A very good day for physical to digital worlds connection companies. U.S. Patent Office Rejects All Ninety Five NeoMedia Patent Claims
Back in March of 2006 I wrote about Neomedia’s patent claims related to computer systems that rely on scanned inputs — they claimed that they owned the IP for all technologies and computer systems that perform processing based on scanning barcodes, 2D codes, words, and whatnot. Then took that one concept and applied for 12 different patents — see Same Book 8 Times, One Concept 12 Patents.
Neomedia used FUD to intimidate other companies and preclude innovation from others.
But thanks to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the U.S. Patent Office Rejected All Ninety Five NeoMedia Patent Claims (The via the Pondering Primate); from the Pondering Primate article:
NeoMedia Technologies, Inc., claimed to own rights to all systems that provide information over computer networks using database-like lookup procedures that rely on scanned inputs, such as a barcode. NeoMedia has used these claims not only to threaten and sue innovators in the mobile information space, but also to intimidate projects focused on increasing awareness among consumers about the social and environmental impact of the products they buy.
It is a very good day for physical to digital worlds connection companies…
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Were you aware that this ruling is a non-final action. Meaning that this is not a final rejection of NeoMedia’s patent.
The USPTO has set aside claims 1-95 by marking them as rejected for reasons cited in the USPTO document. This is standard procedure. NeoMedia now has 60 days to formalize their response to the USPTO and demonstrate to the USPTO why the claims in their patent are valid.
Educate yourself on how the reexam process works:
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/documents/2200_2201.htm
NeoMedia’s patent will withstand this reexamination process and be validated in the end.
Wait and see
Fair enough. Let’s wait and see…
ceo
Here is a good comparison to NeoMedia’s current patent reexamination.
PTO Issues Initial Office Action on Tessera Patent
http://www.tessera.com/news/press_releases/?releaseId=1115224
March 4, 2008 — Tessera Technologies, Inc., a leading provider of miniaturization technologies for the electronics industry, today announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) has issued an initial office action regarding Tessera’s 6,133,627 patent (”627″) in ex parte reexamination. This initial action is non-final and will be subject to a lengthy review process, including the possibility of appeal. This issued patent is presumed to be valid, intact and enforceable during the reexamination process, which on average takes 24 months to complete, not including appeals.
“An initial, non-final office action in an ex parte reexamination is not a final decision and should not be characterized as such,” said Bruce McWilliams, chairman, president and chief executive officer, Tessera. “We are one year into the process and just received the first office action on the ‘627 patent. We believe in the strength and validity of our battle-tested patents and will continue to vigorously defend them.”
It is not unusual for the PTO to preliminarily reject claims during the reexamination process. Tessera has the right to argue, and will continue to argue, the merits of its position.
Tessera Addresses Mischaracterizations of Patent Validity and Legal Process
http://www.tessera.com/news/press_releases/?releaseId=1115927
“Nothing issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) in these reexaminations has overturned our patents. We believe the market may have misunderstood the PTO’s terminology, and we are taking this opportunity to clarify the process,” said Scot Griffin, senior vice president and general counsel, Tessera. “Claims of a patent can not be invalidated in reexamination until the process is fully complete, including all appeals.”
The PTO recently issued office actions regarding claims in five Tessera patents, and the company anticipates an initial office action for a sixth patent sometime in the coming weeks. These office actions are a usual step in the PTO reexamination process and are in no way a final determination on the validity of the patents. Even after a final determination in the PTO, Tessera would have ongoing opportunities to appeal any decision; the patents would remain in force throughout all appeals. Tessera is very familiar with the prior art to the patents under reexamination because of its previous lawsuits, which were uniformly resolved in Tessera’s favor.
NeoMedia’s Patent Review Moves to Next Phase
http://biz.yahoo.com/iw/080725/0419248.html