Liberalisation .pt coming soon

DNS.pt (.pt registry) has announced they’ll soon relax the rules or .pt domain name registrations. By doing this the registry hopes to increase the number of .pt registrations.

At the moment you need to be the owner of a trademark registered in Portugal or own a company name before you’ll be able to register a .pt name. Moreover the domain name you wish to register needs to be the same as or resemble to your registered trademark or company name. Currently it also isn’t possible to register a figurative under .pt. But this will soon change.

As from May 1st 2012 everyone who wishes to do so can register a .pt domain name. The rule that you need to own a trademark registered in Portugal or need to own a company name will no longer apply. All applications for .pt names will be treated on a first come, first served basis.

However the registry has decided to launch the liberalisation of the .pt domain with a sunrise phase. This phase will start on March 1st 2012 and end on April 30th 2012. During the sunrise owners of a registered trademark (not valid in Portugal), logo’s, company names,… will be able to register those names under the .pt domain. As from May 1st 2012, everyone who wishes to do so, can apply.