NeoMedia Technologies, Inc (NEOM)

[jonesieatl]

NeoMedia Adds to 'Already Strong Global Patent Position' with New Patent Issued in Mexico

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BusinessWire
08:35 a.m. 04/13/2006


FORT MYERS, Fla., Apr 13, 2006 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- NeoMedia Technologies, Inc. (NEOM) an innovator in market-driven technologies, said today that it has added to its "already strong global patent position" with the issuance of another patent to the company for use with the very popular 2-dimensional bar codes.

The Instituto Mexicano de la Propiedad Industrial, the patent office in Mexico, has awarded patent No. 233529 to NeoMedia, which corresponds to patents issued to the company by the U.S. Patent Office and the Canadian Intellectual Property Office, for a "Method and System for Accessing Electronic Resources via Machine-Readable Data on Intelligent Documents." Dr. Kevin Hunter, NeoMedia's chief scientist, is the inventor of record. NeoMedia has also filed for patents for the process in Europe, Japan and Brazil.

Charles W. Fritz, NeoMedia's founder and chairman, said the patent deals with improved methods of storing information placed directly on physical objects as PC-readable data utilizing 2-dimensional bar codes and various data compression techniques. Each 2 to 3-inch bar code can hold up to 2 to 3 KB of application data, or up to three printed pages, depending upon the data compression technique used.

NeoMedia's patented technology can be used to read a bar code on an ad, promotional brochure, or any physical object. Then, using software and an image scanner - and with or without linking to the Internet - a user can easily and accurately import the linked information into applications, such as Quicken(R), Microsoft(R) Money, etc., or directly onto their cell phone, PDA or PC.

"With the issuance of this patent, NeoMedia's already strong global patent position is even stronger, in particular with 2-dimensional bar codes, which are growing in popularity and usage," Mr. Fritz said.

"We believe the ability to read and process indexes and codes to obtain desired information, to comparison shop, etc., as performed by NeoMedia's patented PaperClick(R) technology platform, is a vital and central component to the growth of mobile enterprise solutions and mobile marketing around the world."