Patent describes way to validate that an entity has rights to register a reserved name.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office today granted patent 12,184,604 (pdf) to Unstoppable Domains for “Domain name registration based on verification of entities of reserved names.”
The patent covers a method of identifying domains that should be reserved from registration, and later validating approval for a person or entity to register those domains.
Unstoppable Domains currently sells blockchain-based names but plans to apply for top level domain names in the next round of ICANN expansion.
It states that its patent can apply to both blockchain-based naming conventions and real domains on the DNS.
The patent describes a way to discover names that should be reserved, such as famous names and trademarks.
It then describes a way for entities to verify that they should be able to register the reserved domain. For example, the registrant might post a key or signature to a social media account associated with the name, verify ownership of a blockchain wallet associated with the name, or use biometrics.
Unstoppable Domains applied for the patent in April 2022, and it was published last year.
Love to see Unstoppable Domains continue to protect domains for brands/trademarks/famous persons which will lead to increased adoption!