It may have taken over five years getting there, but at 10am today, the first .eu domains will go on sale - and it's going to be a landrush.

At least it will be for trademark holders, because only those holding a valid European Union trademark will be entitled to apply from now until 7 February 2006 - and only on the exact trademark they own. Applications will be checked, we are told.

There is no guarantee of success: a large number of trademark have mutiple legitimate owners across the EU, but only one can win the domain.

Some companies, including Pool.com, have been offering advanced domain-grabbing options - up to €10,000 for its "premium" domain service. Customers only pay if the company manages to get it for them, following a deposit of €125. But that remains a hell of a mark-up considering the domains themselves cost only €10.

Pool.com has a few years experience in picking up dropped domains and previous new domain landrushes and its CEO told us it had partnered with several hundred registars to maximise its changes. It offers no guarantee though.

For those of you without trademarks, you may be able to grab a .eu domain in February - but only for your company name, distinctive titles, unregistered trademarks and tradenames.

The rest of us will have to wait until 7 April for .eu to be opened up to the market. The big question then will be: does anyone want a .eu domain beyond companies wanting to protect their business? ®

Related stories

• .Eu a hit with users, but a mystery to others (5 February 2007)
• 74,000 .eu domains suspended (24 July 2006)
• UK is .eu sceptic (26 January 2006)
• Dutch church bids for sex.eu (13 December 2005)
• No .eu domain for the Swiss (21 November 2005)
• Uk.com wildcard raises Net stability worries (14 September 2005)
• EU backs plans for .kid TLD (8 September 2005)
• UK.gov IT procurement to be discrimination-free (17 August 2005)