Ralph Lauren is getting ready for an August 27, 2015 launch of a “smart shirt” using the moniker of PoloTech according to BrandChannel.com.
As a domain name investor, I often read articles like the above mentioned and pick out generic terms and check the availability of the them as domain names. This often results in most terms as domain names being registered in .Com’s but it’s simply amazing that often times, the terms are registered already and for how long many of them are!
So, using the BrandChannel.com story for an example, I checked several terms in it as domains and these are those results.
The trademarked term “Polo” I checked first, simply to see if the company Ralph Lauren owned the term they are using for the new shirts, “PoloTech”. At $295 a shirt, marketing with the matching term as a domain name would make perfect sense.
However that term as a domain name, PoloTech.com has been registered since March 13, 1999 (16 years, 5 months and 12 days ago) and is currently owned by a D Stewart Assoc, who owns about 30 domain names. They have owned the domain since the latest available whois history record on DomainTools.com dating back to 2001. So, Ralph Lauren does not own it currently.
- Another term used in the story is Biometrics. Biometrics.com has been registered since July 9, 1997.
- Activewear: Activewear.com registered since August 6, 1995
- Smart Garments: SmartGarments.com registered since March 20, 1997
- Smart Shirts: SmartShirts.com registered since February 9, 1998
- Connected Apparel: ConnectedApparel.com registered since January 19, 2000
Again, pretty amazing how long these terms have been registered as domain names, with many relating to “newer” terms IMO.
So Ralph Lauren was forward thinking enough to register the full term relating to this new $295 shirt right? The common sense term that will become terms people use online to find it, Polo Tech Shirt?
PoloTechShirt.com has never been registered and is currently available for registration. Interesting!
Polo.Tech would be pretty cutting edge and fresh to use? Well, if the brand wishes to use a .tech domain, they are going to have to wait for a little bit as that new gTLD is delegated. Dot Tech LLC won the rights to .Tech for $6.76 Million on September 17, 2014 according to IcannWiki.com
PRL USA Holdings, Inc. owns a little over 6,000 domain names according to DomainTools.com. They do display the term “PoloSport” on the new PoloTech shirts BTW and do own that domain name and use it as a redirect to that category of clothing. PoloSport.com was also created in the 90’s being registered since October 17, 1995. PoloTechShirt.com would be a good buy IMO, at around $15.
If you are interested in the shirt, you can visit the companies direct page for them here. The Polo Tech trademark was filed on September 16, 2014.
Image source: RalphLauren.com
