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Starting a company? You can now reserve your .ee domain at the same time

Until now, there could be a gap between a company's entry in the Business Register and the registration of its domain name, during which a third party could register a domain matching the company's name under their own name. For a new company, this kind of situation can mean additional costs, confusion when building the brand, or the need to choose a new name for its website and e-mail addresses.

The new services added to the e-Business Register help reduce this risk and tie the protection of a company's name and its digital identity more closely into a single formation process.

Up to 20 available .ee domain names can be reserved in the e-Business Register

When founding a company, up to 20 available .ee domain names can be reserved in the e-Business Register. Reserving is free of charge and is valid for seven calendar days from the date the company is entered in the Business Register. During this time, other interested parties cannot register the reserved domain names.

The service gives a new entrepreneur time to choose an accredited .ee registrar that suits their needs and to register the domain name for good. Reservation thus provides peace of mind and helps a new entrepreneur think early about protecting their company and brand name.

A domain name for a company that needs more preparation time can be booked for up to one year

In addition to reservation, .ee names can also be booked in the e-Business Register when booking a company name. This option is intended mainly for companies and brands whose market entry requires longer preparation. A domain name booking is valid for one year and costs €10 + VAT per domain name. There is no limit on the number of names that can be booked. As with domain name reservation, other interested parties cannot register the same domain name while the booking is in effect.

"A domain is the cornerstone of a company's digital identity, and today it is already just as important as the company's own name. Setting up a new company means making dozens of decisions at once, and registering a domain name can easily be pushed to the background. At the same time, once a company is entered in the Business Register, its name becomes public, and someone else can quickly register the matching domain name. Although it is possible to turn to the Domain Disputes Committee set up under EIF in such situations, this takes time and also means an unexpected extra cost. The new solution helps mitigate this risk and allows an entrepreneur to protect their name in the Business Register and on the internet at the same time," said Heiki Sibul, member of the management board of the Estonian Internet Foundation.

The domain name must be registered within the deadline

It is important to understand, however, that reservation and booking do not yet mean that the domain name has been registered. For every reserved and booked domain name, the entrepreneur is issued a unique authorisation code, which can be used to register the name with the chosen accredited .ee registrar. A fee applies for registering the domain name, in accordance with the registrar's price list.

If the domain name is not registered during the reservation or booking period, the authorisation code expires and the domain name again becomes available to everyone on a first-come, first-served basis.