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Interesting article in Information Week about another broad patent which may lead to a RIM-like showdown. Another big patent fight may be looming. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has granted a broad patent that could force tens of thousands of businesses to pay royalties for processes that have become standard at many companies. The patent awarded to Neil Balthaser and his tiny San Francisco Web-site development company, Balthaser Online, covers the use of rich-media applications over the Internet. The patent--issued on Valentine's Day--covers all rich-media technology implementations, including those that employ tools such as Flash, Flex, Java, Ajax, and XAML, when the rich-media application is accessed by any device over the Internet. Balthaser doesn't claim his patent covers the tools themselves, only the rich-media Internet apps they help create. Examples range from interior decorating software to Google Earth to streaming audio. Read the issued patent . According to the article...
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