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BytePhoto.com has been running online contests since 2003, but is now being sued by a company that obtained a patent on this sort of online voting.
For more than a decade, BytePhoto.com has allowed users to upload photos to be voted on by others.
Little did the site know that in 2012, a company called Garfum was granted a patent (#8,209,618) that describes:
“[A] method for sharing multi-media content among a plurality of users in a computer network comprises creating a plurality of user accounts, each of said user accounts corresponding to one of the plurality of users, and having a plurality of interactive features including a first feature that permits the user to upload the multi-media content to the computer network; forming a user network including one or more of the plurality of user accounts in communication with one or more other user accounts and to the uploaded multi-media content via the computer network; categorizing the uploaded multi-media content in accordance with the subject matter of the uploaded multi-media content; organizing the uploaded multi-media content in a competitive format; and establishing a hierarchy for the uploaded multi-media content within the competitive format as a function of a competitive measurement system.”
That’s the very long way of saying it’s a patent on the idea of uploading images to an online community that then votes on them in a competition format.
In Sept. 2014, Garfum — which runs a site that claims to be “the leader in linking both online video sharing and online video competition while at the same time connecting millions of people around the world” — filed multiple lawsuits in a New Jersey federal court, including one against BytePhoto.
The brief complaint [PDF] vaguely alleges that bytephoto “directly or through intermediaries made, had made, used, imported, provided, supplied, distributed, sold, and/or offered for sale products and/or systems and methods for sharing multi-media content among users in a global computer network that infringed one or more claims of” the Garfum patent, and that Garfum is entitled to damages plus interest.
Garfum alleges that continued infringement would cause “irreparable harm for which there is no adequate remedy at law.”
Rather than settle the case, BytePhoto has decided to fight back, first filing a counterclaim [PDF] asking the court to declare that BytePhoto didn’t infringe on the patent in question and that the patent itself is invalid and/or unenforceable.
With assistance from lawyers at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, BytePhoto filed a motion to dismiss [PDF], claiming that the patent merely describes the general notion of running a competition by popular vote, but in the context of an online environment.
“Patent law protects only concrete and tangible inventions. It does not protect abstract ideas, even when a patent’s claims are directed to the use of those ideas on a computer,” reads the motion. “Mere recitation of conventional computer processes is not enough to satisfy this requirement. Similarly, a patent must do more than state an abstract idea and apply it on the Internet.”
The motion cites last summer’s SCOTUS ruling in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International, in which the Supremes held that merely using a generic computer to implement an abstract idea doesn’t make that idea patent-eligible.
“The claims of the [Garfum] patent simply say to implement a competition by popular vote using a generic computer network,” reads the motion. “The claims therefore fail the Alice test and the Court should grant Defendant’s motion to dismiss.”
“Patents like this improperly interfere with the ability of people to use the Internet to do things they’ve been doing in the analog world for generations,” explains EFF Staff Attorney Vera Ranieri in a a statement. “Here, this patent is interfering with the age-old tradition of like-minded enthusiasts getting together to celebrate their hobbies.”
Ranieri argues that, “Demanding a payout for infringement on an obviously bad patent like this one isn’t just unfair. It acts as a chilling effect against those who would want to use the Internet to expand their community.”
We’ve reached out to Garfum for comment on this motion and on the validity of its patent and will update if we get a response.
We’ve also contacted Threadless.com, another site that was sued by Garfum in 2014, but whose case was quickly dismissed at the plaintiff’s request. We don’t know if that was because Threadless settled or because Garfum chose simply to not pursue the matter. Again, we will update if more information is forthcoming.
The Raiders of the Lost Walmart are a band of brave retail explorers who comb the world’s big-box stores in search of retail antiquities at comically high prices. They carefully excavate clearance racks in order to find the most ancient pieces of technology available. In their latest report from the field, the Raiders found more ancient antivirus software, and a case for iPhones that may actually be collectibles by now.
The iPhone 3G debuted in 2008. While there are likely some out there still in use, what are the odds that one of the people using one will enter this particular Walmart in Wisconsin, browse the clearance rack, and need a case? Tipster Chad found it, sure, but he doesn’t have an iPhone.
(Yes, while “Raiders of the Lost Walmart” is the name of this recurring feature, items from other retailers are eligible, too.)
“I asked the cashier in the electronic department why would they sell outdated product,” Raider Michael wrote to Consumerist. “Her reply was they were not allowed to destroy or return the product or mark the price down any lower. Back in 2011, PC Magazine did a review of the Trend Micro Titanium 2012. At that time the MSRP was $39.95.” Marked down to $25, it’s probably not going to fly off the shelf any time soon.
Hola:
Una infografía con 5 personalidades que te puedes encontrar en un proyecto de datos. Vía
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5 personalidades que te puedes encontrar en un proyecto de datos
Hola:
Una infografía sobre el mercado de los coches conectados. Vía
Un saludo
El mercado de los coches conectados
The Wall Street Journal reports the Reserve Roastery Subscription service is part of the coffee company’s ongoing efforts to entice customers with upscale java.
Officials with Starbucks say the service, which costs $24 for a month or $288 for a year, allows subscribers to receive an 8.8-ounce bag of Reserve coffee within three to five days of being roasted at the company’s Seattle roastery.
“Starbucks Reserve Roastery subscriptions are – aside from visiting the Roastery and having our partners scoop the coffee right in front of you – the freshest, fastest and most innovative whole bean coffee experience in the marketplace,” Howard Schultz, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Starbucks, said in a statement.
According to the WSJ, Starbucks has been working to woo a growing niche of specialty coffee lovers by increasing the number of independent roasters it works with.
Back in September, the company began selling a line of single-origin coffees. The company also announced plans to open 100 specialty Starbucks stores selling only small-batch coffees.
Starbucks Launches Small-Batch Coffee Delivery Service [The Wall Street Journal]
