In order to take advantage of the Sunrise Period, trademark holders need to have their trademarks registered with the Trademark Clearinghouse.

ICANN, the International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, has approved the first wave of generic top-level domains (gTLDs) for release. The introduction of new gTLDs triggers a mandatory 30-day "Sunrise Period" to give trademark holders the opportunity to register their existing marks for any new corresponding domains. In order to take advantage of the Sunrise Period, trademark holders need to have their trademarks registered with the Trademark Clearinghouse. After the Sunrise Period ends, the gTLDs can be made available for sale to the public. However, some registrars are already allowing users to pre-register for a number of new gTLD names at no cost.

The Sunrise Periods for the following domain names are now open.

Additionally, the Sunrise Periods for the following TLDs will open up in the next two weeks.

ICANN has also approved and released the TLDs below. The Sunrise Periods for these domains are anticipated to open in early 2014.

For Further InformationFor more information about the new gTLDs and registration with the Trademark Clearinghouse, see our April 3, 2013 Alert, "New gTLD Trademark Clearinghouse Launches in Anticipation of New Era of Top-Level Web Domains."If you have any questions about this Alert or if you would like more information regarding proactively protecting marks on the new gTLD system, please contact Michelle Hon Donovan, Laurie H. van Löben Sels, any member of the Intellectual Property Practice Group, any member of the Trademarks, Copyrights, Trade Secrets and Unfair Competition Practice Group or the attorney in the firm with whom you are regularly in contact.

Disclaimer: This Alert has been prepared and published for informational purposes only and is not offered, nor should be construed, as legal advice. For more information, please see the firm's full disclaimer.