Service safeguards EU trademarks in dot-eu Sunrise Period.
Press Release Summary:
To protect existing EU trademarks, dot-eu Nexus service enables trademark owners outside European Union to satisfy Nexus requirements for dot-eu domain names. Service is designed for companies that already have Community Trademark (CTM), World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) International registration, national trademark registration, or other prior rights in European Union country but do not satisfy dot-eu Nexus requirement.
Original Press Release:
EnCirca Announces Dot-eu Nexus Service for Trademark Owners
Trademark owners outside the European Union can now protect European Union trademark rights during the dot-eu Sunrise Period
CHICAGO, Sept. 19 / -- Trademark Administrators Conference -- EnCirca (http://www.encirca.com/) today announced a unique service for trademark owners to satisfy the Nexus requirements for the new dot-eu domain names. This proprietary service enables trademark owners based outside the European Union (EU) to protect their trademarks in the new dot-eu domain.
Eligibility for the dot-eu domain is restricted to users who can satisfy a physical presence (Nexus) in a member-country of the EU. This EU Nexus requirement effectively prevents thousands of trademark owners based outside the EU but with prior trademark rights in the EU from safeguarding their trademarks in the new dot-eu domain.
"The dot-eu registry is doing a lot to ensure that the rights of intellectual property owners are protected, but some EU trademark rights have been left exposed," says Tom Barrett, President of EnCirca. "With EnCirca's dot-eu Nexus service, companies owning prior trademark rights in the EU but located outside of the EU, can now protect their trademarks during the dot-eu Sunrise Period."
The dot-eu domain was approved by ICANN as the new Internet address for the Internet community in the European Union. EnCirca (http://www.encirca.com/) has been granted full accreditation to offer the new dot-eu domain names by euRid, the official registry for dot-eu domain names. The dot-eu domain is projected to be one of the most popular domain extensions with an anticipated sunrise period coming near the end of 2005.
The dot-eu Nexus requirement says that to register a dot-eu domain name you must be one of the following:
-- undertakings having their registered office, central administration or principal place of business within the European Community;
-- organizations established within the European Community without prejudice to the application of national law;
-- natural persons resident within the European Community.
EnCirca's dot-eu Nexus service is designed for those companies that already have a Community Trademark (CTM), World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) International registration, national trademark registration or other prior rights in a European Union country but do not satisfy the dot-eu Nexus requirement.
Companies need to act quickly since the dot-eu registry has ruled that all Sunrise applications must be submitted in the order in which they are received by dot-eu registrars. For more info, visit http://www.encirca.com/.
About INTA's Trademark Administrators Conference
The International Trademark Association (INTA) is a not-for-profit membership association of more than 4,600 trademark owners and professionals, from more than 180 countries, dedicated to the support and advancement of trademarks and related intellectual property as elements of fair and effective national and international commerce. INTA's Trademark Administrators Conference is the premier annual event for non-attorney trademark professionals.
About euRid
euRid is a not-for-profit organization, established in Belgium, and has been designated as the official registry by the European Commission to operate the new dot-eu top level domain. euRid was established in a partnership between the operators of the country-code top level domain registries for Belgium (.be), Italy (.it) and Sweden (.se).
About EnCirca
EnCirca (http://www.encirca.com/) is a full-service dot-eu-accredited registrar founded in 2001 focusing on trademark protection and Internet marketing for businesses worldwide. EnCirca is accepting dot-eu Sunrise applications from legal entities representing CTM, WIPO or national trademark registrations or other "prior rights" in an EU-member country. Prior rights include unregistered and common law trademarks, trade names, company names, business identifiers, distinctive titles of protected literary and artistic works. For more information, please visit http://www.encirca.com/.
