ATLANTA, Georgia (July 24, 2008) – NeoMedia Technologies, Inc. (OTCBB: NEOM), the global leader in mobile barcode scanning, announced today that it will respond to the Office Action recently issued by The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) by vigorously defending a patent that has been undergoing re-examination since July 26, 2007. NeoMedia believes the patent to be valid and will provide the USPTO with the necessary documentation to substantiate that validity.
The USPTO recently issued an Office Action regarding the re-examination of NeoMedia’s U.S. Patent number 6,199,048. The re-examination procedure is a standard legal process that occurs in the natural course of business – this is not an “out of the ordinary” event. It is not unusual for the USPTO to preliminarily reject claims during the re-examination process. This initial action is non-final and will be subject to a review process. The ‘048 patent is presumed to be valid, intact and enforceable during the re-examination process.
While NeoMedia respects the USPTO’s finding, it will leverage the due process opportunity to respond to the ruling and defend the patent that it believes valid under patent law. The company has been requested to respond to the Office Action by providing clarification and comment on the cited prior art references by September 3, 2008. Based on prior successful patent defenses, NeoMedia is optimistic that the single patent in question will be confirmed and the re-examination effort will have served to verify the strength of the patent.
“This is a standard patent process and we simply have to let it run its course. We have successfully defended this type of allegation in the past, it’s the challenge NeoMedia faces for being an innovator. Our focus is on enabling interoperability and a viable ecosystem of players needed to support a vibrant and growing mobile barcode scanning business,” states Iain McCready, CEO of NeoMedia. “Our willingness to share our expertise and license our IP are important factors in helping the industry gain momentum right now. We have developed flexible and creative IP licensing models that respond to the varying needs in the marketplace. The opportunity is huge…we just need to get the ecosystem running.”
NeoMedia has a strong and valuable patent portfolio in the arena of connecting barcodes to content over networks that has been successfully defended in the past. This re-examination was limited to only one of NeoMedia’s many patents, and none of its other patents are affected by the re-examination.
What we think?
What a bullish press release. The way this is written is fighting talk and means action.
I am not sure about the other 94 patents that others have been mentioning and blogging about – but it seems that only one is vital for the company.
I have to be honest – I am no expert but this PR is positive. I will ask competitors next week when I am back in the office for comment.
Bena,
Thanks for posting.
It’s great to see NeoMedia come out swinging with one hell of a press release.
It’s been picked up by CNN, Fox Business, MSNBC, and other major news outlets.
Best regards!
Inventor of Data Matrix Code joins NeoMedia
http://neom.com/84.html
One can not make this stuff up, its just too funny.
First of all, on the patent issue, that PR is the same on an EX SENIOR EMPLOYEE of NEOMEDIA, sent them on 21 JULY, with a suggestion they respond in the same manner. It was authored by Tessera and Tessera’s general council, and forwarded to Neomedia, four day prior to their release. Heck parts of it were even brought to this forum in another topic in the comments section.
All Neomedia did, is take the PRs their ex employee sent them, and in four days changed some of the wording, and of course the company name involved, then reissued them.
As to the Data Matrix inventor joining Neomedia, he has been with them since February……LOL. All thats happened is his title has changed apparently. His addition to the staff was discussed in detail many months ago, and the date of that employment is even mentioned in this new PR.
Yet I have read several posts now in different forums, where some think he is a new employee and are representing it as such in their posts. The same posters who were around for the initial news in February, and even participated in the discussions.
Correction, it was March of this year he was hired. Here is the language of the PR stating this is just a NEW ROLE for him.
“Dennis’ global business insights and technological acumen further solidify NeoMedia’s position as a thought leader in the burgeoning mobile barcode scanning industry.
In his new role, Dennis will oversee all technical operations of the business. Since joining NeoMedia in March 2008, he has been working closely with NeoMedia’s Chief Strategist, Dr. Frank Müller, to promote unified standards in mobile barcode reading technology and cooperate globally with the GSM Association (GSMA) and the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA), two of the mobile phone industry’s most influential representative bodies. Establishing unified standards to enable global interoperability is a critical milestone to driving worldwide adoption of mobile marketing utilizing 2D barcodes.”