Certified offer service for domain names

Abstract

A method for purchasing a domain name registration. A user conducts a search to determine if a domain name is available. If it is already registered, the user can make an anonymous offer through a third party to the present registrant to purchase the domain name registration. The offer is certified by the third party by verifying that a financial instrument provided by the user has available funds that are at least sufficient to pay the offer amount for the domain name.

1 . A computer-implemented method comprising:
 receiving, from a user, an offer message indicating an offer amount for a domain name registered to a registrant different from the user;   certifying that the user has access to funds that are at least sufficient to pay the offer amount; and   responsive to the offer amount being successfully certified, sending to the registrant an offer to purchase the domain name registration from the registrant.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the offer to purchase the domain name registration is sent to the registrant without revealing the identity of the user to the registrant. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving an acceptance of the offer from the registrant;   debiting a financial instrument of the user; and   arranging for the transfer of the domain name from the registrant to the user.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 . further comprising:
 receiving a search request for a desired domain name;   identifying the domain name as a result of a search for the desired domain name;   providing a search result that indicates the domain name is a result for the search, and that the domain name is registered.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising locking the registration of the domain name after receiving a message from the registrant indicating that the registrant has accepted the offer or after receiving a message from the user indicating that the user has accepted the counteroffer. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the registrant is given a period of time within which to respond to the offer to purchase the domain name registration, after which the offer expires. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving from the registrant a counteroffer to sell the domain name registration, wherein the counteroffer includes a counteroffer amount: and   sending to the user an indication of the counteroffer, including the counteroffer amount.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 receiving from the user an acceptance of the counteroffer; and   sending an indication of the acceptance of the counteroffer to the registrant.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 debiting a financial instrument of the user; and   arranging for the transfer of the domain name from the registrant to the user.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further including receiving registration information from the user, wherein the registration information is used to register the domain name to the user. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the offer sent to the registrant indicates that the offer is certified for the offer amount. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 providing, by the computer system, an appraisal estimating a value of the domain name.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the appraisal estimate is based on at least one selected from the group consisting of: a length of the domain name; a top level domain included in the domain name; an amount of traffic using the domain name; a relevance of at least one word in the domain name; and a determination of whether the domain name corresponds to an existing web site. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein certifying that the user has access to funds that are at least sufficient to pay the offer amount includes pre authorizing a credit card of the user for at least the amount of the offer. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein certifying that the user has access to funds that are at least sufficient to pay the offer amount includes checking the balance of an account of the user at a bank based upon a debit instrument of the user, wherein the debit instrument is issued by the bank. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein certifying that the user has access to funds that are at least sufficient to pay the offer amount includes checking the balance of a deposit account maintained by the user.