domain change and plan upgrade

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  sparkplugceo · Member · Dec 2, 2016 at 5:43 am

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  I want to keep the content on my current website sparkplugdotblog.wordpress.com .
  I want to upgrade my current website’s plan to Personal.
  I want to, with the purchase of Personal plan, obtain my desired domain: sparkplug.blog

  My desired result: sparkplug.blog with Personal plan and the contents of my current site.

  The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)

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  kokkieh · Staff · Dec 2, 2016 at 11:51 am

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  Hi there,

  Was it you who also reached out to us via Twitter earlier?

  If I search for “sparkplug” instead of “sparkplug.blog” on the domains screen it shows as available, so please try that.

  If it still won’t register the domain, it’s possible that someone else already registered it at a different domain provider, but that the domain databases haven’t updated yet.

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  sparkplugceo · Member · Dec 2, 2016 at 4:49 pm

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  Hi kokkieh. My name is Steve Park.
  Yes it is I who reached out to WordPress via Twitter in the username @Sparkplug_Co .

  I searched for sparkplug, have not yet tried searching sparkplug.blog , but when I try to confirm the final button at checkout I am greeted with the error

  I have confirmed with a godaddy employee and through google domain that sparkplug.blog is indeed available.

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  sparkplugceo · Member · Dec 2, 2016 at 5:01 pm

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  Error message upon checkout: https://twitter.com/Sparkplug_Co/status/804560161310461952

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  sparkplugceo · Member · Dec 2, 2016 at 5:06 pm

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  The godaddy employee I chatted with is Semaj.

  Google domain search result for sparkplug.blog: http://bit.ly/2gQpQ7T

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  kokkieh · Staff · Dec 4, 2016 at 8:58 am

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  Thanks for the information.

  The domain definitely appears to be available, but it’s possible that there can be a trademark claim against it. We are unable to register domains with pending trademark claims on WordPress.com.

  New domains go through a phase where trademark owners get first dibs on domains that match their trademark. Should you register a domain during this period and the trademark owner then decides they want it, you’ll lose the domain without getting any refund or other form of compensation. We don’t have the technical processes in place for this to work, and we don’t want our users to run the risk of paying for a domain only to have it taken away from them, so it’s not currently possible to register such domains with us.

  You should be able to register it with us once the trademark claims period for .blog domains end in the second half of February, provided the domain is still available then.

  Or you might also be able to register it via another registrar like get.blog or GoDaddy.com immediately, and then you can map it here to use it with your WordPress.com site. But at those registrars you will be required to accept the terms related to the trademark claim.

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  sparkplugceo · Member · Dec 5, 2016 at 6:11 am

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  I will revisit this post on Feb 15, 2016. See you then, and thank you for your detailed response kokkieh! I’m glad WordPress is looking out for me, and its users!

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  kokkieh · Staff · Dec 5, 2016 at 6:33 am

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  Thanks for understanding the situation. I hope the domain is still available once the trademark claims period is over. It looks like that should be around February 19.