ICANN window closed on August 12, 2026

The dotBrand alternative that already exists.

ICANN's 2026 round is the first chance in more than a decade to apply for a .brand. The window has closed. Your brand's onchain TLD, by contrast, already exists, already works, and is already held by someone.

1,616applications proceeding in ICANN's 2026 round

$227kexpected ICANN evaluation fee, per application

Oct 14, 2026latest expected date for the public list of applied-for strings

Check my names, free How recovery works

Two clocks

Spring 2026ICANN opens its first dotBrand application window in over a decade.

Aug 12, 2026The window closes. No new applications until a future round.

By Oct 14, 2026ICANN reveals every applied-for string. Evaluation and contention follow.

TodayOnchain TLDs matching those strings exist, resolve in wallets and carry payments and agents. They change hands privately.

.brand TLD vs onchain TLD, side by side

Two different systems, both called a TLD. One you apply for. The other you acquire.

dotBrand at ICANN

Onchain TLD

How you get itApply in a round, pass evaluation, win any contention

How you get itNegotiate with the current holder, settle in escrow

WhenThe 2026 window is closed

WhenAny day, as soon as terms are agreed

Entry costUSD 227,000 evaluation fee, before advisers and registry operations

Entry costOne negotiated price, no renewal fee on Freename

Where it worksEvery browser, through the DNS

Where it worksWallets, payment links, AI agents, IPFS sites in compatible browsers

What you runA registry under an ICANN contract

What you runA token in your wallet, with every name beneath it

Name collisionArrives after the onchain TLDs already registered under the same string

Name collisionRegistered first, and first registration is weighted in Freename's patented resolution

DNS reach is where a dotBrand wins, and we say so. What an onchain TLD does today is set out in what's live onchain.

Prior art, patented

When two TLDs share a string, the first registration counts.

Freename holds a U.S. patent on how colliding names are resolved. It anticipates exactly this round: new ICANN TLDs landing on strings that already exist onchain.

PatentUS 12,401,618 B1

HolderFreename AG

FiledFebruary 23, 2024, two years before the 2026 window opened

GrantedAugust 26, 2025

What it doesScores competing names and decides which one resolves. "First registration", the earliest date of creation, is one of the weighted criteria.

Why it matters hereThe patent names new ICANN TLDs colliding with established web3 namespaces as the problem it addresses.

Own your brand TLD now, whichever list you are on.

You applied in 2026

Your string already has an older twin.

Once the list of applied-for strings is public, every applicant can see that the onchain TLD with its exact string was registered first, and that someone holds it. In a collision, that earlier date is the one that weighs. Holding both namespaces settles the question while your name is among the most watched of its kind.

You did not apply

This is the route still open.

The ICANN door is shut until a future round. The onchain TLD matching your brand can be acquired now, quietly, and put to work in weeks: wallets, payments at pay.yourbrand, identities for your agents.

Three steps, none of them public

Hush Partners has many trademark TLDs on its books, so one conversation often covers the group name, the brands and the products.

Check

Find out what exists

Send your names to the free Trademark Name Check. A partner replies privately.

Approach

Talk through one partner

Terms agreed with a single counterpart, your organization unnamed until you decide.

Transfer

Settle in escrow

Marketplace escrow, transfer confirmed onchain, NDA on both sides.

Questions legal teams ask about both

Is an onchain TLD the same thing as a dotBrand?

No. A dotBrand is delegated in the ICANN DNS and resolves in every browser. An onchain TLD is recorded on a blockchain registry such as Freename and resolves in wallets, payment links, agents and compatible browsers. They share a string, not a system.

If we win our dotBrand, does the onchain TLD still matter?

Yes. It works where the DNS does not reach today, wallets and agents first, and a dotBrand gives you no control over the onchain TLD with the same string. Freename's patent on name collisions also weighs which name was registered first, and the onchain TLD was.

Can we apply for a dotBrand now?

Not in this round. The 2026 application window closed on August 12, 2026. The onchain route does not depend on a round.

Is this legal advice?

No. Questions of rights belong to your counsel. We provide the record, the options and a quiet way to act on the one you choose.

Sources: ICANN, application cost · applications proceeding and Reveal Day · US 12,401,618 B1, full text · Domain Name Wire on the patent. For the long read, see what legal teams should know.