International domain names - to register or not to register

rsweetland

If one is planning on expanding into other countries at some point, it would make sense to secure the domains for those countries (.co.uk, .cn, .it, .jp, etc).



However, registering these domains up front is cost prohibitive and an administrative pain.



Not registering them seems to open up the door to squatters buying your domain name in their country and then trying to extract money from the company when you are ready to expand into those areas.



Does anybody have any words of wisdom for protecting your international domain names before having an office in each of those countries (and therefore being able to buy the domain names)?



Thanks, 
Reilly Sweetland
rsweetland10/24/2007 9:25 PM

legallink

With the businesses I consult, I usually advise them to register at a minimum a .eu address, but you need to generally have local agent in those countries.  Some foreign countries search specifically for products offered by companies in their country, hence those addresses are very useful.
That being said, I don`t think it is a must if you have a .com address, but it is something to plan for.

rsweetland

Thanks for the information here, Jeffrey.

I did find it prohibitive to buy the domains from the different countries due
to the various restrictions.

We will look at this option for phase II.