On Friday March 18 2011 ICANN approved the launch of the .xxx TLD (Top Level Domain) despite the objections of governments and pornographers.

While .xxx is aimed at members of the adult entertainment industry only, defensive registrations of trade marks are allowed.

The ICM Registry (the registry operating the .xxx TLD) will begin with a Sunrise period, which will allow trade mark owners that are not involved in the adult entertainment industry to protect their trade marks from infringements within the TLD. These defensive domain name registrations would not resolve but simply block the registration of the matching domain name.

While the launch date has not been finalized, we would advise all trade mark owners to apply for the reservation of their core trade marks as soon as possible.

The registry currently allows a free ‘Pre-Reservation’ of domain names which will be reviewed at a later stage. Applicants must simply have a domain registration of the same mark in a recognized TLD, such as a .com, co.za (South Africa) or co.uk (United Kingdom). Once approved, these reservations will be made available for registration to the applicant for a limited period. Should the applicant choose not to register the reserved domain name, it will be released to the public.

Email [email protected] for assistance in reserving your .xxx domain name.