Is the Dawn Donut Rule Still Viable in the Internet Age?

The explosive growth of Internet use over the past ten years has had a profound effect upon the territorial reach and limits of trademark rights. It used to take a company months—if not years—to put in place the mechanisms to advertise or sell products or services outside its immediate geographic region. Now, through the Internet, these tasks can sometimes be accomplished in a matter of hours. In the United States, the statistics concerning Internet use are staggering: according to Internet World Stats, as of March 31, 2011, there were approximately 245 million U.S. Internet users, comprising nearly 78.2 percent of the population and representing a growth of 156.9 percent since 2000.