TOKYO, JAPAN (Jan 16, 2012) - The new domain for Japan launched today with an invitation for trademark owners to secure the domains matching their trademarks ending .JP.NET, in English and Japanese. Companies worldwide are expected to take advantage of this new opportunity to access the first new domain for Japan - the world's third largest economy.

Trademark registration requests are being accepted by leading global and Japanese registrars including Onamae by GMO, Gandi, Mark Monitor and CSC until February 17, and will be followed by a Landrush beginning February 20 making thousands of premium domains that are unobtainable at '.jp', '.net' and '.com' available to the general public - including keywords such as 'loans.jp.net' or 'chat.jp.net', geographic domains including 'tokyo.jp.net,' as well as one and two character domains, and Japanese language domains.

Ben Crawford, CEO of CentralNic, the Registry Operator for .JP.NET, said: "At last the Japanese domain-buying public has an exciting new domain extension, and those outside Japan have an ideal domain to use to reach the 100 million Japanese internet users who make up almost 5% of the global internet market."

Unlike other heavily restricted Japanese domain extensions, domain names ending .JP.NET will be available to anyone in unrestricted quantities, giving businesses and individuals everywhere the chance to secure presence in the rapidly growing Japanese internet landscape and gain access to the Japanese market.

The extension's combination of .jp and .net offers the further benefit of global as well as local presence, meaning that websites published on .JP.NET domains will be easily located by both local Japanese and global search engines, ensuring unparalleled exposure and traffic potential both for Japanese websites with a global focus and international companies with an interest in the Japanese market.

About .jp.net

.JP.NET is the new domain for Japan, bringing together two highly recognised domain extensions, .JP + .NET, to create one powerful online marketing tool that enables corporations, e-commerce sites, blogs, brands, services, social networks, or any other online endeavour to simultaneously network with Japanese and global communities - offering unparalleled online reach. The new domain for Japan offers incredible versatility. JP.NET is available for registration through leading Japanese and international registrars.

About CentralNic

The only registry to launch three new domain extensions in the past year, CentralNic manages a portfolio of 27 domain extensions, including .US.COM in the USA, UK.COM and UK.NET in the United Kingdom, .CN.COM in China, .COM.DE in Germany and .LA - the world's first city TLD. One of the longest-running domain registries in the world, CentralNic is the Registry Service Provider of choice for new domains requiring proven secure and stable technology, global distribution, and expertise in both marketing and the domain industry.

For further enquiries, please contact CentralNic.

CentralNic Ltd
35 - 39 Moorgate
London, EC2R 6AR, United Kingdom
Telephone: +44 (0)20 33 88 0600
Fax Number: +44 (0)20 33 88 0601
Email: press@centralnic.com