System and a method for facilitating a lease on a domain name through an online competitive bidding process
First Claim
1. A method for facilitating a lease on a domain name using a computer network through an online competitive bidding process, the method comprising:
- listing a domain name being offered for a lease;
receiving bids for a lease on the domain name through an online competitive bidding process with a designated duration, wherein the bids include at least the bid price;
ranking the received bids, wherein the ranking is based on at least the bid price; and
determining the winning bid with the highest ranking at the expiration of the designated duration of the bidding process.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and a method is provided for facilitating a lease on a domain name through an online competitive bidding process. Domain name owners can offer their domain names for a lease utilizing the present invention, and the bidders can search and bid for desired premium domain names. The winning bidder acquires the lease to the domain name which includes at least the right to use the Internet traffic to the leased domain name and direct the traffic to a web site or any other Internet resource or media location designated by the lessee. The lease to a domain name according to the present invention can include the right of the lessee such that the lease remains in effect during the term of the lease even if the ownership of the domain name is transferred to another party. For the winning bidder, the lease to the domain name affords the same benefits and advantages of owning the domain name outright for the duration of the lease term. However, the lessee needs to pay only a fraction of the price of owning the domain name outright. For the premium domain name owners, the present invention provides access to a much larger market for their valuable asset and ability to generate steady income much more efficiently. The result is a much more efficient and effective utilization of valuable domain name assets than the existing methods of buying and selling the domain name outright.
27 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A method for facilitating a lease on a domain name using a computer network through an online competitive bidding process, the method comprising:
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listing a domain name being offered for a lease;
receiving bids for a lease on the domain name through an online competitive bidding process with a designated duration, wherein the bids include at least the bid price;
ranking the received bids, wherein the ranking is based on at least the bid price; and
determining the winning bid with the highest ranking at the expiration of the designated duration of the bidding process. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A system for facilitating a lease on a domain name using a computer network through an online competitive bidding process, the system comprising:
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a computer system;
programming code on the computer system for offering a domain name for lease through an online competitive bidding process in substantially real time;
programming code on the computer system for allowing one or more bidders to enter bids for leasing the domain name and participate in the online competitive bidding process with a designated duration in substantially real time, wherein the bids include at least the bid price;
programming code on the computer system for ranking the bids, wherein the ranking is based on at least the bid price; and
programming code on the computer system for determining which bidder is the winning bidder at the expiration of the designated duration of the bidding process. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. Computer-executable process steps for facilitating a lease on a domain name using a computer network through an online competitive bidding process, the steps comprising:
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a step for listing a domain name being offered for a lease;
a step for receiving bids for a lease on the domain name through an online competitive bidding process with a designated duration, wherein the bids include at least the bid price;
a step for ranking the received bids, wherein the ranking is based on at least the bid price;
a step for determining the winning bid with the highest ranking at the expiration of the designated duration of the bidding process;
a step for securing the lease on the domain name to the bidder of the winning bid with the winning bid amount as the lease price;
a step for conveying the lease on the domain name to the bidder of the winning bid as the lessee to the domain name;
a step for activating the lease on the domain name for the lessee; and
a step for directing visitors to the leased domain name to an Internet resource location of the lessee'"'"'s choice such as a Uniform Resource Locator (URL).
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Specification