In spite of last-minute pressure from the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Federal Trade Commission about the program’s inadequate protections for trademark owners, consumers and law enforcement agencies, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (“ICANN”) opened the application period for new generic top-level domain names (“gTLDs”) on January 12, 2012. The public can now apply to register new domain spaces (like .COM or .NET) for almost any term, such as .BANK, .ENERGY, .TECH or .YOURBRAND. It is being predicted that there is declared interest in at least 100 new gTLDs and expectations of between 300 and 1000 new gTLD applications.

More details about the application process are included in our earlier update. Please note that there are two important deadlines for applicants. First, applicants need to register for the online application system (and provide a registration fee of $5,000) by March 29, 2012. Second, full applications (with a filing fee of $180,000) must be submitted by April 12, 2012. Applications require a lot of information, and will take considerable time to prepare. If you are going to apply, start now – if you wait until the last minute, you may not be able to finish.