The Clock is Ticking on .XXX Domain Names
Sunrise B Option Expires on 10/28/11
By: Maria
Crimi Speth
If you are like most
business owners, the only part of the title of this article that
caught your attention was XXX. But, if you own a trademark,
especially one that is well-known, you should be more interested in
knowing about the deadline that is looming.
This year, those in
the adult entertainment industry will be able to secure website
addresses that end in .XXX. Some people are predicting this
will be the most popular domain name suffix since .com. While
the .XXX suffix is only for use in the adult entertainment
industry, it potentially has a significant impact on other brand
owners.
The adult
entertainment industry is notorious for choosing web addresses that
capitalize on the web traffic of others. Porn sites often
utilize domain names that are common misspellings of popular
websites so that users who are looking for a product or service
accidently end up on the adult site. I once had a
client who was a well-known motivational speaker. His website
address was his last name. Unfortunately, his last name could
easily be spelled two different ways. He owned
hislastname.com but an adult website purchased
hislastnames.com. When he appeared at speaking engagements
and members of his audience typed his name into the address bar of
their web browser, they sometimes misspelled it and ended up at the
porn site. Needless to say, this was not good for his
business.
The biggest concern
with the .XXX domain names is that an adult entertainment website
could purchase your trademark or brand name as its .XXX domain
name. For example, Merry Maids is a popular cleaning service
and well-know brand. An adult entertainment company could
purchase merrymaids.xxx as its domain name.
Fortunately, until
October 28, 2011, there is a mechanism to block this from
happening. If you have a well-known brand or a brand that
might be abused by someone in the adult industry, you should
consider taking advantage of what is known as the Sunrise B block
for trademark holders. For a filing fee of approximately $200
plus any professional fees, you can submit proof of your registered
trademark to the domain registry which will prevent the use of that
trademark as an .XXX domain name.
This process is only
available until October 28, 2011, so you will need
to act right away to protect your trademark. If you need
assistance with this process or any trademark or internet issues,
Jaburg &Wilk, P.C. can help.
About the author: Maria
Crimi Speth is a partner at the Arizona law firm of Jaburg|Wilk. She is the
department head of the
intellectual property group and has expertise in copyright law,
trademark, trade name, Internet law and intellectual property
litigation. Maria is the author of the book of
Protect Your Writings: A Legal Guide for
Authors. She can be reached at 602.248.1000
or mcs@jaburgwilk.com.
This article is not intended to provide legal
advice. This article only covers United States Law.
Always consult an attorney for legal advice for your particular
situation.
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