Despite the Internet community's concern that trademark holders get preferential treatment in domain name disputes, Dickinson says, "The open source community is trying to hold back the tide . . . against the attempted reconciliation of 'trademarks and domain names'." Big business may be rewriting the Internet's rules, but there's adaptation, too. Some 10,000 companies, he says, have pending registrations for "trademarks that include '.com.' Not as a domain name, but as a registered trademark." Which is one way around the problem of who gets the domain name when companies have similar trademarks, such as Delta Air Lines and Delta Faucet. And what about the controversy over protecting business methods like Amazon.com's one-click patent? The commissioner has some advice for startups. "I would pay a lot of attention now to the use of the patent system for Internet methods and business practices," he says. "If you invested substantial resources in developing your Internet products, 'and' if they meet the standards for patentability . . . that is probably your best way to protect that investment. You also need to be very aware of the system so you don't infringe on others. As technology expands into new areas as it is on the Internet, the patent system will almost always follow because that is the way to protect that innovation."