NeoMedia Technologies, Inc (NEOM)

[jonesieatl]

lesnshawn , an interesting argument ...

"then I'd think NEOM would have a HUGE case on their hands AGAINST THE USPTO!"

I don't know if that sort of action can or has been brought against the USPTO ... but that's because I'm not a patents expert lol.

About the only layman's thoughts I can offer on your comments are these:

-- When an entity seeks to obtain a patent they usually hire a patent attorney to do searches to see what , if any , similar patents have been awarded and/or what prior art exists. If a similar patent or prior art is found , then it is up to that patent attorney to render an opinion to his client on the patent the client seeks. I imagine prior art can be missed in those searches , in which case the patent-seeker might have recourse against the patent attorney he originally hired to do the research and/or provide a sound opinion.

-- Once a patent application is received by the USPTO , do they perform their own patent searches looking for prior art? If so , I suppose they could miss prior art as well , causing them to grant a patent on a 'best efforts' basis .... and the USPTO may well have disclaimers regarding that sort of thing which would prohibit legal action against them.

"After all, the patents are what NEOM first built their business around"

That being the case , it would certainly be encumbent upon Neomedia to insure that the original patent attorney work/searches was thoroughly and exhaustively performed.

Further , Yorkville f/k/a Cornell has charged us a lot of money/fees within a category they call 'Due Diligence'. One might speculate that part of their 'DD' would have been to determine the validity of the patents to their own satisfaction.

That would only apply if Yorkville was financing Neomedia based on a belief they would profit when the patents eventually led to higher share prices ... as opposed to merely profiting from the up-front fees , warrant conversion ratios , Preferred conversion ratios , etc etc.

It certainly looks like someone , either the EFF themselves or some interested third party , may have provided the 'prior art' information which the EFF was seeking in order to bust NEOM's patents.

http://w2.eff.org/patent/wanted/neomedia/neomedia_prior.pdf

JMO

jonesie