By Ryan Davis

Law360, New York (January 10, 2012, 4:42 PM ET) -- The international body overseeing Internet addresses will begin taking applications Thursday for its planned expansion of available domain names, amid significant concerns raised by brand owners and U.S. government agencies about the trademark and consumer protection implications of the move.

The plan by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers will allow for an unlimited number of new generic top-level domains, which currently include ".com" and ".gov." ICANN has estimated that the expansion could generate hundreds of new domains, from ".restaurant" and ".shoe" to ".mcdonalds"...