Glossary

The vocabulary of domains, trademarks and company registers is full of acronyms and words that mean something narrower than they sound. These are the terms used across this site, defined the way the pages use them, with a link to where each is covered properly. Definitions are short by design. Where a term carries legal weight, the linked page and its sources are the authority.

A–C

Absolute grounds: Reasons a trademark office refuses a mark because of the mark itself, such as being descriptive, generic or deceptive, regardless of anyone else's rights. Compare relative grounds. See the distinctiveness spectrum.
Acquired distinctiveness (US: secondary meaning): The point at which a descriptive word has become associated with one business in the public's mind, so that it can be registered. Proved with evidence of use. More.
Assumed name / DBA: “Doing business as”: a trading name other than an entity's legal name, filed with a US state or county. It discloses who is behind the name and gives no exclusive rights. More.
Auto-renew grace period: A window of up to 45 days after a gTLD domain's expiry during which the registry treats it as renewed and the registrar can still delete it for a credit. How much of it a registrant gets depends on the registrar. More.
Backorder: An instruction to a drop-catching service to try to register a domain the moment it is released. Not a reservation. More.
Basic mark: The home-country application or registration on which a Madrid international registration depends for five years. More.
ccTLD: Country-code top-level domain, such as .uk, .de or .ae. Run by national registries under their own rules, which can include local-presence requirements. More.
Central attack: Defeating a Madrid international registration everywhere by successfully attacking the basic mark during the five-year dependency period. More.
Class: One of the 45 categories of the Nice Classification used to group the goods (classes 1 to 34) and services (35 to 45) in a trademark specification. A filing convention, not a boundary on conflict. More.
Common-law mark: In the US, trademark rights that arise from use without registration, generally limited to the area where the mark is used and known. More.
Conversion: Turning a failed or lapsed EU trade mark into national applications that keep its filing date. More.

D–L

Descriptive mark: A name that directly describes a quality, purpose or feature of the goods. Registrable only once it has acquired distinctiveness. More.
Designation: A country or regional office named in a Madrid international application or registration as one where protection is sought. More.
Designator: The word in a company name that states the legal form, such as Ltd, Inc., LLC, Pty Ltd, Pte. Ltd. or DAC. Usually ignored when registries compare names. More.
Distinguishable on the record: The standard most US states apply to entity names: whether the new name can be told apart from existing records, not whether it would confuse anyone. More.
Drop: The moment a deleted domain is released by the registry and becomes registrable by anyone. More.
EUTM: European Union trade mark: a single registration at the EUIPO with unitary effect across all EU member states. More.
Fanciful mark: An invented word used as a mark. The strongest category on the distinctiveness spectrum. More.
Generic: The common name for a product. Never protectable as a trademark, and a registered mark can become generic through use by the public. More.
gTLD: Generic top-level domain, such as .com, .org or .shop, run under contract with ICANN. More.
Intent to use: A US trademark filing basis allowing an application before use begins. Registration only issues once use is shown. More.
Knockout search: A quick, cheap search to remove obviously unavailable names before investing in a full clearance search. More.
Likelihood of confusion: The central test for conflict between trademarks, combining similarity of the marks with similarity of the goods or services. More.

M–R

Madrid System: The WIPO-administered system for protecting a trademark in many countries through one international application. More.
NUANS: A Canadian name-search system that compares a proposed name with existing corporate names, business names and trademarks. Still required for an Ontario word-name incorporation, but no longer for a federal one. More.
Opposition: A challenge to a trademark application during a fixed window after publication. More.
Passing off: The UK cause of action protecting unregistered goodwill against misrepresentation. It requires goodwill, misrepresentation and damage. More.
Pending delete: The final five days before a gTLD domain is released, during which nobody can restore it. More.
Premium domain: A name the registry prices above the standard rate, sometimes for renewals as well as registration. It looks unregistered in a lookup. More.
RDAP: Registration Data Access Protocol, the modern replacement for WHOIS, used to query domain registration records. More.
Redemption grace period: A 30-day period after a gTLD domain is deleted in which only the former registrant can restore it, usually for a fee. More.
Referral authority: In Singapore, the agency that must approve a company name containing certain words before ACRA can register it. More.
Registrar / registry: The registry runs a top-level domain and holds the master database. The registrar sells registrations to the public. More.
Relative grounds: Reasons to refuse or cancel a trademark because of someone else's earlier rights. Usually raised by that party in an opposition. More.
Reverse domain name hijacking (RDNH): A finding by a UDRP panel that a complaint was brought in bad faith. Published under the complainant's name. More.

S–Z

Seniority: A claim in an EU trade mark to the earlier date of an identical national registration, allowing that national mark to lapse without losing its priority. More.
Sensitive word: In the UK, a word that can only be used in a company name with supporting evidence or a letter of non-objection. More.
Specification: The list of goods and services a trademark is registered for. What the mark actually covers, as opposed to its class numbers. More.
Suggestive mark: A name that hints at a quality of the goods without describing it. Protectable from first use. More.
Trade name: In the UAE, Saudi Arabia and many other systems, the registered name under which a licensed business trades, tied to the commercial register. More.
Transformation: Turning a cancelled Madrid international registration into national applications that keep its date, within three months. More.
UDRP: Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy: ICANN's procedure for transferring or cancelling a domain registered and used in bad faith against a trademark. The test and the procedure.
Unitary character: The property of an EU trade mark that it is registered, transferred or refused for the whole EU at once. More.
URS: Uniform Rapid Suspension: a faster, cheaper procedure for clear-cut domain abuse that suspends the domain rather than transferring it. More.

Published 2026-10-18. Definitions are summaries. The linked pages, and the primary sources they cite, set out the rules in full. Not legal advice.