Replies to post #217154 on NeoMedia Technologies, Inc (NEOM)

[Poptech]

krays: It is a little different than that. Being able to read a certain symbology with a camera is not a very big hurdle or the subject of the patent.

So under the MS Tag example, the reader would decode the barcode. If the barcodes was identified as being a URL destination, but did not contain a URL, Microsoft would hand off the code to Neustar. Neustar would then pay Microsoft for the hand-off and return a URL to the handset.

Where your Tag example gets complicated is if NeoMedia were to import Microsoft Tag into NeoReader. NeoMedia is URL-centric so all their codes are tied to a URL which is returned to the handset. The handset then has only one set of instruction to place the URL into a brower and execute. Microsoft Tag, however, contains additional instruction to execute. So, if I scan a Tag, it might update my contacts, dial a number, or open a map. The problem for NeoMedia is this is not included in their patents. If they were to add additional steps required to process a Microsoft Tag, they would lose patent protection for NeoReader.

So, the only way NeoMedia can be part of global interoperability is the code must be URL only and only indirect. For this patent to apply, all the OTHER readers would all have to add indirect processing to their readers. Then Neustar would negotiate payment rates to the reader owners. At least for the next few years, I don't think that is a likely scenario.