Following up to Wednesday’s article about Wowio advertising in e-books, Alejandro Grau of Wowio just emailed me a press release stating that Wowio has been issued a Notice of Allowance for a patent application covering methods of advertising in e-books. Apparently there’s more to it than just slapping an ad in an e-book (or at least I would hope so); the press release says that the patent includes “contextual ads based on the personal information or demographic criteria of the reader.”
“The patent will give WOWIO the right to exclude others from practicing any of the 32 allowed claims in the United States for a period of 20 years from the patent’s priority date,” added [Wowio intellectual property counsel Steve] Hassid.
This is apparently Patent #11464154 filed on August 11, 2006. As listed in Google, the patent has thirty-five claims, which means the PTO apparently disallowed three, but there’s no way to tell which three from this listing.
Wowio also filed another patent application on e-book advertising, #12760791, with only 20 claims, on April 15th of this year.
The patent claims are certainly broad, I’ll give them that. But it’s not really certain how broad until we know which claims were struck. The PTO could very well have struck the very broadest claims while allowing the rest.
In any case, it seems that the broader a patent is, the more likely it is to get thrown out. It is difficult to imagine that larger e-book corporations such as Amazon would be content to let this patent stand if they wanted to put advertising in any of their e-books down the road.
Full press release after the jump.
WOWIO, Inc. Issued Notice of Allowance For Patent Application Covering Advertising in eBooks
LOS ANGELES, October 29, 2010 – WOWIO, Inc., an established market leader with an online destination (www.wowio.com) providing access to rich digital media content and eBooks, today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued a Notice of Allowance for a broad patent application covering a variety of methods that allow for the delivery of ads in eBooks, including contextual ads based on the personal information or demographic criteria of the reader.
“The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has allowed 32 claims contained in of one of WOWIO, Inc.’s most important and broadest patent applications,” said Steve Hassid, Registered Patent and Trademark Attorney, Partner at Silicon Edge Law Group LLP, and intellectual property counsel for WOWIO. “WOWIO is the only company I know of that has been able to obtain a Notice of Allowance allowing claims in this evolving and expanding media space.”
The eBook market has seen significant growth in recent years with many large companies including Amazon, Apple, Gemstar TV-Guide International, Microsoft and Toshiba, investing heavily in eBook technology. According to Forrester Research, wholesale eBook revenues jumped from $52.4 million in 2008 to $109 million for the first three quarters of 2009, and this year’s revenues are expected to top $500 million in the U.S.
“The patent will give WOWIO the right to exclude others from practicing any of the 32 allowed claims in the United States for a period of 20 years from the patent’s priority date,” added Hassid.
These 32 claims will create additional market barriers to competitors entering or in the advertising-supported eBook market. WOWIO, however, will be able to provide publishers with an opportunity to increase revenue streams by working directly with advertisers and begin to adapt advertising-subsidized pricing models.
“WOWIO is the pioneer in ad-supported eBooks. As the mainstream eBook world appears to be migrating towards an ad-supported model, this Notice of Allowance validates WOWIO’s innovative and ground breaking ideas and implementations,” said Brian Altounian, CEO and President of WOWIO. “Before today, we were watching the big players in the eBook field fight amongst themselves to determine the winning revenue model. We believe that our vision for the future of the digital distribution of all media sets us apart from the various players in the field and now we are creating a patent portfolio to support that vision.”
About WOWIO
WOWIO is an online destination that provides users with the opportunity to share and consume digital media content, such as eComics and eBooks, while providing revenue generating opportunities for creators and publishers through advertising and merchandising programs. WOWIO, Inc. is an Alliance Acquisitions, Inc. portfolio company headquartered in Los Angeles, California.
Tom Becker
Investor Relations, WOWIO, Inc.
702-445-7038
ir@wowio.com
Steve Hassid
Silicone Edge Law Group LLP
310-634-1717
steve@siliconedgelaw.com
This is potentially disastrous for all independent and big publishers who would endeavor to use similar monetizing. It is time NOW for some legal coalition to form to stop Wowio from becoming some kind of IP oligarchy who will be sue for patent infringement/royalties anyone they claim is infringing on their patent.
If granted this patent,Wowio will be able to sue anyone using sponsoring in their eBook/mag. How many small publishers will be capable of taking on a corporate legal team and keep up a civil/tort case? Not many. Wowio will be firing a cease and desist every time someone puts an ad in their eBook, whether they have a case or not. They will be, in effect, threatening everyone in the eBook biz to use their patented system only. Suddenly Wowio becomes the only conduit for distributing eBooks with ads. This is mobster-ism- like being forced into a protection scam.
Also can we all reflect on the fact that anyone can place ads in an eBook? Why is the US Patent Office giving a patent for something any advanced programmer could do? It’s not original.
IP attorneys? PLEASE speak out against this patent claim before it turns into a shitstorm.
Way to go US Patent Office- MAJOR FAIL.
“contextual ads based on the personal information or demographic criteria of the reader.”
And just how do they propose to get this “personal information”? This is the kind of stuff that scares the be-jesus out of me.
And I do NOT want to see advertising in my books. I’m so sick of being constantly bombarded with “buy this! try this! do this! go here!”. Books are my way of escaping from my hectic life and these people want to follow me there too?!?!?