July 16, 2003
Streaming Becomes a Legal Nightmare
Acacia Research Corporation has won an early legal victory regarding a patent it holds for streaming compressed media (audio and/or video). If it holds up, this could just gut many online media sources, ranging from cable providers, like Time Warner and Comcast, to established web giants, like AOL and Yahoo!, to other huge corporations that employ the streaming of compressed media signals.
The USPTO (US Patent & Trademark Office) has had its head up its you-know-what for so long regarding patents related to information technology and the Internet that I'm not really all that surprised something like this is happening. However, this massive problem doesn't seem to bother the bureaucrats in Washington -- those technophobic old white guys all too busy reading email hardcopies that their aides printed out for them to notice what's really going on. News.com link
Posted by Craig | Permalinkdont be misleading. they won because the defendants never showed up in court, there is nothing to worry about Acaia's Patent will be null and void, when they start suing the wrong people
Posted by steve at November 10, 2003 05:34 PMdont be misleading. they won because the defendants never showed up in court, there is nothing to worry about Acacia's Patent will be null and void, when they start suing the wrong people
Posted by steve at November 10, 2003 05:34 PMAgree. Glad you said that.
Posted by Martin at January 7, 2004 08:38 PMAgree. Glad you said that.
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