Software Pioneer's Company Sues Software Companies

Posted on August 27, 2010 by Rajiv Sarathy

Interval Licensing LLC today sued AOL, Apple, eBay, Facebook, Google, Netflix, Office Depot, OfficeMax, Staples, Yahoo!, and YouTube for patent infringement.  The complaint alleges that the defendants infringe U.S. Patent Nos. 6,263,507; 6,034,652; 6,788,314; and 6,757,682.

The '507 patent is directed to a "Browser for use in navigating a body of information, with particular application to browsing information represented by audiovisual data."  Claim 1 recites:

1. A system for acquiring and reviewing a body of information, wherein the body of information includes a plurality of segments, each segment representing a defined set of information in the body of information, the system comprising:

  • means for acquiring data representing the body of information;
  • means for storing the acquired data;
  • first display means for generating a display of a first segment of the body of information from data that is part of the stored data;
  • means for comparing data representing a segment of the body of information to data representing a different segment of the body of information to determine whether, according to one or more predetermined criteria, the compared segments are related; and
  • second display means for generating a display of a portion of, or a representation of, a second segment of the body of information from data that is part of the stored data, wherein the second display means displays the portion or representation of the second segment in response to the display by the first display means of a first segment to which the second segment is related.

The '652 patent is directed to an "Attention manager for occupying the peripheral attention of a person in the vicinity of a display device."  Claim 1 recites:

1. A system for engaging the peripheral attention of a person in the vicinity of a display device of an apparatus, comprising:

  • a content display system associated with the display device, the content display system including means for receiving a set of content data and a set of instructions for enabling a display device to selectively display, in an unobtrusive manner that does not distract a user of the apparatus from a primary interaction with the apparatus, an image or images generated from a set of content data, the content display system further including means for using the display device to selectively display the image or images using the set of instructions;
  • a content providing system including means for providing a set of content data to the content display system;
  • means for providing to the content display system a set of instructions for enabling a display device to selectively display an image or images generated from a set of content data;
  • first communication means for enabling communication between the means for providing and the content display system;
  • second communication means for enabling communication between the content providing system and the content display system; and
  • means for auditing the display of sets of content data by the content display system.

The '314 patent is directed to an "Attention manager for occupying the peripheral attention of a person in the vicinity of a display device." Claim 1 recites:

1. A method for engaging the peripheral attention of a person in the vicinity of a display device, comprising the steps of:

  • providing one or more sets of content data to a content display system associated with the display device and located entirely in the same physical location as the display device;
  • providing to the content display system a set of instructions for enabling the content display system to selectively display, in an unobtrusive manner that does not distract a user of the display device or an apparatus associated with the display device from a primary interaction with the display device or apparatus, an image or images generated from a set of content data; and
  • auditing the display of sets of content data by the content display system;
  • wherein the one or more sets of content data are selected from a plurality of sets of content data, each set being provided by an associated content provider, wherein each associated content provider is located in a different physical location than at least one other content provider and each content provider provides its content data to the content display system independently of each other content provider and without the content data being aggregated at a common physical location remote from the content display system prior to being provided to the content display system, and wherein for each set the respective content provider may provide scheduling instructions tailored to the set of content data to control at least one of the duration, sequencing, and timing of the display of said image or images generated from the set of content data.

The '682 patent is directed to "Alerting users to items of current interest."  Claim 1 recites:

1. A system for disseminating to a participant an indication that an item accessible by the participant via a network is of current interest, comprising:

  • a computer configured to receive in real time from a source other than the participant an indication that the item is of current interest; process the indication; determine an intensity value to be associated with the indication and an intensity weight value, and adjusting the intensity value based on a characteristic for the item provided by the source; and;and (sic)inform the participant that the item is of current interest; and
  • a database, associated with the computer, configured to store data relating to the item.
     
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Patent Publication Versus Patent

Posted on October 29, 2009 by Rajiv Sarathy

This blog entry is directed at people who are not patent practitioners.

People who are not versed in patent law are often confused by terms that patent attorneys and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) use, and the media is no exception.  For example, a recent CNet article exclaims, "Apple patents headset MP3 player" and points to U.S. Patent Publication No. 20090268921.  However Apple merely has a "patent pending."

In terms of assertable property rights, a patent publication is far from a patent.  A patent publication is merely a publication of a patent application that the USPTO generally publishes 18 months after the earliest "priority date" or filing date of a patent application.  It cannot be asserted against an alleged infringer.  (For the sake of simplicity and to prevent further confusion, I will not discuss "provisional rights" which begin on the patent publication date, but cannot be asserted until the USPTO grants a patent.)

The USPTO grants an assertable patent only after the applicant successfully "prosecutes" the patent application, which requires a USPTO patent examiner to do a prior art search and examine the applicant's patent claims.  This prosecution process may involve several communications between the patent examiner and the inventors or their representative, e.g., to narrow the scope of the claims. In complete contrast, a patent application often publishes as a patent application before it has been examined, as was the case in this Apple application.

Thus, while Apple may have filed a patent application directed to a headset MP3 player, Apple has not yet patented it.

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