Manwin Moves to Protect Domains, Trademarks

LUXEMBOURG—Manwin, parent company of Brazzers, has sent a letter to ICM Registry demanding protection of its domain names and trademarks as the launch date for .XXX nears. In a bid to protect its intellectual property, Manwin has reached out to Stuart Lawley, chief executive officer of ICM Registry, taking a hard line. Through its counsel, Manwin has penned a letter in attempts to safeguard its domain names and trademarks for unauthorized exploitation in the .XXX TLD. Manwin is also concerned with the manner in which the process is being implemented, and feels in danger of having its rights violated. “From a technical and administrative standpoint, entering our trademarks and obvious similarities into some kind of a blacklist maintained by ICM Registry is a very simple process,” Fabian Thylmann, Managing Partner at Manwin, said. “The misuse of our intellectual property will not be tolerated.” In the letter, Manwin’s 57 preexisting domain names and trademarks have been clearly communicated with the organization, with Manwin being clear in its request that the ICM take steps to block any attempts to register any of them, or any similar misleading names. Alternately, the company requested that ICM register each of its domain names, without any registration, processing or administrative fee or charge. Manwin, which recently acquired Twistys and YouPorn, believe that “the registration of its domain names without its consent will constitute a violation” of the company’s rights.