Uncategorized

They patented an extra dot?

by  •  • 2 Comments

So somebody explain to me how this patent suit isn’t totally insane.

U.S. Patent No. 6,671,714, issued on December 30, 2003, covers the issuance of URL’s and e-mail addresses to members of groups in the format of “member.group.tld” and “member@group.tld” such that the URL and e-mail address differ only in that in the URL the “@” of the e-mail address is replaced with a “.” in the URL.

In the complaint, Nizza Group specifically indicates that Network Solutions and Register.com are infringing the patent by selling rights to URLs and e-mail addresses under the .name domain. The .name domain is called a third-level domain, because it uses an extra dot, as in the case of john.smith.name.

Okay, let me get this straight. They patented the “extra dot”? I’m no fan of Network Solutions, but come on.

This new Nizza Group was apparently founded by Frank Weyer, (surprise: a patent attorney) for the purpose of using this patent. This is the same guy, that usurped the .MD TLD from the Republic of Moldova in a somewhat convoluted affair and now runs it as a commercial entity. (One party to this is DotMD Inc. who filed for bankruptcy in June 2000 and at present is under the supervision of the Atlanta Bankruptcy Court.)

Weyer said. “We are seeking to license the naming method, if they’re interested. And if they’re not, then the patent entitles us to an injunction.”

What a sleazeball. And boo-hiss to the USPTO for granting />
the inane patent.

2 comments for “They patented an extra dot?”

  2. Great nice site! Good job!
    handmade-handbag
    http://world.20mbweb.com/handmade-handbag/handmade-handbag.html
    [link=http://world.20mbweb.com/handmade-handbag/handmade-handbag.html]handmade-handbag[/link]
    [url=http://world.20mbweb.com/handmade-handbag/handmade-handbag.html]handmade-handbag[/url]

Comments are closed.