Re: 360 degree photo patents bought by Sony

["Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx>]

<ralph.biggar.van@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message

<stuff snipped>

> > Sony Wins Bid for Ipix Camera Technology Patents
> >
> > By Kim Hart
> > Washington Post Staff Writer
> > Monday, February 5, 2007; Page D01
> >
> > When President Bush gave his 2003 State of the Union address, Ipix
captured
> > the room with a panoramic image for online viewers. Movie star Will
Smith
> > relied on similar 360-degree photos to go house-hunting in Philadelphia
from
> > his California living room. EBay used Ipix technology to display items
sold
> > online.
> >
> > So when the struggling Reston company announced it was auctioning off
the
> > patents for its high-resolution camera technology after filing for
Chapter 7
> > bankruptcy in July, former chief executive Clara Conti wasn't surprised
to
> > receive more than 400 inquiries.
> >
> > . . .
> >
> > "Somebody completely ran that company off the tracks," he said. "There
was
> > so much promise on the security side. Sony got the bargain of the
century."
> >
> > [continues for two pages at site]
>
> I think there is a case of prior art, NASA stitched photos together
> decades ago to produce pano images.

In another article they talked about how poorly a job the patent office does
with issues of prior art.  It's usually not until there's broad discussion
of a patent on the internet do they find out about significant areas of
prior art.  I wouldn't be surprised if some of the patents Sony bought get
invalidated over time.  Even so, sometimes just holding the patent is good
enough to generate license fees or cross-licensing deals or better yet, to
spook competitors from entering the market.  There was just a big decision
about Microsoft allegedly infringing on MP3 patents.  We'll see how *that*
shakes out.  MS has more than enough lawyers to ride it out.

--
Bobby G.