IP Alerts

October 21, 2011

UPDATE: As reported in early August here, Friday, October 28, 2011, will be the last day for owners of registered trademarks to apply to block their trademark from becoming a domain name on the .xxx domain registry. To be effective, the trademark registration must be of national or regional effect and must have been granted before September 1, 2011. The blocking application and application fee must be filed with a participating registrar.

If they are unable to file a blocking application by October 28, trademark owners may still block others from obtaining a corresponding .xxx domain name by obtaining the .xxx name themselves and by arranging for the domain not to point (or "resolve") to any website. This procedure will be available during the “General Availability” period, which begins on December 6, 2011. During the General Availability period, domain names will be given on a first-come, first-served basis without the need to demonstrate trademark ownership.

Trademark owners who find that a trademark is being used in bad faith may proceed under the existing Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy, which will continue to apply in the .xxx domain space. In addition, a new procedure unique to the .xxx registry known as the Rapid Evaluation Service (RES) will also be implemented. However, the details for this service have yet to be fully released.

For more details on the .xxx registry, please contact Fitch Even attorney Selena M. Spritz, the author of this alert, or Fitch Even partner Joseph T. Nabor.