Tokyo-based Canon, a manufacturer of imaging and optical products including large-format printers, announces that the company’s global website is now employing a URL that departs from the traditional location-specificwww.canon.com. Its new site uses the new “global.canon” propriety domain name, which it acquired in February 2015.

A top-level domain (TLD) is the string of characters immediately following the final dot at the end of an Internet address or email address, such as “.com” or “.net.” The introduction of new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) followed the approval in 2008 by ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), the non-profit organization that maintains and regulates the Internet’s addressing system. Canon first began efforts aimed at acquiring the TLD “.canon” in March 2010 and completed the process five years later.

Because “.canon” can only be used by Canon Group companies and services, visitors to sites that use the new TLD can easily confirm their authenticity and be assured that the information they contain is reliable. Additionally, by leveraging the simplicity of the TLD, which is easy to remember and easy to understand, Canon aims to enhance the company’s global brand value.

The Canon global website is currently available in English only, but other languages will be added, including Japanese by the end of the year.