As January 2025 draws to a close, five new states have taken their places in the patchwork of U.S. comprehensive privacy laws. The laws of Delaware, Iowa, Nebraska, and New Hampshire took effect on New Year’s Day, with New Jersey’s law effective two weeks later.More
2025 USPTO fee increase
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is raising fees for many routine trademark filings as of January 18, 2025, and is simultaneously adopting a new filing platform and fee structure for new applications seeking registration under Sections 1 and 44 of the Lanham Act.More
New Domain Block Launch – GlobalBlock
The Brand Safety Alliance has launched GlobalBlock, a domain blocking service, providing brand owners the opportunity to block their marks from being illegitimately registered with 500+ gTLD and ccTLD domain extensions in a single transaction. For $4,700 per year, a GlobalBlock registration will cover a single exact match ‘string’ (i.e.,More
ALERT: Changes Coming to .NL Domain Registrations Starting October 1
There are changes coming to .NL domain registrations. Beginning October 1, 2023, owners of .NL domains will no longer be able to use proxy or privacy services as the nominal registrants of their domain name. This change is intended to make domain owners more easily contactable and to prevent bad actors from dishonestly registering a domain.More
ALERT: New gTLD .MUSIC Set to Launch Soon
A new domain extension, .MUSIC, is launching soon. .MUSIC is a restricted TLD (top level domain) that is exclusive to artists, music-based business, and other members of the global music community. Content on a .MUSIC website may only relate to music.
The Sunrise period,More
CLIENT ALERT: The New Google Ads Trademark Policy Goes Live July 24
By Leo Kittay and Todd Martin
Google has announced that it is changing its approach to enforcing the rights of brand owners whose trademarks are used by others within Google Ads. The new Google Ads Trademark Policy,More
Brand Owners, Beware: Chinese Trademark Law May Be Changing
By Amanda B. Agati and Robin L. Warren
Trademark hoarders, pirates and other bad faith actors can be a real pain, but the China National Intellectual Property Administration’s (“CNIPA”) attempt to put them out of business may also have negative consequences for brand owners.More
Divergent Laws Concerning “Keyword Bidding” Mean Businesses Should Proceed with Caution
The practice of bidding on and purchasing a third party’s trademark as a keyword to trigger advertisements for the bidder’s goods or services (“Keyword Bidding”) has become an increasingly common commercial practice facilitated by search platforms such as Google Ads. Notwithstanding the prevalence of Keyword Bidding,More
.au Domain Administration set to launch second-level domain availability
The .au Domain Administration is launching second-level .au domain availability. Priority allocation of these domains will go to holders of equivalent third-level domains (.com.au, .org.au, .net.au, etc.) that were registered before February 4, 2018 and remain registered. The priority allocation period ends on September 24,More
New Domain Extension for Kids “.kids” TLD Set to Launch
Beginning August 11, 2022, the new gTLD “.kids” will become available for registration, creating a dedicated space for all things kids on the internet. It is an unrestricted TLD, meaning anyone can register and use the extension as long as the site abides by the rules of the registry regarding content limitations.More