In today’s digital-first marketplace, global companies are looking beyond traditional domains like .com or .net and toward owning their own piece of the internet by getting their hands on DotBRAND domain names – custom top-level domains (TLDs) that match a company’s brand (think .microsoft or .apple).

A DotBRAND top-level domain (often written as “.brand” or “.brandname”) is the highest-possible ownership layer a company can have on the public internet naming system.

In December 2025, ICANN published a milestone update titled “A Year of Progress on the Path to Opening the 2026 Round of New gTLDs”, authored by Kurtis Lindqvist. The blog serves not merely as a year-end reflection, but as a confirmation that the next New gTLD application round has moved decisively from planning into execution. “We have come a long way in the last 12 months, and I am incredibly proud of the collaborative work that's gone into these accomplishments.”