The Freename Forum

According to information from the trademark protection company Comlaude, the African Republic of South Sudan, which gained independence from Sudan in July 2011, is preparing to open up its country extension .ss. A sunrise period has been running since 1 August 2024 and will continue until 15 September 2024, during which trademark owners can register their trademark preferentially under .ss and .co.ss. It is not necessary to register the trade mark in the Trademark Clearinghouse, although multiple applications may be auctioned off. The landrush phase will then run from 20 September 2024 to 10 October 2024, followed by an early access period scheduled for 15 October 2024 to 25 October 2024. The live phase will then follow from 1 November 2024. The National Communication Authority (NCA) registry website only contains hidden information on this; the number of accredited registrars is also very limited at eight. In principle, registration is possible regardless of location. The historical reference to the National Socialist Schutzstaffel (SS) in particular could therefore make some trade mark owners wonder whether a preventive-defensive registration makes sense. The Alternate Domain Dispute Resolution Policy (ADRP) has its own dispute resolution procedure in the event of legal infringements.

Further information on the sunrise phase under .ss can be found at:
http://nic.ss/wp-content/uploads/2024/0 ... y-2024.pdf