Surf Kitchen granted UK patent for it’s MMS-like delivery concept

By on November 22, 2006 in News

Link:
Surf Kitchen patents customised phone downloads | The Register

Mobile phone interface provider Surf Kitchen has been granted a UK patent for what at first glance appears to be the delivery mechanism used for the Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS). What the patent actually covers, however, is the method by which content is selected.

Got this in from Steve who reckons there will be a deluge in ‘prior art’ for this case. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen at least 4 different ‘prior art’ examples of this years ago when MMS was still very much a work in progress.

About Ewan

Ewan is Founder and Editor of Mobile Industry Review. He writes about a wide variety of industry issues and is usually active on Twitter most days. You can read more about him or reach him with these details.
View all posts by Ewan →

,

  • http://www.ShopQwik.com mark

    How did they get the patent for that !

    I thought you couldn’t patent software in europe?

    Its a joke because loads of people do that and have done for years. When exactly did they ‘Invent’ this because I wrote something over 3 years ago to do that and I’m sure I wasn’t the first to do it.

    Things like this really piss me off because its just a way of making you look more buyable from a US persepective and then the bully boy tatics start.

    Bollocks…..

  • http://www.itagg.com steve procter

    I totally agree Mark. total tosh! I think we can pre-date your prior art by a year, but who cares! Frankly I would rather we all co-exist to push software and compete fairly. To try and strangulate (made up word but it sums up what I feel) an industry by coming out with this nonsense makes me angry too. I really hope it costs them hundreds of thousands of pounds to get the patent and then protect it. And that they are tied up in legals for years to come, rather than just go out and sell a good days work for a good days pay.

    steve procter

  • http://www.sendmytxt.co.uk Alex

    Just found a patent for forwarding SMS and MMS to email. Quite new too. Why do people bother?

  • ewan

    Lots of investors like it. It’s a tick in the box when you’re sat in front of them and they’re running through the questions.

    ‘Got any IP?’
    - ‘Yup’
    ‘Ooooh, a patent?’
    - ‘Yup’
    ‘Ooooh’………..

  • http://www.sendmytxt.co.uk Alex

    As Steve just pointed out to me, we can all demonstrate prior usage of quite a few years on a lot of this stuff.

    Good luck enforcing the patent..

  • http://www.itagg.com steve procter

    If an investor found out you had just filed something for patent that had already been running for several years by dozens of companies then he would think you were a useless so-and-so who was incapable of even typing “sms to email” into google to see if anyone else was doing it.

    please try it btw and see what I mean!!

    steve

  • carlo

    On the contrary Steve, there are plenty that would see that as a solid “market opportunity”.

  • http://www.itagg.com steve procter

    ::scratches head very confused???

    how is it an opportunity to try and patent something that you did not invent, and indeed was proven to be invented by any one of many others several years ago?

    steve

  • http://www.ShopQwik.com mark

    Carlo is unfortunatley correct.

    Apple had to allegedly pay millions to Amazon before they could open I-Tunes because they have the patient for ‘One Click’ shopping…

    If you’re a small software house or a single developer the cost of going to court to fight this sort of rubbish could easily finish you off.

    All you have to do when you hold a patent is to sit back and pick your targets when it suits you. You can come along 5 years later and claim against back earnings.

    I really think we should contest this because it will impact on all of us.

    What about the likes of O2, Vodafone and 3 etc.

    This gives surf kitchen the ability to claim against anything that involves content thats created on the fly and downloaded via a text message.

  • njar

    This patent was filed back in November 2003.

    Reminds me of one that Allisblue launched a press release about a year or more about.. I remember a lot of people mentioning prior art, but don’t nb what happened or if any further action occurred. Anyone know?

    http://www.allisblue.com/legal/20051109101231029.pdf

    I can certainly think of a few cases of existing services that would enable a challenge to Surf Kitchen, but I wonder if any of them are close enough matches.

    Presumably people like Mobizines will have a bigger issue than pure content providers.

  • http://www.itaggsolutions.com steve procter

    sorry but I can’t take this one seriously.

    I’m off to patent “blogging where the subject is specifically about the sms business”. And then Ewan, my lawyers are comin’ after you matie!!! ;-)

    steve procter

  • http://www.sendmytxt.co.uk Alex

    Don’t forget to patent the concept of teleportation or something while you’re there Steve.. might make you a few quid when science catches up :)

  • http://www.itagg.com steve procter

    indeed!! at least I could then get away to another time & dimension if Ewan sends the boys round to beat me up for being so silly as to think I could patent something that has already been invented.

    steve

Switch to our mobile site