To bring some protection from unintended exposure to pornographic websites, the international body that administers the Internet Domain Name system has approved a new domain: .xxx (dot triple-x). New to this domain will be a way to block the triple-x registration of certain domains, without actually having to acquire them, as is now the norm for other Internet domains. Thus, instead of the of a trademark owner having to actually own the “trademark.xxx” domain, the owner may simply pay a one-time fee to prevent others from registering the trademark as a triple-x site.
The registrar for triple-x expects to use a “sunrise” period in early September 2011. For 30 days, those having registered trademarks and wishing to register actual triple-x domains will be able to participate in the “Sunrise A” process. At the same time, those wishing to block triple-x registration will participate in the “Sunrise B” process. After the 30 day sunrise period, there will be a “landrush” period of 14 days for anyone to register in triple-x. Thus, for adult websites with registered trademarks that now operate in other domains, they will be able to claim the same name in triple-x, and for those who never want to have their mark associated with anything in triple-x, they may block future registrations. Miss the window, and you may have to resort to the standard domain name dispute process to reclaim your trademark rights.
To register for the block in Sunrise B, a trademark owner must have at least one national trademark registration for the exact word to be blocked. Thus, Coca Cola may block “Coke.xxx” but not “CokePorn.xxx”. Those who want to block registrations but who don’t have a registration of the trademark may want to consider a quick foreign registration, because backlogs at the United States Trademark Office extend beyond the Sunrise B period at present.
The expected fee for blocking during Sunrise B is in the range of $200-$300, but final pricing has not been announced.
For more detailed information on how to protect your trademark, contact one of the attorneys at LW&H. For information about the triple-x blocking process, you may check the site www.XXXempt.com.
— Lawrence A. Husick, Esq.