I'd be really curious to know what patents Scanbuy is claiming infringement on.
Also, who is Marshall Feature Recognition LLC?
I hope NeoMedia lifts their stay of litigation and puts the full court press on Scanbuy for the infringement of NeoMedia's patents.
The following was explained to me earlier this year:
While not going into a long diatribe about patents in general or discussing ScanBuy's new patents in particular, you should be aware that the fact that a company is issued a patent doesn't necessarily mean much. There are broad patents (NeoMedia) and narrow patents (Scanbuy). Narrow patents are much, much easier to get issued, but are also of little or no enforcement value. In addition, even if a company gets a patent issued, that doesn't mean that it is protected in any way - a patent is not a "right to operate" it is a "right to prevent someone else from operating using your invention." One can be issued a patent on a particular subject and still be infringing another's patent on the same subject.
Thus, the only way that a ScanBuy-issued patent would be a threat to someone else is if it covered a technique that someone else was using, that they needed to use (i.e. there wasn't an alternate means of accomplishing the same end) and that ScanBuy could prove they were using. If all of that was true, it would give ScanBuy some leverage over the other company. If not, it's moot.
Best,
Sean
