As I continue excavating my 1990’s dissertation, written as part of my law degree at Southampton University, I will now pause for a moment of public self-flagellation.

Back in the late 90’s, as part of a proposed solution to trade mark conflicts online, I suggested a new domain naming structure. Not just a new TLD – but an entire trade mark ‘haven’.

My big idea? A system where domain names would include their respective trade mark registration number as part of the address. For example:

www.brandname.9001423.tm.com

Yes, really. That was my vision for a cleaner, more logical domain name system. A brave new world in which businesses would proudly send customers to brandname-dot-seven-digit-number-dot-tm-dot-com.

I wasn’t entirely oblivious. I did acknowledge – grudgingly – that this might be slightly “less memorable” than brandname.com. My workaround? Auction off “easier to remember” numbers at premium rates. Because clearly what the internet needed in the 90’s was more randomised monetisation schemes and less usability.

My idea – shockingly – was not adopted.

The “.tm” domain does exist (hello, Turkmenistan!), but my glorious .tm.com haven, complete with numeric subdomains, remains a footnote in one dissertation and nowhere else. And rightly so. Can you imagine trying to fit that on a business card? Or saying it aloud on a radio advert?

Still, it came from a good place. At the time, domain names felt like the Wild West: anyone could register anything, and brand owners had few tools to fight back. The idea of a centralised, controlled namespace for verified trade marks made a certain kind of sense – right up until you tried to remember your own website.

Would I advocate the same idea today? Of course not. But I’ll give younger me this: at least he was trying to solve a real problem. With structure. With order. With a total disregard for marketing reality.

We’ve moved on – thankfully. The UDRP, the DRS, and ccTLD policies have brought far better balance between registration freedom and brand protection.

But if anyone’s still sitting on brandname.9001423.tm.com, do get in touch. I might need it for nostalgic purposes.