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question I registered a country name GTLD even though its NOT allowed!

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domain4u

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Hi Guys,

I registered a country name Gtld a while back and I noticed under the following terms:

https://www.icann.org/resources/country-territory-names/#guidelines

It's not really allowed to be released (I obviously didn't know when i paid a premium price to buy it direct from the registrar). I have made some heavy investments on this domain in both registration fee as well as building a business around it, is it possible for me to lose the domain once i launch the site i've been building for the past few months? I'm slightly concerned about ICANN suddenly pulling the rug from under my feet! Can I sue the registry or.. if this was to happen?
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
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And not all variants are reserved...
For example: by default Russia is allowed but Russian Federation - not.
 
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The country name in question has a R next to it so it's

“R” indicates that all requests must be notified (in which case the country or organization concerned asserts its right to authorize the release of the country or territory name),

I don't really want to ask the registrar as they may take the name from me, these new GTLD's are dodgy most are registered in offshore countries there is no telling what they may do. Officially all the fault is their end for allowing it to be released it's just that i've made some very heavy investment in a business around this domain name in question and im worried all of a sudden ICANN will step in.
 
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I'm not talking about registrars...
Contact Registry...
What your TLD?
 
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.review and the country name in question has no other Gtld available, their all reserved it states. and .review is registered in an offshore island it legitimately looks quite dodgy to me and ive read their terms and conditions on their site it states nothing.
 
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And what if i contact them and they say oops we made a mistake here is your reg fee back which was $x,xxx even though i've invested over very high $xx,xxx around launching this biz?
 
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Then use at your own risk...
Don't be surprised if it will be moved from you in future and without any refund.
 
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Get rid of the name and take it as a learning experience. They can take it from you if its TM'd, why risk that 2 or 5 years down the line.

Never register company names in domains.
 
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Its not a company name, its a country name, big difference, i've registered a country.review domain name so it wouldn't be a trademark infringement and i've officially done nothing wrong its really the registry who was in the wrong not me. I've invested so heavily in developing it though, what i really wanted was some advice regarding what the registry can officially do even though their at fault for selling the name in the first place (naturally i didnt know this else i wouldnt have bought it from them)
 
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Nobody can say here for .Review Registry...
You should ask them directly.
 
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I just rechecked my country in .Review - it is reserved.
So if your name was allowed - then must be a reason.
 
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Yes and i assume its them being inept as a registry lol forgetting to reserve it as the country name i registered is reserved under every gtld (before i assumed someone had registered them)
 
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My country in the mentioned list is also marked with "R".
But it is reserved.

I don't think that reservations were done manually (this process is automatic).
Only availability can be done this way.
 
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I would go ahead and develop. Just make sure to use Wordpress, backup the site, have YourCountryReview.com standing by and then migrate over to it when they eventually take the domain.
 
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Adding to what Jurgen Wolf said, where the name is allowed to be registered for a reason:

The questions that need to be answered:

1. How long since you owned the name?
2. How many months/year before you break even , per your business plan.
3. Do you know what premium names sell for, with the .review extension. If push comes to shove, are you open to paying that difference to keep moving forward?

Your work is cut out for you as you already have sunk cost into the project. Assuming country.review is not TMed (Which I don't think is, but I'm no IP attorney), you need to keep your head down, bust your a** off and try to recover all/major parts of your investment back and hopefully turn a profit as well, all the while being wary of the damocle's sword, a,k.a., the clawback from registry.
As a reasonable person, one is not expected to know if a name is reserved :- if the name is registrable, one could assume it's not reserved, even though several registries have played the released "Premium/Reserved" names by mistake game and have TOS fine print BS where you are expected to know everything, right up to even what the registry operator CEO had for breakfast that day

A developed website might actually be a milestone for a small registry having less registrations and struggling for business. With luck, they may not go after the domain, and may actually show case it as a success story for the extension to garner more business.

Wish you the best!
 
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ask the registry
not the registrar

as @Jurgen Wolf said


act as if you build a 7 fig company on it
 
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