Risks and Opportunities With New gTLDs

Patton Boggs attorneys George Borababy and Deborah Lodge discuss the risks and opportunities that come with the new gTLDs (generic top-level domains), in a Q&A interview with Tamlin H. Bason of Bloomberg BNA. At the outset, the number of internet domain registries, not counting national domains, will rise from approximately 22 to around a 1000, making a “defensive” squatting strategy more difficult. But numerous rights protection mechanisms are in place, starting with a $185,000 filing fee, and including a Trademark Clearing House to address potential abuses in Second Level Domain names.