)

The Uni EPS blocking service & Uni EPS plus blocking service include ten top-level domains, under which unauthorized domain registrations can be prevented. Trademark holders can block brand keywords that they have registered in the Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH). The period for both services is one year.  

Uni EPS
Uni EPS+

Premium domain blocking services.

  • DPML
  • AdultBlock
  • ShortBlock Business

DomainBlocking-Service Premium

Combine various domain blocking services to create all-round protection for your brand. With the DomainBlocking-Service Premium package, you can simultaneously use the different blocking services for 294+ TLDs without going through each individual validation process.

The DomainBlocking-Service Premium package is valid for a period of one year and includes:

  • AdultBlock service (GoDaddy)
  • DMPL blocking service (Identity Digital)
  • ShortBlock service business (ShortDot)

 

  • DPML+
  • Uni EPS+
  • AdultBlock+
  • ShortBlock Wildcard

DomainBlocking-Service Premium+

DomainBlocking-Service Premium Plus offers comprehensive blocking protection.

It combines the premium blocking services of all the registries and, unlike other blocking services, also blocks homonyms and premium domains. 

DomainBlocking-Service Premium Plus includes up to 300 TLDs and unites all the advantages of these services in one package:

  • AdultBlock service plus (GoDaddy)
  • DMPL blocking service plus (Identity Digital)
  • ShortBlock service wildcard (ShortDot)
  • Uni EPS plus for one label (Uniregistry) 

A comparison of domain blocking services.

Registry program TLDs included SMD file required Typo protection Homonym protection Premium domains Period in years

AdultBlock service (GoDaddy)

4

checkbox 
Alternatives possible

x for no

checkbox

1 | 3 | 5 | 10

AdultBlock service plus (GoDaddy)

4

checkbox 
Alternatives possible

checkbox 

checkbox 

1 | 3 | 5 | 10

DPML blocking service (Identity Digital)

275+

checkbox

via Add label

checkbox

x for no

1 | 3 | 5 | 10

DPML blocking service plus (Identity Digital)

275+

checkbox

3
labels

checkbox

checkbox

1 | 3 | 5 | 10

ShortBlock service business (Shortdot)

5

checkbox

x for no

checkbox

1 | 3 | 5 | 10

ShortBlock service homonym (Shortdot)

5

checkbox

variable labels

checkbox

checkbox

1 | 3 | 5 | 10

ShortBlock service wildcard (Shortdot)

5

checkbox

variable labels

checkbox

checkbox

1 | 3 | 5 | 10

Uni EPS blocking service (UNR)

10

checkbox

like SMD file

x for no

checkbox

1

Uni EPS plus blocking service (UNR)

10

checkbox

like SMD file

checkbox

checkbox

1

DomainBlocking-Service Premium

294
(DPML, Uni EPS, AdultBlock,
ShortBlock business)

checkbox

as above

checkbox
only for DPML

checkbox
not for DPML

1

DomainBlocking-Service Premium Plus

294
(DPML+, Uni EPS+, AdultBlock+,
Shortblock wildcard)

checkbox

as above

checkbox

checkbox

1

Alle Services zeigen

The ordering process.

FAQ.

Domain blocking is an effective brand protection tool for professional digital brand domain management. By preventing unrestricted domain registrations in advance, trademark abuse in the DNS is curbed.

Depending on the selected blocking service and the responsible registry, this is done by blocking registrations of a registered brand trademark as exact match (and potentially also in different variations such as plural, last letter doubling, homographs, typo variations etc.) under one or more top-level domains during a defined period (minimum 1 year). 

Domains that are currently registered remain unaffected by the service. They can only be included in the service after they have been deleted. As with domains, the tasks CREATE, TRANSFER, UPDATE and DELETE apply for domain blocking services. 

You can also find more information and technical details about domain blocking services in our help center

Domain blocking services offer a cost-effecient means of proactively protecting a brand in the domain name system. Along with Trademark Clearinghouse Claims and Sunrise Service or defensive domain registrations, they work effectively against trademark infringements in the DNS. 

A huge advantage: In contrast to both other brand protection mechanisms, domain blocking services are very efficient, effective and resource-friendly. As the service can be booked for longer periods, financial and human resources are generally much lower.

Domain blocking is well-suited to protecting brands and product names against damage to reputation and image, especially in the world of new gTLDs. Trademark holders can use domain blocking to prevent domain registrations with their mark under, for example, .xxx or other adult TLDs or to prevent customer data ending up in the wrong hands due to domain or typosquatting.

A defensive domain registration strategy follows a different approach. It is used to generate a stronger reputation in the domain name system and tap into international markets. A broad domain portfolio creates more points of contact with the brand and allows for the targeted use of “speaking” domains like yourbrand.shop, yourbrand.blog or yourbrand.jobs.

The costs and invoicing variants for domain blocking services differ according to the selected offer and provider. This is a short overview:

  • DPML (invoicing per SMD file)
  • DPML+ (invoicing per SMD file)
  • Uni EPS (invoicing per label)
  • Uni EPS+ (invoicing per SMD file)
  • AdultBlock (invoicing per SMD file)
  • AdultBock+ (invoicing per SMD file)
  • ShortBlock Business (invoicing per SMD file)
  • ShortBlock Homonym (invoicing per SMD file)
  • ShortBlock Wildcard (invoicing per SMD file)
  • InterNetX DomainBlocking Premium (according to provider specs)
  • InterNetX DomainBlocking Premium Plus (according to provider specs)


Please note: The InterNetX Domain-Blocking Services are only available to customers that have specified "Post payment" as the payment method in AutoDNS.

Override is the only exception under which blocked domains can be registered. It is always subject to a fee. It is only possible for trademark owners who have registered an identical mark in the Trademark Clearinghouse. The party wishing to carry out an override must have an identical trademark as well as a valid SMD file issued by the TMCH. An override can only be granted if these requirements are met. Request for overrides may naturally be submitted to InterNetX. 

Get more information about the override in the InterNetX Help Center. 

Yes. If the service is not canceled, it is automaticall renewed (auto-renew) by a period of one year. A cancelation must be submitted in writing and is – like the Create – a manual process.

Please note that this can take a while to process. 

Individual top-level domains that are included in a domain blocking service can not be removed. The principle “all or none” applies. This means that all the top-level domains that are bundled under the respective blocking service must be removed or unblocked. 

If you want to use and register a blocked domain without unblocking the entire domain block in a package, you can use an override (subject to a fee). 

Become our partner.

We’d love to hear about your brand and domain management challenges – even if you’re not sure what your next step is. We are happy to share more details about our domain services with you. 

Do you have any questions? Let's chat.