September 1 deadline to obtain registration to prevent .XXX domain name registrations of your trademark
August 18, 2011
The latest top level domain name to be released will be .xxx (like .com or .net) which is intended to be used by adult industry and adult community businesses. Among the purposes is to bring this content together which will be easier for filtering.
As part of the domain name registration process, the company offering .xxx will have a Sunrise Period (“Sunrise B”) which permits owners of trademark registrations (having issued by Sept. 1) to block others from obtaining domain names with those registrations. If successfully blocked, the site cannot be registered or used by anyone for ten years and will instead post a simple statement that the page is reserved. Unfortunately, this is not inexpensive probably due to the expected popularity for .xxx domain names and, in my view, ISPs taking advantage of non-adult companies seeking to block their brands. Current pricing for Sunrise B filings is as high as $500 per domain name.
Even if you do not block your trademark during the Sunrise period, you will have opportunities later to object to registration of domain names. We expect, however, that those costs will be substantially higher. Whether or not to block any of your trademarks is a decision based on the popularity of that mark (including the likelihood that someone would want to adopt it for adult content) balanced with the cost to block. For example, I do not see our firm filing to block wolfgreenfield.xxx since we do not believe it is likely to be taken when registration is opened for all later this year.
Finally, if you do not have a registration but want to obtain a right to block during the Sunrise Period, we suggest filing a trademark application in a jurisdiction like Benelux where registration may occur within 3 days. That registration can then be used to block .xxx. We expect that this may be an important strategy for companies, celebrities, and public figures. The deadline to obtain the trademark registration is September 1 so very little time remains.
Further Information
Please contact your Wolf Greenfield trademark attorney if you have any questions.
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