Registration and use of patterns defined by expressions as domain names

Abstract

A domain name registration service permits registrants to register names that are defined by a regular expression that may include one or more wildcard values in any portion of the domain or subdomain name. A domain name server utilizes pattern matching with regular expressions, such as REGEX systems, to parse incoming domain name requests to identify text strings that conform to the domain defined by the registered regular expression. Other components assign economic value to defined patterns and prevent conflicts between registered patterns and domain names.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An apparatus, comprising:
 a domain name server, the domain name server comprising at least one CPU coupled to a memory, the memory containing instructions that cause the domain name server to:
 receive a domain name server lookup request, the request comprising a domain name; 
 compare the domain name to a repository of registered domain names; 
 if the domain name matches a registered domain name in the repository, return at least one first IP address associated with that registered domain name; 
 if the domain name does not match a registered domain name in the repository, compare at least the root domain portion of the domain name to at least one pattern matching expression associated with at least one second IP address; and 
 if at least the root domain portion of the domain name matches the at least one pattern matching expression, return the at least one second IP address associated with the pattern matching expression. 
   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the pattern matching expression limits wildcard representations to a finite number of characters. 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the finite number of characters is a relatively small number. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the pattern matching expression specially excludes certain text strings. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the pattern matching expression is a regular expression. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the IP address returned is selected at least in part based on the IP address making the request. An apparatus, comprising:
 a domain name server, the domain name server comprising at least one CPU coupled to a memory, the memory containing instructions that cause the domain name server to:
 receive a domain name server lookup request, the request comprising a domain name; 
 compare at least the root domain portion of the domain name to at least one pattern matching expression associated with at least one second IP address; 
 if at least the root domain portion of the domain name matches the at least one pattern matching expression, return the at least one second IP address associated with that pattern matching expression; 
 if at least the root domain portion of the domain name does not match the at least one pattern matching expression, compare the domain name to a repository of registered domain name; 
 if the domain name matches a registered domain name in the repository, return at least one first IP address associated with that registered domain name. 
   
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of claim  7 , wherein the pattern matching expression limits wildcard representations to a finite number of characters. 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the finite number of characters is a relatively small number. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of claim  7 , wherein the pattern matching expression specially excludes certain text strings. 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of claim  7 , wherein the pattern matching expression is a regular expression. 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of claim  7 , wherein the IP address returned is selected at least in part based on the IP address making the request. 
     
     
         13 . A method, comprising:
 receiving, by a computer, a request to register a pattern matching expression defining a set of second level root domain names in a domain name system for a wide area network;   determining, by the computer, registrability of the set of second level root domain names based on the pattern matching expression;   reporting results to a client, wherein the report includes information identifying any member of the set of second level root domain names that is already registered in the domain name system; and   preparing a modified expression by adding a term that specifically excludes at least one member of the set of second level root domain names that is already registered in the domain name system.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the pattern matching expression limits wildcard representations to a finite number of characters. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the finite number of characters is a relatively small number. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the pattern matching expression specially excludes certain text strings. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the pattern matching expression is a regular expression. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the IP address returned is selected at least in part based on the IP address making the request.