Strategies for Domain Name Registration and Brand Protection

A live 90-minute CLE webinar/teleconference with interactive Q&A
Sponsored by the Legal Publishing Group of Strafford Publications
Wednesday, February 24, 2010 ~ 1:00pm-2:30pm EST
Price: $297

Please note: You will be taken to the Strafford website to complete your order.

This CLE seminar will discuss the new generic top level domains, review the impact of this change for brand owners, and provide best practices for registering and protecting brands in this new Internet space.

Description

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is expanding generic top-level domains (gTLDs) in an effort to reduce trademark infringement by giving brand owners more control over their own domains. However, trademark owners have concerns that fraud will increase.

From the current 21 gTLDS available, ICANN’s new gTLDs program will establish a process by which anyone can register for domain names. Applicants face significant hurdles and must determine whether registration is worth the steep $185,000 initial application or evaluation fee and operational costs.

Trademark and brand owners must carefully consider the best methods to protect their marks and evaluate whether to register domain names and/or pursue disputes of others’ applications that have the potential to infringe.

Listen as our authoritative panel of intellectual property attorneys outlines ICANN’s new gTLDs process, the potential impact on trademark rights, and strategies for registration and enforcement of trademark rights.

Outline

• ICANN’s new gTLDs process
  • Technical criteria in ICANN’s draft application guidance (DAG)
  • Timing considerations
  • Expressions of interest program
  • Mechanisms to dispute application
• Impact on trademark rights
  • Implementation recommendation team (TM, domain name experts)
  • Trademark clearinghouse and the Special Trademark Issues review team
  • Uniform Rapid Suspension System
• Mitigation of potential malicious conduct
• Registration and enforcement strategies
  • Selective application
  • Understanding open application period
  • Monitoring published list of applicants
  • Objections and procedures to register them

Benefits

The panel will review these and other key questions:

• What are the key considerations for companies and counsel when deciding whether to register a new domain name?
• What steps can companies and counsel take to mitigate potentially infringing or even malicious domain registrations?
• What strategies must companies and counsel employ to protect and enforce their marks?

Following the speaker presentations, you’ll have an opportunity to get answers to your specific questions during the interactive Q&A.

Faculty

Kristina Rosette, Special Counsel
Covington & Burling, Washington, D.C.
She has extensive expertise in domain name matters. She is the Intellectual Property Constituency (IPC) (North America) representative to the ICANN Generic Names Supporting Organization Council, which develops and recommends to the ICANN Board of Directors the substantive policies relating to the domain name system, including such matters as generic top level domains (gTLDs) and Whois.

Paul D. McGrady, Jr., Partner
Greenberg Traurig, Chicago
He focuses on the intersection of information technology and intellectual property with an emphasis on domain name matters. He is a veteran of nearly 300 proceedings under the UDRP and related ICANN policies and is a member of the Intellectual Property Constituency and was as a member of ICANN’s Special Trademark Issues team charged with reaching consensus on brand protection under the new gTLDs.

J. Scott Evans, Senior Legal Director Global Brand and Trademark
Yahoo! Inc., Sunnyvale, Calif.

Register Today!
Price covers an unlimited number of staff at your office location. Can’t participate in the live seminar? A CD of the full event proceedings, including Q&A and PDF files of all handouts, will be available 10 days after the seminar.

Continuing Legal Education
Continuing Legal Education credits are granted for an additional $65 per person. Please refer to the options on the order page to take advantage of these credits.

Please note: You will be taken to the
Strafford website to complete your order.