GoDaddy, the world’s largest registrar, has files for a patent (USPTO Application #: 20080033822). It is entitled: Systems and methods for filtering online advertisements containing third-party trademarks.
The abstract reads as follows: Systems and methods of the present invention allow for filtering online advertisements containing third-party trademarks. In an example embodiment, a webpage host may host a webpage that resolves from a domain name.
A check trademark service may parse the domain name into a keyword that an advertising generator may use to generate an advertisement relevant to the keyword. Before the advertisement is generated, however, the check trademark service may download a list of registered trademarks from a trademark database into local storage and determine whether the subject keyword is trademarked by searching the downloaded list of trademarks for the keyword. If the keyword is present, the process may end. Otherwise, the advertising service may generate an advertisement for publication on the webpage. This process may be repeated if the domain name is parsed into more than one keyword. (end of abstract)
It is unsure if GoDaddy will be awarded this patent considering the fact that it can be argued that this is not an invention but rather a desirable solution to a problem that the domain industry community is facing. Preventing domains that contain third party trademarks from being displayed on parked domains for example may be useful but is this worthy of a patent?
Source: Freshpatents.com Post – February 26th, 2008
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