Domain Name Stockpiling patent — Verisign gets

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has granted patent number 9,075,886 (pdf) to Verisign for “Systems and methods for detecting the stockpiling of domain names.”

We’ll call it domaindar for short.

The patent explains ways that a registry can determine what a domain name registrar is doing with domain names following they expire. Are they deleting them or keeping them for themselves (i.e., stockpiling.)?

To discover what registrars are doing with the domains, Verisign proposes checking site information ahead of and following the expiration. For example, it might look for nameserver changes.

Why would a registry care regarding this? The patent explains:

Entities that sell domain names need to understand how a domain name is used, thereby providing an indication of how a user of a domain name may value the domain name. Accordingly, there is a need to know the status of domain names to determine if a domain name is active or expired, and, if a domain name is expired, if the expired domain name is parked and stockpiled by a registrar. To address these needs, systems and methods are needed to detect the stockpiling of domain names.

Versign has plans to monetize its patent portfolio, but has been quiet on its strategy in recent quarters.