Register a domain in the .UA domain zone

Registering the .UA domain

According to the information provided by hostmaster.ua, only 557 thousand addresses are registered with the .UA domain. A huge number of beautiful web address names are waiting for their lucky owners. For comparison, 128 million sites are using the famous ‘.com’ domain. There is only one nuance to consider. The .UA domain only accepts the owners of trademarks officially registered in Ukraine. This stops many who want to get a catchy address for the site.

How to get a .UA domain?

There are two ways to do so:

• Spend some money and work with a trustworthy company;
• Or spend time and nerves while doing everything yourself.

It is up to you to choose.

General registration algorithm:

• Choose a perfect .UA domain.
• Select a brand name to match the desired address.
• Choose one or more trademark registration classes. There are exactly 45. For example, class 15 covers musical instruments.
• Check the uniqueness of the chosen name in the trademark database. None of the 45 classes should have a trademark with the same name.
• Pay the state fee.
• Submit an application to the Ukrainian Patent Office for trademark registration.
• Wait for the documents to arrive. Registration speed depends on the selected procedure.
• Receive the trademark registration certificate.
• We register your .UA domain. You only need to specify the trademark certificate number.
• If everything is done correctly, you have your brand new address ready.

How long does it take to register a trademark?

There are two registration options:

• Normal - dates are not set, but it usually takes about 1.5 years.
• Fast – everything will be ready in 5 months.

The fast option costs more but has a huge benefit. If you choose to use the normal option, someone else might take your domain name before you register it. For example, you have selected the domain name vkresle.ua. You apply for the "VKRESLE" trademark and wait a year and a half. While you are waiting, somebody else can apply for the same trademark, but using the fast option. That means that they will obtain their certificate and successfully register the domain much faster. In this case, you will not be able to register the chosen name anymore, and all the waiting time will go to waste. To avoid this, you need to weigh the risks. If the trademark is popular, it is definitely better to pay for a fast option.

Why can they refuse to register my trademark?

Refusal to register a trademark will result in the inability to buy a .UA domain. There are several reasons for refusal:

• The trademark with the same or with a very similar name already exists.
• The name is a common name of goods or services. For example, TM “FURNITURE” may not be registered, while “Karl’s FURNITURE” will have no registration problems.
• The name is associated with state symbols and names. This means that the chances of registering a “Ukraine” trademark are close to zero.
• The name may mislead the buyer. For example, the TM “KOVRY” (meaning 'carpets') is registered in the wrong 38th class (it is for telecommunication services, not carpets).

Alphabets and characters in domain names

If the trademark name was written in Cyrillic, then it will be converted into the domain name using the transliteration rules. For example, the “домен.уа” will turn into “domen.ua” (as you can see, the words might get misspelled this way). The symbols and characters that are used to give the brand a unique name (such as @, &, or :) will not be used when creating a domain name.