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Newspaper Leads Fight Against SMS Patent Troll
Published on:
A patent troll in the USA is facing the first serious challenge to his patent portfolio after the New York Times newspaper decided to fight a license fee demand instead of just paying up as many other companies had done.
The patent covers the fairly simple process of putting a weblink into a text message, and was patented by Richard J. Helferich back in 1997. Since then, Helferich Patent Licensing has charged a flat fee of US$750,000 for a license to put a link to a webpage in an SMS.
It's estimated that around 100 companies have purchased a license for the patent.
However, when approached, the New York Times, which sends out news alerts by SMS declined to pay, and is now leading a lawsuit against the company.
The Times' general counsel, Kenneth Richieri, told the Washington Post that he wants to prevent Helferich's patents from becoming a burden on activities that are commonplace in the digital age.
The paper is funding the costs of having the patent reviewed in an attempt to have it invalidated.
Embedding a weblink into an SMS is not just a service used for marketing purposes, it underpins how MMS works - with a silent SMS delivering a url for the handset to then download the media content before displaying it on the screen as a message.
The move by the newspaper is unusual as the cost of defeating the patent will be considerably higher than just paying the license fee, and the penalties if they lose could be punitive. However, many companies are increasingly tired of paying up for patents which are seen as exploitative and it would seem that the newspaper has finally lost patience.
On the web: Washington Post - Patents Assigned To Richard J. Helferich
Tags: [sms] [mms] [wap push] [USA]
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