Objections and Appeals Funding Overview
The general public, including other applicants, has the opportunity to file an objection on any application and have it considered before a panel of qualified experts. For an objection to be considered by a panel, it must be filed on specific grounds (see Section 3.5.1 Grounds for Objection and the party filing must have standing (see Section 4.5.2 Standing to Object). If an application is subject to an objection, the applicant will have an opportunity to file a response. All applied-for gTLDs and applied-for allocatable variant strings will be subject to the objection processes.
The Objection and Appeal Procedures will require different payments to be submitted directly to the Dispute Resolution Service Provider (DRSP) at different times. To support the multistakeholder model, ICANN offers certain funding possibilities to the At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) and national governments. Such funding is to cover costs payable to the DRSP and made directly to the DRSP, that is, filing fees and advance payment of costs, as described in Section 4.5.6 Objections and Appeals Costs.
Funding for National Governments
As described in Section 4.5.7 Objections and Appeals Funding Possibilities of the New gTLD Program: 2026 Round Applicant Guidebook (Applicant Guidebook), individual national governments may request ICANN to fund an objection to a new gTLD application and an appeal to a Panel Determination.
Eligibility and Authenticity: Requests will be accepted only if coming from national government and as follows:
- If the national government is a Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) member with representation, the request will have to be submitted by the GAC representative, who will have to be indicated as the Point of Contact and will be responsible for filing the objection/appeal.
- If the national government is a GAC member without representation or is not a GAC member, the request will have to come from the Office of the Head of Government or equivalent, and the Point of Contact, who will also be responsible for filing the objection/appeal, will have to be affiliated with that office.
ICANN will verify the eligibility and authenticity of the request based on the above and perform necessary due diligence.
Amount: Funding from ICANN is available to individual national governments for one objection and one appeal. The objection and appeal do not have to be linked to the same application.
DRSPs: Objections and appeals are administered in accordance with Appendix 3 of the Applicant Guidebook by the following Dispute Resolution Service Providers (DRSPs):
- String Confusion and Legal Rights Objections: World Intellectual Property Organization
- Limited Public Interest and Community Objections: International Chamber of Commerce
Scope:
- ICANN’s funding is only to cover the DRSP filing fees and costs and ICANN will make such payments directly to the DRSP. ICANN funding will not be provided for other fees associated with submitting an objection or appeal, such as fees for legal advice. In the event that the ICANN-funded objector or appellant is determined to be the prevailing party by the DRSP, ICANN will receive the refund from the DRSP for all funds advanced to the DRSP by ICANN.
- When completing the funding request form, the requestor may only select one ground for objection. If an eligible national government chooses to apply for multiple funding requests (i.e., submits multiple funding request forms), ICANN will process the requests in the order they are received. Once a requestor receives a funding approval from ICANN, all subsequent funding requests will be automatically rejected.
Timing: If a national government seeks to have an objection or appeal funded by ICANN, it must first have its funding request approved by ICANN and only then file the objection or appeal; ICANN will only make payments directly to the DRSPs and will not refund any payments made by national governments to the DRSPs or other parties. If the funding request is approved, the DRSP will issue invoices directly to ICANN.
Contact: ICANN reserves the right to contact the identified national government listed in the funding request form and/or other relevant government parties.
Objection Funding Request
To submit a request, the objecting national government must complete the Objection Funding Request Form for National Governments and send it to ICANN at 26r-objections-appeals@icann.org:
- Within 30 calendar days after String Confirmation Day, for all objection grounds.
- Within seven calendar days after the publication of updated contention sets once String Evaluation has been completed, for String Confusion Objection only.
- Within seven calendar days after a .Brand String Change, for all objection grounds.
The form can be downloaded from here:
Objection Funding Request Form for National Governments (EXAMPLE)
Requests received after the deadline will not be eligible for funding. National governments are invited to start working on their objections as soon as possible and before the deadline for requesting funding.
ICANN will perform necessary due diligence on the request, including but not limited to verifying:
- The eligibility of the national government and authenticity of the request.
- The objector point of contact.
- The active/on-hold status of the application subject to the objection funding request.
ICANN will endeavour to inform the objector whether its funding request was accepted within seven business days of receiving the request, absent extenuating circumstances.
If the funding request is accepted, ICANN will inform the objector and the applicable DRSP. The objector should promptly process its objection through the respective DRSP described in Appendix 3 of the Applicant Guidebook, ensuring that it is submitted before the deadline.
If the funding request is declined, the governmental entity may determine that it wishes to continue with the objection process without ICANN funding. If so, the objector will need to file its objection with the applicable DRSP and be prepared to pay for its own objection filing fee and other DRSP costs.
Appeal Funding Request
A national government that does not prevail in an objection will have the opportunity to request funding from ICANN to file an appeal to that objection; the request for funding must be submitted within seven calendar days of the Panel Determination. To do so, the appellant will have to complete the Appeal Funding Request Form for National Governments and send it to ICANN at 26r-objections-appeals@icann.org.
The form can be downloaded from here:
Appeal Funding Request Form for National Governments (EXAMPLE)
Requests received after the deadline will not be eligible for funding. National governments are invited to start working on their appeals as soon as possible and before the deadline for requesting funding.
ICANN will perform necessary due diligence on the request, including but not limited to verifying:
- The eligibility of the national government and authenticity of the request.
- The appellant point of contact.
- The active/on-hold status of the application subject to the appeal funding request.
- The Panel Determination.
ICANN will endeavor to inform the appellant whether its funding request was accepted within seven business days of receiving the request, absent extenuating circumstances.
- If the funding request is accepted, ICANN will inform the appellant and the applicable DRSP. The appellant should promptly process its appeal through the respective DRSP described in Appendix 3 of the Applicant Guidebook, ensuring that it is submitted before the deadline.
- If the funding request is declined, the governmental entity may determine that it wishes to continue with the appeal process without ICANN funding. If so, the appeal will need to file its appeal with the applicable DRSP and be prepared to pay for its own appeal filing fee and other DRSP costs.
Reference Materials
For more information on the objection and appeal processes, refer to Section 4.5 Objections and Appeals and Appendix 3 Materials Related to Objections and Appeals of the Applicant Guidebook. In case of discrepancy between this webpage and the Applicant Guidebook, the Applicant Guidebook is to be considered the authoritative version.
For any questions, contact Global Support at globalsupport@icann.org.