AOL Patents IM Technologies

[Janak Parekh]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://news.com.com/2100-1023-978234.html?tag=fd_top' target='_blank'>http://news.com.com/2100-1023-97823...html?tag=fd_top</a><br /><br /></div>A Pocket PC Thoughts reader <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=50687#50687">noted</a> that AOL has been granted a patent on various network-based messaging ideas, including the ideas of a network-based chat environment with buddy lists and notification.<br /><br />It's not clear whether AOL will ever enforce this patent (as it is, they've been in hot water keeping their IM networks closed), and the enforceability of it is in question, but as we move to more and more connected devices (be it a PPCPE, Palm, RIM, etc.), the claims are going to cover a broader array of devices and technologies.<br /><br />If you're curious, <a href="http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=/netahtml/search-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=ft00&s1=6449344.WKU.&OS=PN/6449344&RS=PN/6449344">here's</a> the actual patent.

[Jason Dunn]

Oh jeese...I hope AOL doesn't try to do something stupid here. Although, let's face it, they'd be going up against Microsoft in the court room, not some little IM app programmer.

[JonnoB]

I can see a cross-licensing agreement happening soon between MS and AOL.... but maybe not until there is a battle fought before the public.

[Kati Compton]

Oh jeese...I hope AOL doesn't try to do something stupid here. Although, let's face it, they'd be going up against Microsoft in the court room, not some little IM app programmer.

Sometimes companies go against the "little guys" to build enough capital to tackle the "big guys"... Hopefully AOL already has the capital, though...

[Janak Parekh]

Sometimes companies go against the "little guys" to build enough capital to tackle the "big guys"... Hopefully AOL already has the capital, though...
AOL certainly has the capital, but doesn't really have the cash flow to deal with it.

The article did note that AOL has other patents, including some on https (as a result of buying Netscape), but they haven't historically used them in court.

On the other hand, maybe AOL's slowly-dwindling dial-up customer base will make them go down the road of Rambus, GeoWorks, and others who are trying to litigate revenues from their patent holdings (those two held patents over DDR and WAP, respectively). I sure hope not.

--janak

[sponge]

They probably will never go after MS, it'll be like the patent on e-commerce, he'll abuse the system, and only go after little people who can't afford to fight.