Reserve a Domain for Future Use

Is it possible to reserve a domain to secure an internet address for future purposes?

With some exceptions, there is no binding domain reservation. To reserve a specific address for a website, it must be registered under your name or that of a trusted person. In many cases, the term "domain reservation" is equated with domain registration. Upon registration, the applicant becomes the domain owner, can sell it, and is legally responsible for the website's content.

This means that the costs are the same for the applicant, regardless of whether the domain is reserved for future use or registered for immediate use. A "trust service" to reserve a URL without registration is only available in rare cases for commercially valuable addresses.

What criteria should be considered when reserving a domain?

Essentially, any address with more than one and less than 64 characters can be used to register a website. However, the exact availability of characters (letters, numbers, special characters) and the number of characters depend on the chosen domain extension. For instance, with the classic .DE domain, 1 to 63 characters, including special characters like umlauts, are allowed, whereas the exotic .ME domain allows 2 to 63 characters but no umlauts. Different guidelines may also apply to domain allocation, such as requiring a local contact in the respective country.

Additionally, it's crucial to check some legal conditions before using a domain to avoid costly legal warnings. For instance, name and trademark rights must be respected, meaning a person or a registered brand owns the rights to their name. This also applies if a third party reserves a domain that partially includes another's name. For example, a car dealer cannot use a name like bmw-mustermann.de without the explicit permission of the name owner (in this case, BMW).

How to reserve a domain?

As with any project, domain reservation should start with a comprehensive and thorough domain check. Pay particular attention to the availability of other extensions, the costs for specific domains, and the anticipated scope of the online presence. A detailed domain comparison can help you find the best and most affordable offers on the market. Depending on whether you only need a single domain or require additional web hosting, various offers may provide the perfect solution.

Once you have selected the right offer, register the desired domain to officially reserve it under your name. In most cases, it only takes a few minutes to complete the domain registration and set up the domain. The domain is then added to your account with the domain provider. From there, the new domain owner can decide the next steps, such as redirecting the domain to an existing website or uploading data to the web space associated with the new domain.

Is it possible to legally and securely reserve a domain?

For some highly sought-after domains, multiple attempts to register the same domain may occur simultaneously. This is particularly true for "expired domains," where registration was not renewed but the domain has already gained popularity. These domains are considered valuable due to their high link counts and traffic. In such cases, requests are processed chronologically, and the domain should theoretically be allocated to the first applicant who attempts to reserve the free URL after the previous registration expires. However, delays in communication can sometimes lead to exceptions.

In principle, domain owners are required to actively use their domain. However, this can be as simple as hosting a single page, such as "Under Construction" or the classic "Hello World." If a domain remains unused, another interested party with legitimate interest could theoretically claim it through legal action. This is an extremely rare exception, typically occurring with highly popular domains reserved purely for resale profit.

How can you reserve a domain in advance for new TLDs?

A rare exception allowing domains to be reserved in advance for future use is during the introduction of new Top-Level Domains (TLDs). These TLDs are released at irregular intervals and can be applied for by institutions that then manage them under license. During the extensive rollout of new TLDs between 2012 and 2016, some domain providers offered their customers the chance to reserve domains not yet activated. However, this is not an official registration but merely a waiting list maintained by the providers. Such a reservation does not establish a claim to allocation.