Who runs the .ua zone and which rules apply
The administrator of the .UA zone is Hostmaster LLC (listed in IANA as Hostmaster Ltd.). The rules currently in force are the Public Domain Regulation 3.5 and the Regulation on the Specifics of Registering Private Second-Level Domain Names in .UA 1.0. Versions 3.6 and 1.1, dated 1 December 2026, are published but not yet in force.
The zone's WHOIS runs at whois.ua and its RDAP at rdap.hostmaster.ua. The registrant's personal data is not published: for full information, ask the registrar. You can check a domain with two commands:
echo hostmaster.ua | nc whois.ua 43
curl -s https://rdap.hostmaster.ua/domain/hostmaster.uaTwo modes: directly in .ua and in the public zones
There are two modes, and their rules differ. A name directly in .UA (name.ua) is delegated only to the owner of a trademark, under the .UA Regulation, clause 3.3. In the public second-level zones — com.ua, in.ua, net.ua, org.ua — the Public Domain Regulation applies, and a trademark requirement is not written into it.
The Public Domain Regulation contains no literal sentence saying "a trademark is not needed": this is our conclusion from the fact that the requirement is written only into the .UA Regulation. We did not read the regional regulations, for example the one for kyiv.ua, so open the right one on hostmaster.ua before registering. Choosing a zone is covered in the article choosing a domain zone.
The trademark requirement: what clause 3.3 says
A second-level name directly in .UA is delegated in only one case: if the name, or its part before the dot, matches in spelling a mark for goods and services whose rights in Ukraine belong to the registrant (clause 3.3 of the .UA Regulation). No mark, no name in this zone.
An important detail: the regulation speaks of a word mark or of the word part of a mark. A purely graphic logo without words will not do; this is not a separate sentence of the regulation but a consequence of its definition of a mark. If the mark is a combined one, the name is compared with its word part.
Technical rules for the name (clause 3.2): from 1 to 63 characters, Latin letters, digits and hyphen, starting and ending with a letter or digit, no hyphens at the 3rd and 4th positions at once.
Which documents are needed
The document depends on the basis on which the registrant holds the mark: a Ukrainian certificate, an international registration under the Madrid system, or someone else's mark by transfer of rights or licence. In all three cases the documents must be certified, and the table gives the clause for each case.
| Situation | Document | Clause |
|---|---|---|
| The mark is registered in Ukraine | certified copy of the Ukrainian certificate for the mark | 3.9.2 |
| International registration under the Madrid system | certified extract from the WIPO gazette confirming protection of the mark in Ukraine | 3.9.1 |
| The registrant is not the owner of the mark | certified publication of the transfer of rights or of a licence | 3.9.3 |
An application for a mark without an issued certificate will not do. The registrant must be the owner of the mark or a licensee, so for a company's mark the domain is registered to the company: see the article registering a domain to a legal entity.
The application: how it is checked and how long it takes
An application for a name directly in .UA is checked manually by a registry employee, and under the regulation the processing time of an application may not exceed 14 days. The check follows four questions. If you prepare the application yourself, go through them in advance: you will see the discrepancies before the registry does.
- Whether the rights to the mark are protected in Ukraine.
- Whether the mark matches the name: transliteration, special characters, Roman numerals.
- Whether the registrant contact matches the owner of the rights to the mark.
- Whether the protection term of the mark has expired.
The general procedure for registering a domain is described in the article how to register a domain.
An expired mark does not block renewal
This is the non-obvious rule: the protection term of a mark does not block renewal of the domain. If the protection of the mark has expired, the registry only sends the registrar a message about the need to renew the rights to the mark, while the registration term of the domain is extended (clause 4.6 of the .UA Regulation). The wording in translation: "Regardless of the term of the rights to the Mark, the registration term of the domain name is extended".
Restoration works the same way: when a domain is restored, the protection term of the mark is checked, and if it has ended the registrar receives a message, but the domain is restored.
The domain lifecycle and what it does not guarantee
In the registry a domain goes through these stages: registration for up to 10 years (1 year by default), after the term ends 30 days of auto-renewal without disconnection, on deletion 30 days of redemption and 5 days before final removal. The source is the Public Domain Regulation, clauses 7.3.1, 7.3.2 and 7.3.8.
| Stage | What happens | Term |
|---|---|---|
| Registration (clause 7.3.1) | if no term is given, the domain is registered for one year; the limit is 10 years | 1 year by default |
| End of the term (clause 7.3.8) | the domain stays in DNS (status autoRenewGracePeriod); the registrar may delete it, otherwise the term is extended | 30 days |
| Deletion: redemptionPeriod (clause 7.3.2) | the domain is removed from DNS; only the registrar that deleted it can restore it | 30 days |
| Deletion: pendingDelete (clause 7.3.2) | it cannot be restored, then the domain is removed for good | 5 days |
A boundary that is easy to miss: the regulation describes the relations between the registry and the registrar, not yours with the registrar. How many days after non-payment a particular registrar will switch your site off is for that registrar to decide; there is no general rule, so the 30 days of auto-renewal are not your guarantee. Check the terms in your registrar contract.
Transferring a domain between registrars
A transfer has two stages: the owner obtains the domain object password from the current registrar, and the new registrar sends the registry a request with that password. Within 5 days the current registrar may agree, forbid the transfer or do nothing; if it stays passive, the domain is transferred automatically (clause 7.3.4).
- Make sure the domain has no transfer-prohibiting statuses, for example clientTransferProhibited: they block the transfer.
- Get the domain object password from the current registrar.
- Give the password to the new registrar: it will send the request to the registry.
- Wait for the current registrar's answer or for 5 days to pass.
At the same time the registration term is extended by a year within the 10-year limit. The registrant contact is copied, the links to the administrative and technical contacts are reset, and the hosts move to the new registrar, so check the contacts after the transfer. The procedure is in the article how to transfer a domain.
Frequently asked questions
Can I register name.ua without a trademark?
No. Under clause 3.3 a name directly in .UA is delegated only if it matches a mark whose rights in Ukraine belong to the registrant. Without a mark, choose a public zone such as com.ua: as far as we could check, no mark is required there.
Will a logo do instead of a word mark?
A purely graphic logo will not do: the regulation speaks of a word mark or of the word part of a mark.
What happens if I do not renew the domain on time?
In the registry the domain is not switched off at once but gets 30 days of auto-renewal, yet the registrar switches the site off for non-payment, and its term may be shorter.
What should ZevsHost customers do?
Domains are registered and renewed in the billing system. A name directly in .ua needs documents for the mark (clause 3.9): contact support about them before ordering. For public zones such as com.ua no mark is required.