Richemont pulls two dot-brand bids
Luxury goods company Richemont has withdrawn two of its original 14 new gTLD applications.
The company, which has been a vocal supporter of dot-brand gTLDs, pulled its bids for .netaporter and .mrporter this week.
Mr Porter and Net A Porter are fashion retail web sites for men and women respectively.
It’s not clear why these two bids have been withdrawn — the company isn’t commenting — but it’s certainly not a signal that Richemont is abandoning the new gTLD program completely.
The company has already entered into ICANN contracts for six dot-brands including .cartier, .montblanc and .chloe.
It has another five applications — four generics and one brand — that are still active: .手表 (“.watches”), .珠宝 (.jewelry), .watches, .jewelry and .jlc.
It has previously withdrawn an application for .love.
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The question is why did it take them so long to withdraw the bids.