Press
Releases
For Immediate
Release
Contact: Brandon
Shalton, brandon@fightthepatent.com
FightThePatent.com
launched to help fight against broad patent (abuse) cases.
Austin, TX -
(August 28, 2003) - FightThePatent.com launched on August 12,2003
with the fury and flurry of keystrokes by Brandon Shalton in response
to companies like Acacia Research, SightSound, and USA Video that
have broad patent claims over the concept of downloading/streaming
audio/video files from a (web) server.
Any downloading
of an audio or video file from a website has been claimed to be
patented by the various companies and they are looking to "license"
their patents to websites. The licensing terms vary but can be 1-2%
of GROSS revenue.
"If you
are a church website that has video clips of your pastor's sermons
on your website, you are allegedly infringing on their patents.
If you are a large company like CNN with audio and video clips,
you are allegedly infringing on their patents. If you have a video
clip of your puppy on your home page, you are allegedly infringing
on their patents. If you think this is not possible, read their
patents, and read the news clips of the lawsuits being filed by
these companies on websites and universities to try and enforce
their INTERPRETATION of what their patents mean", said Shalton.
Brandon, an
internet entrepreneur and consultant, started FightThePatent.com
to bring awareness to the various patent (abuse) cases and to help
find prior art to invalidate the broad patent claims. Since the
launch of the website, he has been contacting many of the "internet
greats" that were the pioneers in developing the modern day
Internet to ask for assistance in finding prior art. The search
for "prior art means finding the existence of the "patented"
idea at least a year before the patent filing date. All of the patents
had a filing date of 1990 - 1991, well before the World Wide Web
hit mainstream.
Shalton has
also been contacting companies who have not been served with "information
packets" or Cease & Desist letters to bring awareness and
support for the companies who are defending themselves against the
patent infringement claims.
His move to
become an Internet Activist was something that he never expected
to be, but was sparked to move from a place of complacency and apathy,
to one of advocacy and activism.
Information
about the patent (abuse) cases can be found at http://www.FightThePatent.com
For further
information, contact: brandon@fightthepatent.com
|