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October 21, 2005 8:30 AM PDT
Small company makes big claims on XML patents
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Charlotte, N.C.-based Scientigo owns two patents (No. 5,842,213 and No. 6,393,426) covering the transfer of "data in neutral forms." These patents, one of which was applied for in 1997, are infringed upon by the data-formatting standard XML, Scientigo executives assert.
Scientigo intends to "monetize" this intellectual property, Scientigo CEO Doyal Bryant said this week.
Rather than seek royalties itself, Scientigo has forged a tentative agreement with an intellectual-property licensing firm that will handle contracts with third parties, Bryant said. A final agreement could be announced early next week, he said.
"We're not interested in having us against the world. We're just looking for ways to leverage an asset; we have pretty concrete proof that makes us feel comfortable saying it is an asset," Bryant said.
Scientigo's claims are the latest to crop up in an industry that is sharply divided over the role of patents.
Advocates argue that the patent system protects intellectual property as intended. Detractors, including those who call for the elimination of software patents, say that patents make it simpler for businesses--sometimes pejoratively dubbed "patent trolls"--to legally prey on unsuspecting software users.
Bryant said that Scientigo over the past several months has had discussions with 47 companies regarding the patents, including large software providers Microsoft and Oracle.
Based on these talks, Bryant said he is confident that the company's patents will command royalties from software companies and other large organizations, such as Amazon.com, which use XML.
Vast ramifications The ramifications of such a licensing request could be vast. XML has become a widely used method for storing and sharing information in many forms, from purchase orders to information in Web pages.
Most software companies use XML in some way, as do individual developers and corporate customers. The standard itself is developed at the World Wide Web Consortium, which published an initial draft of XML in late 1996 and proposed XML version 1.0 in December 1997.
Patent lawyer Bruce Sunstein, a co-founder of Boston-based Bromberg & Sunstein, viewed Scientigo's patents and concluded that the company will have difficulty in enforcing claims over XML.
Sunstein noted that XML is derived from SGML, which dates back to the 1980s. SGML, in turn, is based on computing concepts from the 1960s. If Scientigo's claims were ever litigated, the company would have to address all the prior work on data formats.
"You can wish them good luck if you want, but there is a lot of history this patent will have to deal with, and the fat lady has not finished singing on this one yet," Sunstein said.
Companies respond
A representative from IBM said that its intellectual property lawyers had not yet heard of Scientigo's claim.
Microsoft declined to say whether it has spoken to anyone from Scientigo. In general, though, the company minimized the effect of patent claims on something as legally well-protected as XML.
"XML has been around a long time, and people shouldn?t assume any one patent has broad implications. Often, patents are quite narrow and mostly irrelevant to the industry at large," David Kaefer, a Microsoft director of business development in charge of IP licensing.
Meanwhile, the World Wide Web Consortium has not been
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standard infringes on their patents. Incredible.
I hope these folks are tarred and feathered. Have they never heard
of EDI, which is a data in a neutral form and dates back to the
1960's?
Clowns.
standard infringes on their patents. Incredible.
I hope these folks are tarred and feathered. Have they never heard
of EDI, which is a data in a neutral form and dates back to the
1960's?
Clowns.
The Odom dates for the patents in question are May 21, 2002 and November 24, 1998.
The Odom dates for the patents in question are May 21, 2002 and November 24, 1998.
I would like to patent English language and all the other languages in the world. Evidently, I'm a human being and happen to have evolved from apes(unless you believe in Intelligent Design). So the development of various languages was done by my forefathers. I would like to get a patent for all the spoken, written communication in the world. Please do the needful.
Thanks,
Descendant of Inventor of Languages
I would like to patent English language and all the other languages in the world. Evidently, I'm a human being and happen to have evolved from apes(unless you believe in Intelligent Design). So the development of various languages was done by my forefathers. I would like to get a patent for all the spoken, written communication in the world. Please do the needful.
Thanks,
Descendant of Inventor of Languages
Of course, it could just as easily be that the claims are completely invalid and the patent is no good.
Of course, it could just as easily be that the claims are completely invalid and the patent is no good.
1. A method of organizing and storing a set of information in neutral form in a computer based environment comprising the steps of:
a) organizing the set of information into instance data sets;
b) defining a time basis for the collection of instance data sets;
c) organizing each instance data set into an instance cluster comprised of data instance nodes;
d) assigning to each data instance node in an instance cluster a distinguishing structural tag comprising the following three components:
a data reference;
a data type;
a data organization;
e) defining the components of the structural tag for each data value in each instance cluster;
f) assigning properties of the data value to each structural tag;
g) storing the names of all of the structural tag elements together with their respective definitions and properties in a suitable format;
h) combining each data value and its respective structural tag to form a neutral form expression of the data; and
i) storing the resultant neutral form expression of the data value.
1. A method of organizing and storing a set of information in neutral form in a computer based environment comprising the steps of:
a) organizing the set of information into instance data sets;
b) defining a time basis for the collection of instance data sets;
c) organizing each instance data set into an instance cluster comprised of data instance nodes;
d) assigning to each data instance node in an instance cluster a distinguishing structural tag comprising the following three components:
a data reference;
a data type;
a data organization;
e) defining the components of the structural tag for each data value in each instance cluster;
f) assigning properties of the data value to each structural tag;
g) storing the names of all of the structural tag elements together with their respective definitions and properties in a suitable format;
h) combining each data value and its respective structural tag to form a neutral form expression of the data; and
i) storing the resultant neutral form expression of the data value.
Trolls sit on their patents like this company has for a decade and wait for it to become a standard before stepping forward with their hands out saying "pay up."
Make the SoL two years to bring a claim on a software patent. If they don't step forward early enough, they get nothing. NO more of this raping the industry years later.
Trolls sit on their patents like this company has for a decade and wait for it to become a standard before stepping forward with their hands out saying "pay up."
Make the SoL two years to bring a claim on a software patent. If they don't step forward early enough, they get nothing. NO more of this raping the industry years later.
We've gotten reform on frivilous consumer lawsuits, how about some reform for these companies that are fishing for IP revenue on technologies that they are really reaching on.
This one is almost as bad as the patent on hyperlinks.
Good luck in court. You'll need it.
We've gotten reform on frivilous consumer lawsuits, how about some reform for these companies that are fishing for IP revenue on technologies that they are really reaching on.
This one is almost as bad as the patent on hyperlinks.
Good luck in court. You'll need it.
I think that people who are opposed to patents should imagine themselves in the shoes of inventors from small companies who are getting infringed upon by the big guys, who on one hand are inforcing their own patents with an iron hand, and the next minute accusing the small companies being "trolls". The patent is the last line of defense for the small inventor.
- Software patents very difficult obtain
-
by ChipVenters
October 21, 2005 11:15 AM PDT
- As the CEO of a small company that has successfully patented several software technologies, I can tell you that the patent office does not grant these easily. It took over 5 years to get one of our patents that was applied for in 1998. The process is intensive and very expensive. The examiners have tremendous research resources available to them and use them exhaustively looking for prior art. Sometimes they get it wrong, but their track record speaks for itself where nearly 95% of all the patents stand up in court.
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See all 150 Comments >>I think that people who are opposed to patents should imagine themselves in the shoes of inventors from small companies who are getting infringed upon by the big guys, who on one hand are inforcing their own patents with an iron hand, and the next minute accusing the small companies being "trolls". The patent is the last line of defense for the small inventor.