Trademark professionals have been racing to keep up with the complex legal issues raised by the Internet for about two decades now, and still the landscape continues to evolve at a lightning-fast pace. One of the most significant developments to arise so far has been the decision by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to vastly expand the domain name system (DNS) by allowing the public to apply for new generic top-level domains (new gTLDS). The program was officially launched in October 2013, when the first four new gTLDs were delegated; as of August 8, 2014, there have been 355 new gTLDs delegated, and hundreds more are right behind them.

The New gTLD Program inspired the trademark community to begin participating actively in the ICANN multistakeholder process, and INTA has been at the forefront of these activities. Now, the Association will host an advanced-level conference on September 18–19 in San Francisco, titled “Internet, Innovation and ICANN: The Evolving Landscape of the Net”, to dig deeper into the ICANN process and other issues concerning the ever-changing online environment. These include 3-D printing, wearable technology, immersive advertising, personal connectivity, near field and real time communications and more.

In an interview with ICANN Senior Policy Director Mary Wong, who will be moderating a session on recent developments in ICANN’s WHOIS database at the conference, INTA poses some key questions for its members about what the future holds for trademark owners in ICANN’s greatly expanded DNS.