Overview

On 7 September 2011 .XXX, a new Sponsored Top Level Domain (sTLD) for the adult entertainment industry will become operational. Owners of registered trademarks can prevent their trade mark from being registered by a third party as a .XXX domain name by opting out.

The recently announced registration procedure for .XXX domain names consists of a 'sunrise' period for registered trademark owners, followed by a 'landrush' period for members of the Sponsored Community and finally a general availability period, where the requests are handled on a first come first served basis.

However, a new registration procedure for the .XXX sTLD allows registered trademark owners to submit a reservation request of their .XXX domain name, which effectively blocks or 'reserves' the domain name.

This briefing from Allen & Overy provides full details on this blocking procedure as well as alternative methods to prevent companies' trademarks from being registered by a third party as a .XXX domain name.