Quote:
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Originally Posted by psili
Bumping this quote, because it sounds more "correct" than other assumptions in this thread.
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I have an expanded version of my opinon on this patent on my website, copy/pasted here for the link challenged :
23-Feb-06: Another Acacia wannabe
A patent entitled " Methods, systems, and processes for the design and creation of rich-media applications via the internet " was granted on Feb 14, 2006 (filed in Feb 2001).
From an
Information Week article covering this story:
The patent--issued on Valentine's Day--covers all rich-media technology implementations, including Flash, Flex, Java, Ajax, and XAML, when the rich-media application is accessed on any device over the Internet, including desktops, mobile devices, set-top boxes, and video game consoles, says inventor Neil Balthaser, CEO of Balthaser Online, which he owns with his father Ken. "You can consider it a pioneering or umbrella patent. The broader claim is one that basically says that if you got a rich Internet application, it is covered by this patent."
Oh really?
The Patent is #7,00,180 with the patent
here.
"Neil Balthaser, a former VP of strategy for Macromedia, the developer of the Flash rich-media development environment and player, now owned by Adobe, says he will most likely sell the patent rather than enforce it himself. He says he's discussing the sale of the patent to "top-tier players. I don't want to name them but they're fairly obvious, the guys who are investing a lot of money in this rich Internet applications field. They got a lot invested, or they're going to be investing a lot. Anyone of those companies would definitely benefit by controlling a patent like this, both defensively and potentially offensively, and the ability to sublicense it, and make some return on their investment."
In reading the actual patent, rather than the wide-eyed, hopeful interpretations by the inventor and their patent attorney, my conclusions:
This patent is for the creation of "rich media" application via a website.
In my readings, this patent will only affect those that have some kind of web-based application that allows a person to assemble various pieces (ie. music, video, text) etc to make an interactive web interface.
Most designers build their "rich media" stuff on their computer and upload it to the server. the "novelty" of this patent is that you can do it via the website.
myspace.com may be considered to be under this patent since they are homepage tools to allow people to add elements to their myspace page.
If you were to believe the quotes attributed to Mr. Balthaser, you might think he invented "rich media" website. His experience at Macromedia probably led him to the idea that as he saw web designers create these "rich media" websites on their desktop, that it might be novel and interesting to have that abilty to be done via a website.
An investigation for prior art into areas like online e-greeting cards that allowed for "rich media" creation of a card by adding music, text, etc.. could be an area to explore.
While this patent is broadly written, it's not as crazy as Acacia's belief that Yurt and Brown invented the process of downloading audio/video from a website.
I think Acacia should acquire this patent and continue on with the delusions of the inventor.
Most websites use web designers who create the "rich media" websites on their own computers, so this patent covers a small universe of potential infringers, assuming that no prior out can be found.
If this were a broad patent that covered all websites, alot of us amateur prior art searchers would be digging for prior art, but as I see it now.. *yawn*.
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Fight the reprint!