Tomorrow the much anticipated web extension dot London will open for registrations.

For 90 days, the web address suffix will be in 'Sunrise'. This means that businesses and individuals can apply to register addresses with .London at the end, but domains will be allocated according to a priority ranking.

With a whole host of new web extensions currently launching on the Internet, .London is certainly one of the most anticipated arrivals – where businesses, organisations and individuals who want to associate themselves more closely with London online will soon have the opportunity to do so.

Be it a small London café or one of the capital’s prominent sports clubs, a dot London web address offers a stronger online connection to the London community surfing the web.

.London’s Sunrise period opens on 29th April. During the Sunrise period, trademark owners can secure domain names containing their marked terms before anyone else has the opportunity to do so.

The only way for a trademark holder to register a .London domain name in top priority (during the so-called Sunrise Period) is by recording their marks with the Trademark Clearinghouse.

> See also: The changing domain landscape

The Trademark Clearinghouse grants access to every single Sunrise period in the new TLD program and failure to record marks into the database will leave mark owners at a disadvantage to competitors who have.

Recording marks in the Clearinghouse also helps to mitigate the risk of cybersquatters registering domain names containing the marks of recognisable brands and protect their rights. It is an easy three-step process, explained at london.clearinghouse.org.