ICANN's Domains Under Attack

In the wake of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers’ (ICANN) failure earlier this year to dismiss anti-trust allegations arising from the new generic top level domain (gTLD) rollout, ICANN now faces challenges to the delegation of 190 of the newly applied for gTLDs. This article examines the multiple antitrust and IP cases against ICANN, including two lawsuits recently filed in California by unsuccessful prior-round TLD applicants, which are just a few of the many minefields ICANN will be forced to navigate before the current gTLD rollout is accomplished.

This article was first published in the December 2012/January 2013 issue of Intellectual Property Magazine. Permission for article reprint has been granted.

Douglas N. Masters is a partner in Loeb & Loeb LLP's Chicago office, where he litigates and counsels clients primarily in the areas of intellectual property, advertising and unfair competition. He is deputy chair of the firm's Advanced Media and Technology Department and co-chair of the firm's Intellectual Property Protection Group.

Melanie Howard, senior counsel with Loeb & Loeb in the firm’s Los Angeles office, focuses her practice on intellectual property law, including litigation, counseling and transactional matters in the areas of advertising, technology, new media and entertainment. She is a member of Loeb’s gTLD Development and Response Team.