November 15, 2006
EFF Patent Busting
EFF has a call out for prior art to help bust two broad patents:
The Patent Busting Project fights back against bogus patents by filing requests for reexamination against the worst offenders. We've successfully pushed the Patent and Trademark Office to reexamine patents held by Clear Channel and Test.com, and now we need your help to bust a few more.
A company called NeoMedia has a patent on reading an 'index' (e.g, a bar code) off a product, matching it with information in a database, and then connecting to a remote computer (e.g., a website). In other words, NeoMedia claims to have invented the basic concept of any technology that could, say, scan a product on a supermarket shelf and then connect you to a price-comparison website. To bust this overly broad patent, we need to find prior art that describes a product made before 1995 that might be something like a UPC scanner, but which also connects the user to a remote computer or database. Take a look at the description and please forward it to anyone you know who might have special knowledge in this area. You can submit your tips here.
Also in our sights is a patent on personalized subdomains from Ideaflood. For example, a student named Alice might have personalized URL 'http://alice.university.edu/' that redirects to a personal directory at 'http://www.university.edu/~alice/.' Ideaflood says that it has a patent on a key mechanism that makes this possible. We need prior art that describes such a method being used before 1999, specifically using DNS wildcards, html frames, and virtual hosting. Prior art systems might have existed in foreign ISPs, universities, or other ISPs with web-hosting services. You can submit tips here."
I'll betcha there's prior art in the augmented reality field that reads on the first patent, either from Steve Feiner's group at Columbia or maybe even the stuff we were playing with at the Media Lab. (I'll go rooting around once I meet a different deadline I'm spending my evenings on...)
Posted by bug to Intellectual Property at November 15, 2006 5:51 PM | TrackBackAs a lawyer, the EFF has absolutely no case against NeoMedia.
There are patents in existence that do describe scanning and reading UPC labels. However, they are in reference to closed systems or simply in reference to hand held barcode scanning equipment.
That seems to be the case here. These previous patents do not seem to reference using UPC codes in an open system, ala NeoMedia’s patent, to connect directly to the Internet. That is the key difference between NeoMedia’s patent and the prior art provided by the EFF.
In the AirClic vs NeoMedia case, it was deemed that AirClic was connecting barcodes internally in a closed system and was not violating NeoMedia’s patents, which cover the process in an open ‘direct connect to the Internet’ system. Hence, the court already decided and acknowledged that there are two different kinds of patented processes here. Open vs Closed systems.
AirClic did not receive a license to use NeoMedia’s patented technology, and the two companies agreed that AirClic’s current business model - mobile enterprise solutions - is not in NeoMedia’s space because AirClic used a closed system.
The fact of the matter is, the EFF has ulterior motives. I have never seen a respectable lawyer use the word “bogus” in a press release. That type of language is libelous. The EFF’s whole agenda is inflammatory and attempts to distort their true motives.
Truth be told, they have intentionally left out Virgin Entertainment consistently since 2004 - because it is clear a multi-billion dollar company (that ended up settling and licensing with NeoMedia) doesn’t fit the story they are fabricating about NeoMedia going after only small companies.
The prior patents submitted by the EFF have no true commonality with NeoMedia’s patents.
AJ
Posted by: AJ at April 26, 2007 1:50 AMOn July 6, 2007 vindication was rightfully awarded to NeoMedia, as the United States Patent and Trademark Office justifiably denied the EFF’s patent reexamination request, further strengthening and re-confirming the validity of NeoMedia Technologies’ patents.
http://streetstylz.blogspot.com/2007/07/eff-denied-for-patent-reexamination.html
EFF denied request for the reexamination of NeoMedia's patents.
http://i17.tinypic.com/4uad641.jpg
http://streetstylz.blogspot.com/2007/07/eff-denied-for-patent-reexamination.html