Patent describes system similar to AfternicDLS and SedoMLS but at the registry level.
Minds + Machines Chairman Fred Krueger has filed a patent application (pdf) for the resale of domain names, titled “Domain Name Registration and Resale”.
Here’s part of the description:
Internet registries operate in the primary market for domain names and not in the secondary market. A registry has no record of whether a domain name is available for resale and, if so, at what price, so the secondary market for domain names is constrained by not having a central repository for this information. A system for keeping information relating to the secondary market of domain names at the registry level, accessible by all registrars as well as by users, has eluded those skilled in the art, until now.
Does that sound a lot like AfternicDLS or SedoMLS? The only difference in the patent application is that the registry is running the system rather than a third party. The query for domain availability just goes to the registry instead of also pinging a third party.
It goes a bit further than that. My reading of the application is that it’s also trying to patent a registry offering domain names at a premium price. When a registrar pings the registry for availability, the registry may respond back with a higher price for premium domain names.
The patent application is in Krueger’s name, not currently assigned to Minds + Machines. It was filed in January 2013 and published today.
Mokwo says
Patent trolling spares no industry.