.lab

The mission and purpose of the applied-for .lab gTLD is to serve a namespace built around innovation, experimentation, and development-oriented activity. "Lab" carries an immediate association with research and being on the cutting edge, a positioning that brands, studios, and creators can attach to, while also fitting traditional laboratory contexts in academia, biomedical services, and research. Intended registrants include makers and creative studios; founders and teams building betas, prototypes, and side-projects; companies showcasing their innovation work through a dedicated brand lab; development and product teams running sandboxes and testing environments; and research institutions, universities, and science and biotechnology users. Registrations may be used as primary domain identities or as showcase spaces for new initiatives, products, and prototypes across any sector and any size of organisation. The TLD is intended to be sustainable because it supports a broad and diverse set of legitimate use cases that recur across industries over time.

The .lab gTLD will give a dedicated home to one of the most widely used naming patterns in science, technology, and creative work: the lab, a place or team built around research, testing, experimentation, and making. Its intended registrants include startups and innovation teams, research groups, testing and diagnostic services, design and media studios, and educational and maker communities (e.g., idea.lab, photo.lab, bio.lab). Today these registrants settle for long or compromised names in legacy TLDs because the natural form does not exist. Operated as an open registry with accessible pricing and distributed through all ICANN-accredited registrars on non-discriminatory terms, .lab expands the namespace where demonstrated demand is concentrated; its purpose is sustainable because experimentation and new venture formation are permanent, structural features of science, technology, and business.

Interlink Systems Innovation Institute K.K. (the “Applicant”) is applying for .lab to establish a globally recognizable namespace for laboratories, research, experimentation, innovation, and building on the Internet. The applied-for gTLD string “.lab” is based on the widely recognized abbreviation for “laboratory,” used in scientific, academic, medical, technological, creative, and industrial contexts. The term “lab” also applies to research groups, innovation teams, design studios, AI teams, and experimental projects. The mission of .lab is to offer a clear and memorable digital identity for individuals, organizations, businesses, and institutions engaged in research, experimentation, testing, discovery, development, and innovation. The Applicant will support this mission by operating the TLD as a stable, secure, open, and sustainable namespace. The term “lab” is broadly understood across languages and industries and used to signal research, experimentation, technical expertise, and early-stage development. The .lab TLD is intended as an open, distinctive, identity-focused namespace built around the shared concept of environments where ideas are researched, tested, built, improved, and brought closer to practical use. It is not intended to serve only one professional sector or industry. The mission of .lab consists of two objectives: (1) to provide registrants and Internet users with a meaningful digital identity focused on research, experimentation, development, innovation, and creation; and (2) to operate .lab as a stable, secure, open, and sustainable namespace for long-term global use. .lab will provide individuals and organizations with a short, descriptive, and memorable identifier for research, testing, experimentation, innovation, and building on the web. Registration is open and not limited to any predefined class of registrant. Prospective registrants include laboratories, research institutes, universities, corporate R&D teams, technology companies, AI and data-science groups, startups, researchers, design studios, publishers, and organizations focused on experimental or innovation-driven initiatives. Intended users include Internet users worldwide seeking research information, laboratory services, technical resources, experimental products, academic projects, innovation initiatives, scientific content, and creative work. To achieve this purpose, the Applicant will conduct an orderly launch, including the ICANN-required Sunrise period for eligible trademark holders, an Early Access or Landrush phase as needed, and General Availability with the applicable Claims Notification period. The Applicant will coordinate registrar onboarding, provide launch and policy materials, and promote .lab through registrar partnerships and targeted outreach to research, academic, technology, startup, creative, and innovation-focused audiences. The Applicant will operate .lab using established registry practices and over a decade of experience under the standard ICANN Registry Agreement. This foundation includes expertise in DNS stability, security, rights protection, policy compliance, registrar support, and DNS abuse mitigation. Sustainability is based on four factors: (1) research, experimentation, testing, development, and innovation are enduring global activities across professional, academic, nonprofit, and commercial contexts; (2) “.lab” is short, descriptive, widely understood, and adaptable, providing a clear identity without restricting registration; (3) the open registration model supports academic, scientific, corporate, startup, creative, product-testing, and experimental uses; and (4) the Applicant’s established registry operations ensure a strong foundation for long-term TLD management. This foundation will support .lab as a reliable and sustainable namespace connected to research, experimentation, development, and innovation.

The Make a Difference Institute (MaD) is a think-and-do collaborative platform where people can explore creativity for good, meet cross-disciplinary changemakers and synergize across sectors for innovative solutions to social challenges – a social innovation lab. In alignment with the mission of MaD, the .lab gTLD will be an open general-purpose domain inviting the world to experiment with innovative responses to our time’s challenges. As a gTLD, the .lab domain intends to be open for registration from any individual, innovator, entrepreneur, organization, community, group, network or initiative. MaD related initiatives such as Social Lab (https://www.mad.asia/programmes/mad-social-lab/) and Good Lab (https://www.goodlab.hk/about-us/our-story) are also examples of potential future use of .lab. We envision .lab to become an open digital space for experimenting with ideas and social innovation.

The mission of .lab is to provide a recognizable namespace for research, experimentation, innovation, testing, learning, and creative development. Intended registrants include laboratories, businesses, researchers, educators, developers, creators, students, and experimental projects. The registry intends .lab to support both physical and virtual labs while remaining reliable and secure. Its mission is sustainable because experimentation and innovation are continuing activities across scientific, technical, educational, and creative fields.

".LAB" is proposed as an open namespace for anyone whose work is defined by inquiry, experimentation, and building something new. Academic and scientific research institutions are the most immediate registrants, but the lab identity has expanded well beyond the university or corporate R&D division. Product labs, innovation studios, early-stage startups, independent think tanks, design studios, and developers building side projects all operate under the same orientation: something is being tested, explored, or made that does not yet exist. Educational makerspaces and student innovation programs belong here as naturally as a pharmaceutical research division does. What unites the registrant population is not a credential or an industry but a disposition toward making and discovering. The rise of AI labs focused on training, evaluating, and deploying machine learning models and intelligent systems further reinforces .LAB as a natural identity for organizations advancing artificial intelligence through research and experimentation. Registration is open and non-exclusive; no field, organizational type, or stage of development is privileged over another.

The mission and purpose of this TLD is to expand consumer choice by providing a clear namespace associated with laboratories, experimentation and research. Registrants may include researchers, educators, developers, institutions and collaborators. The purpose is sustainable because research and experimentation are continuing sources of discovery and innovation. The gTLD is not dependent on a single industry, technology, or business model and can accommodate evolving uses as technology and Internet activity develop. Applicant designated Identity Digital as the RSP. Identity Digital enjoys a reputation of excellence as a domain name industry contributor and innovator. Applicant, along with Identity Digital’s team, will support this purpose through reliable registry operations, appropriate security and abuse-mitigation measures, transparent registration policies, and compliance with applicable ICANN requirements. We are committed to the successful expansion of the Internet, the secure operation of the DNS, and the creation of a new segment of the web that will be admired and respected.