.gmbh

Overview

• .gmbh is a generic top-level domain (gTLD) string representing "GmbH" — the abbreviation for the German term "Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung" (company with limited liability).
• It is intended as a dedicated online namespace for companies using the GmbH designation in countries such as Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
• The string was delegated to the DNS root zone under ICANN's New gTLD Program on 9 March 2016.

History

• .gmbh was applied for during ICANN's New gTLD Program; the string was delegated on 9 March 2016.
• Multiple applicants competed for the string. Notable applicants included:
  • TLDDOT GmbH (filed a community application, supported by eco eV)
  • STRAAT Investments (NU DOT CO LLC, parent company of .co Internet)
  • Donuts (Extra Dynamite, LLC)
  • InterNetWire Web-Development GmbH
  • Google (Charleston Road Registry Inc.)
• A former applicant, GMBH Registry, LLC, withdrew its application in late 2012.
• TLDDOT's community application underwent a Community Priority Evaluation (CPE) in June 2014 and scored 5 out of 16 points (below the 14 points required), meaning the community claim did not prevail.
• As a result of contention, the applicants faced resolution options such as private or ICANN auctions.
• TLDDOT filed a Legal Rights Objection against InterNetWire Web-Development GmbH during the application process.

Usage and Audience

• Target audience: companies and organizations that use the GmbH designation (limited liability companies) in jurisdictions where GmbH is used.
• The TLDDOT applicant described the potential community as roughly 1.4 million GmbH companies across Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.
• Applicant stated use-cases include providing a branded, dedicated online identity space for GmbH corporations.
• Some applicants proposed validation of registrants to ensure they are legitimate GmbH entities (e.g., InterNetWire planned registrant validation).

Registration Rules

• Several applicants proposed eligibility restrictions or validation to restrict registrations to legitimate GmbH entities, reflecting an intent to limit the namespace to companies using the GmbH designation.
• Donuts and InterNetWire submitted Public Interest Commitments (PICs) as part of their applications.
• The input does not provide specific technical registration details (allowed characters, exact eligibility enforcement mechanisms, or registration term limits).

SEO and Brand Impact

• .gmbh is positioned as a branded namespace for GmbH companies to create recognizable, company-specific domain names.
• Applicant statements emphasize trust and verification (plans for registrant validation and a "trusted" domain name space), which can support brand positioning for legitimate GmbH entities.

Notable Cases or Examples

• TLDDOT GmbH: community applicant, supported by eco eV, planned back-end registry services from TLD-Box; CEO Dirk Krischenowski was the main contact in the application.
• Donuts (Extra Dynamite, LLC): one of many gTLD applicants; proposed infrastructure partnerships and submitted a Public Interest Commitment.
• Google (Charleston Road Registry Inc.): applied with the goal of providing a verified GmbH domain space and intended to operate technical back-end itself.
• STRAAT Investments (NU DOT CO LLC): applied and selected Neustar for back-end services.
• InterNetWire Web-Development GmbH: planned registrant validation and selected Registry.Net for back-end services; faced a Legal Rights Objection from TLDDOT.
• GMBH Registry, LLC: former applicant that withdrew in late 2012.

% IANA WHOIS server
% for more information on IANA, visit http://www.iana.org
% This query returned 1 object

domain:       GMBH

organisation: Binky Moon, LLC
address:      c/o Identity Digital Limited
address:      10500 NE 8th Street, Suite 750
address:      Bellevue WA 98004
address:      United States of America (the)

contact:      administrative
name:         Vice President, Engineering
organisation: Identity Digital Limited
address:      10500 NE 8th Street, Suite 750
address:      Bellevue WA 98004
address:      United States of America (the)
phone:        +1.425.298.2200
fax-no:       +1.425.671.0020
e-mail:       tldadmin@identity.digital

contact:      technical
name:         Senior Director, DNS Infrastructure Group
organisation: Identity Digital Limited
address:      10500 NE 8th Street, Suite 750
address:      Bellevue WA 98004
address:      United States of America (the)
phone:        +1.425.298.2200
fax-no:       +1.425.671.0020
e-mail:       tldtech@identity.digital

nserver:      V0N0.NIC.GMBH 2a01:8840:22:0:0:0:0:7 65.22.32.7
nserver:      V0N1.NIC.GMBH 2a01:8840:23:0:0:0:0:7 65.22.33.7
nserver:      V0N2.NIC.GMBH 2a01:8840:24:0:0:0:0:7 65.22.34.7
nserver:      V0N3.NIC.GMBH 161.232.16.7 2a01:8840:fa:0:0:0:0:7
nserver:      V2N0.NIC.GMBH 2a01:8840:25:0:0:0:0:7 65.22.35.7
nserver:      V2N1.NIC.GMBH 161.232.17.7 2a01:8840:fb:0:0:0:0:7
ds-rdata:     50959 8 2 aed172f485dbdef89fccca14b29463f53affc646105fe7c5ffccfbb43dc116f4

whois:        whois.nic.gmbh

status:       ACTIVE
remarks:      Registration information: https://www.identity.digital/

created:      2016-03-03
changed:      2023-09-13
source:       IANA