Subject: Re: [Geopriv] Patent - Apparatus and method for associating a geospacial location to content on a network

From: "Carl Reed" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 14 Dec 2010 10:16:43 -0700

I am sure this group is aware of the TCS patent. Pretty irksome given that PIDF, LO, PIDF-LO, SUPL and so forth are all open, freely available standards. To use an open standard and then patent an idea about how to use an open standard. Give me a break. In all my years in the geospatial industry, I have never seen anything like this. Even more irksome given that the LO is totally generic and application neutral. Also, in the GIS/geotagging community there is I suspect significant prior art.

http://www.patentgenius.com/patent/7805483.html

The format of the Presence Information Data Format--Location Object (PIDF-LO) as defined by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is extended or modified to accommodate, within the standard PIDF-LO format, an association of geospatial location to virtual content on the Internet. A filename of virtual content is associated with geospatial location information (either a specific location, zone, or direction). The filename is inserted into a <presence . . . > section of a Presence Information Data Format-Location Object (PIDF-LO) compliant document as defined by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). In this way, geospatial location information is associated with Internet based virtual content using a standard PIDF-LO format.

Regards

Carl Reed, PhD
CTO and Executive Director Specification Program
Open Geospatial Consortium
www.opengeospatial.org

The OGC: Making Location Count!

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From: "Richard L. Barnes" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 14 Dec 2010 13:03:49 -0500

So as far as I can tell, they've patented the act of making a PIDF-LO that includes an "XML content identifier" in the "entity", "src", or "name" attributes of the <presence> element.  As illustrated in one of the figures:
<http://www.patentgenius.com/image/7805483-6.html>

IANAL, but: I would think that RFC 3863 would be dispositive, since it pre-dates the patent application by three years and specifies the "entity" attribute as type "anyURI".  As for the "src" and "name" attributes, the claimed mechanism doesn't result in valid XML anyway, so even if you had attributes with those names, they would be in different namespaces (ext:src="..."), thus clearly different from the claimed mechanism.

Maybe the patent can be invalidated on the basis of their consistent use of the word "geospacial"?  

--Richard

On Dec 14, 2010, at 12:16 PM, Carl Reed wrote:

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From: "James M. Polk" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 14 Dec 2010 15:32:29 -0600

At 12:03 PM 12/14/2010, Richard L. Barnes wrote:
>So as far as I can tell, they've patented the act of making a 
>PIDF-LO that includes an "XML content identifier" in the "entity", 
>"src", or "name" attributes of the <presence> element.  As 
>illustrated in one of the figures:
>IANAL, but: I would think that RFC 3863 would be dispositive, since 
>it pre-dates the patent application by three years and specifies the 
>"entity" attribute as type "anyURI".  As for the "src" and "name" 
>attributes, the claimed mechanism doesn't result in valid XML 
>anyway, so even if you had attributes with those names, they would 
>be in different namespaces (ext:src="..."), thus clearly different 
>from the claimed mechanism.
>

ASAIK, "patent invalidation" usually (always?) requires a court 
challenge (with someone paying the court fees).

ISTM, your examination is otherwise sound.

James

> > I am sure this group is aware of the TCS patent. Pretty irksome 
> given that PIDF, LO, PIDF-LO, SUPL and so forth are all open, 
> freely available standards. To use an open standard and then patent 
> an idea about how to use an open standard. Give me a break. In all 
> my years in the geospatial industry, I have never seen anything 
> like this. Even more irksome given that the LO is totally generic 
> and application neutral. Also, in the GIS/geotagging community 
> there is I suspect significant prior art.
> >
> > The format of the Presence Information Data Format--Location 
> Object (PIDF-LO) as defined by the Internet Engineering Task Force 
> (IETF) is extended or modified to accommodate, within the standard 
> PIDF-LO format, an association of geospatial location to virtual 
> content on the Internet. A filename of virtual content is 
> associated with geospatial location information (either a specific 
> location, zone, or direction). The filename is inserted into a 
> <presence . . . > section of a Presence Information Data 
> Format-Location Object (PIDF-LO) compliant document as defined by 
> the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). In this way, geospatial 
> location information is associated with Internet based virtual 
> content using a standard PIDF-LO format.
> >
> > Regards
> >
> > Carl Reed, PhD
> > This communication, including attachments, is for the exclusive 
> use of addressee and may contain proprietary, confidential or 
> privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, any 
> use, copying, disclosure, dissemination or distribution is strictly 
> prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify 
> the sender  immediately by return email and delete this 
> communication and destroy all copies.
> >
> > "Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature. 
> Life is either a daring adventure or nothing." -- Helen Keller