As an update to our June 2011 article regarding .XXX domains, the sunrise period is launching September 7, 2011. The sunrise period consists of Sunrise A (for members of the adult entertainment industry) and Sunrise B (for trademark owners who are not part of the adult entertainment industry and who want to protect their brands).

Sunrise B commences on September 7, 2011 and ends on October 28, 2011. To qualify for the Sunrise B period, a trademark owner must own a valid trademark registration (registered in any country) and such trademark must be an exact match. Note that a pending trademark application or a common law trademark will not qualify. Sunrise B registrations are essentially blocking registrations – to block third parties from using a trademark owner’s trademark as a .XXX domain. A successful blocking registration will have the domain resolve to a page indicating the domain is not available, or some similar informational message. The blocking registration will be in effect for ten years.

Trademark owners wanting to participate in Sunrise B may apply through select accredited registrars, a listing of which may be found through ICM Registry’s website at www.icmregistry.com/registrars. The one-time fee for the blocking registration may differ among the various registrars. There will be no annual renewal fees during the ten-year registration term.

Once the sunrise period ends, landrush will commence on November 8, 2011, followed by a general availability period on December 6, 2011.

As we indicated in our earlier article regarding .XXX domains, while there will be post-launch rights protection policies, such as an administrative domain name dispute resolution process, trademark owners concerned about third-party registration of a .XXX domain should take a proactive approach and register a .XXX blocking registration during the Sunrise B period.