Apple Inc. appears to be starting a new trend at the company, register a domain and then launch the product! It may make sense to many but it wasn’t something that Apple had always done.
On June 6, 2011 Apple picked up about 50 domain names relating to announcements they made at WWDC.
They launched the newest version of the video editing software Final Cut Pro X and they registered the domain name AppleFinalCutProX.com the same day they announced it.
This registration IMO is pure Brand Protection but it is also smart to purchase it before making the public announcement. If they do not purchase the domain, it leaves the door open for nearly anybody to register the domain and if Apple wants it later, it is going to cost them much more $$$ than registration fees and likely legal fees as well.
The one thing that appears to have been missed by Apple is the "generic" full name of the product without the brand name. FinalCutProX.com which was registered at GoDaddy on 2/17/2011 and doesn’t appear to be owned by Apple. The generic name is the "better" domains as most people refer to the product as "Final Cut Pro X" and drop the brand name Apple.
Apple also owns the domain name FinalCutPro.com and has owned that for many years (since at least 2001) and likely closer to 1999 when the domain name was first registered.
