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New Patent for Serving Ads to Newspaper Sites

Posted by timothy on from the and-now-for-our-next-trick dept.

mshiltonj writes: "Global Network announced today that they have a new patent on 'serving ads via a computer to a network of newspaper websites.' They are actively going to enforce the patent too. I heard, but could not verify online, that they placed a print ad announcing the patent in the Wall Street journal. 'The placement of this ad is the first in several steps we intend to take in order to notify key industry participants that we have been granted this patent. We are following proper legal protocol by publicly informing members of the publishing and advertising industries who may unknowingly be in violation of our patent,' commented Mr. James Mason, President and CEO of Global Network."

4 of 48 comments (clear)

  1. What? by smoondog · · Score: 4, Interesting

    What? The damn thing was filed in the year 2000 and just granted lasted month. This is very likely prior art all over the place, although IANAL.

    The patent is here

    -Sean

    1. Re:What? by SpatchMonkey · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I don't know if you read the patent, but it actually describes a fairly sophisticated system for advert management.

      We're not talking a few simple lines of code to insert a random image into a webpage here. This is a well thought out automatic process of obtaining, tracking and releasing adverts to many different types of newspaper website.

  2. Verbose by SpatchMonkey · · Score: 4, Interesting
    These patents are terribly long-winded and verbose.

    They said:
    • A method of placing a plurality of online newspaper advertisements according to claim 1 further comprising the step of associating at least one packet of information which is downloaded onto an online accessing device and which causes said online accessing device to send a signal to a website displaying a derivative advertisement link if that website is subsequently accessed by said online accessing device with said derivative advertisement link.
    They meant:
    • <IMG SRC="...">
  3. there are unique ideas in there by Kevin+Stevens · · Score: 2, Interesting

    if you read the text of the patent: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PT O2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=/netahtml/search-bool.html&r =1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=ft00&s1=6401075&OS=6401075&R S=6401075

    There is actually some "unique" material in there. Their system claims that it can take an ad of any given format, reformat the ad, and then automatically redistribute(redisplay) the ad in whatever format the site requires. I am not too familiar with ad systems, but this seems unique to me. Sample usage: a politician scans a flyer (the limit of their technical knowlege) and then hands it off to this company, who then can on the fly reformat it and display it on a variety of publication's sites.

    Also remember, if someone else can replicate it "clean room" style, then the patent has no effect. IE, if you lock 10 guys in a room w/out ever having seen such a system and tell them to make one, they can use that and NOT be in violation of the patent. Patent law also protects everyone from patents that are "easily recreated by people skilled in the area." Hence, if any programmer or team of programmers can reproduce this system without having seen it, you cant patent it.
    -K