Patent Alert: Watch Out For This Company
 

Tumbleweed Communications just successfully nailed eBay for patent infringement claiming they invented the process of sending people e-mails that have personalized links in the e-mails.


Here's the story:

Ebay Settles Patent Lawsuit With Tumbleweed Communications

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Online auction giant eBay Inc. has settled a lawsuit alleging its online payment service had been violating a patent governing the personalized e-mail links sent to customers.
The settlement includes a cross-licensing agreement between San Jose-based eBay and Redwood City-based Tumbleweed Communications Corp., which filed the suit against PayPal in May 2002. Tumbleweed later expanded the suit to include eBay after the auction service acquired PayPal for $1.5 billion. EBay has repeatedly denied Tumbleweed's allegations.

Neither eBay nor Tumbleweed disclosed the financial terms of their licensing agreement. Tumbleweed had alleged PayPal violated its patents for sending personalized links through e-mail. PayPal uses the links to alert customers about a financial transaction.

Tumbleweed, a tiny software company with less than $50 million in annual revenue, previously has used the same patent claim to obtain licensing agreements with several other companies, including Hallmark and American Greetings.

"We are pleased to put our differences behind us," said Jeff Smith, Tumbleweed's chief executive officer.

Ebay said it plans to work with Tumbleweed on ways to improve e-mail security.

Tumbleweed's shares gained 49 cents Monday to close at $8.45 on the Nasdaq Stock Market, where eBay's shares rose $1.62 to close at $64.62.

stock buying time?

ugh, such bullshit

So if someone signs up for a site or a porn e-mail prog and you send them a confirmation e-mail you're violating this company's patent.

:1orglaugh Talk about a ridiculous thing to patent. Geeeez.

The Patent Office is filled with idiots?

Stupid fucking software patents. :feels-hot

How about the adult lawyer that has a patent pending for checking age verifcation to enter a website.

I think if this whole patent busniess isn't taken care of soon... the internet will become totally useless..

the internet is fast becoming a very dirty place.

and the porn isn't whats dirty.

now all the vultures come out of the woodwork looking for "protection money"

Next you will here some guy says he has the patent on how to jerk off.

or on taking a piss.

:1orglaugh

looks like we need some major reform of the patent office..

or im going to have to start patenting rediculously broad ideas

"only in USA baby, only in USA..."

Read that sentence.
Digest it.

Now, ask yourself:
Is it a)because its too early, and they WILL be invalidated, or b) this is the state of the market and there will be a lot more of this shit to deal with in the next 3 years?

I personally think its b.

they probably made more by their stock price rising $1.62 than it cost to settle

most likely, but i dont knowe if that was expected

A small company with 50 mil in revenues? That's more than Acacia's 2002 revenues, I believe. Bad news when 'personalized links sent via email' are patented. Gotta be kidding me.

- Titus

personalized links are patented??? no fucking way... this ain't gonna be Acacia II right?

:1orglaugh

Your not violating my patent are you ? Its 25 cents a tug. Payable to Smokey Bear

There is no doubt in my mind the PTO is going to get kicked in the ass very soon and reformed top to bottom.

These overbroad patents have got to go. Pretty soon it will be impossible to operate a business on the Internet without having to pay hundreds of companies in the process.

That is such horseshit. What's next...some Arab dude claiming the patent for the Arabic numeral system (the one the world currently uses)? Lawyers, start writing those briefs! LOL:BangBang:

Damn... So I wonder what stupid thing someone will try to patent next.

I just filed a patent for the technology of using text descriptions to link to a URL. You're all fucked now.

Pay up bastards!!!


This patent is even more bullshit then Acacia ever even dreamed of. At least the Acacia bullshit was...wait a minute... they both are the fucking dumbest patents I've ever heard of.

What's really crazy is that these patents are standing up but look what happened to IBM and the PC!!!!!
This world is "bass ackwards".

will be watching this stock...

What's next? A patent on sending email or instant messages? :helpme

Edit: Just got a patent on posting on message boards. 25 cents per post please pay up!

So let's just look at this for a moment and think about what it could mean to us.

Ebay/Paypal are big enough to have crushed this and I'm sure prior art must exist, unless the patent was back before email was invented.

So Tumbleweed Communications now can say they licensed Ebay, might of been for $1 but they got the name behind them.

So now Tumbleweed Communications are loooking for low hanging fruit to start selling more licenses. Any ideas where they will come next?

I said 2004 will be the year of the patents, you either get up and unite to fight this or you can strart looking in the papers for new jobs.

We have to crush Acacia and those that licensed to prove to the Patent Firms we are a tough nut to crack.

Yea no shit, this is ridiculous. 2004 will be a fucked up year in many ways for the internet. :thumbsup

When the A-holes could not make a honest buck themselves on the web, the had to resort to sueing those who could. In nature they are called parasites...