I have to agree that going paperless makes a lot of sense for Uniform Domain Resolution Policy proceedings. Everyone is already filing electronically. Eliminating the paper filing would remove much of the hassle in putting these proceedings in play in responding to them as well.
While an initial
trademark registration is not an adversarial process, all the trademark trial and appeal board proceedings are adversarial. Everything at the TTAB and
trademark registration process allow for electronic filing.
I do not think that designating an attorney at the outset of registration makes much sense. Most domain name owners aren't thinking that they are going to need one in the first instance. To me, it would be a red flag that someone is
cybersquatting.