Lixil, a Japanese company, has notified ICANN that it no longer needs its gTLD, .LIXIL. However, saying “no longer” is hardly true because over the six years since delegation, only one domain has been registered in the gTLD, which redirects to lixil.com.
As in most similar cases, it would be wrong to believe financial difficulties are the reason: Lixil turned over roughly $12 billion in its last fiscal year. The company produces building materials and plumbing equipment, and in particular, is known for its smart toilets. Domain Incite sarcastically remarked that the “toilet-maker’s dot-brand gets flushed.” .LIXIL has become the sixth brand domain since the beginning of the year to be abandoned by its owners, with the total number of abandoned dot-brand domains reaching 94.
