Some Legal Rules of the Road for Non-brand gTLDs: Competition and Community

As the application window for the New gTLD Program draws nearer, many companies are considering applying for generic TLDs based on the common name of an industry, product, or service rather than a proprietary brand.  Such gTLDs may offer the promise of significant competitive advantages in the online marketplace.  But they also pose legal and strategic questions that don’t arise for brand TLDs.

Our knowledgeable panel will provide practical answers to some of these questions for companies or groups considering such gTLDs. We will bring together lawyers with combined experience in ICANN’s gTLD program and U.S. and European competition law, and address issues that have been raised by our clients and others as they have begun to dig deeper into planning for the new regime.