What is a Patent? “A patent is a government authority or license conferring a right or title for a set period, especially the sole right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention

Doctrine of equivalents: “Even if the device or method doesn’t exactly infringe a patent, a judge might find in favor of the patent holder. If the device does basically the same thing and produces the same results, it could be an infringement.” 

Contributory Infringement: “Whoever offers to sell or sells within the United States or imports into the United States a component of a patented machine, manufacture, combination or composition, or a material or apparatus for use in practicing a patented process, constituting a material part of the invention, knowing the same to be especially made or especially adapted for use in an infringement of such patent, and not a staple article or commodity of commerce suitable for substantial noninfringing use, shall be liable as a contributory infringer.”       

What is Willful Infringement: “Willful infringement exits when a person demonstrates complete disregard for someone else’s patent. Willful infringement is especially damaging to defendants in a civil suit. The penalties are much higher, and typically defendants must pay all attorney and court costs if they are found guilty.”       

What is direct infringement of a patent? “Making, using, selling, trying to sell, or importing something without obtaining a license from the patent holder is considered direct patent infringement. The offender must complete this act willfully and within the united states.”

What is Indirect infringement of a patent? “Indirect infringement includes induced infringement and contributory infringement to infringe a patent. Under these terms, even if a company isn’t the one originally infringed on the patent, that company can still be held accountable for patent infringement.”

Inducing patent infringement: “Is a legal concept found in patent law, specifically addressed in U.S. law under 35 U.S.C. § 271(b). This type of infringement occurs when one entity actively encourages, aids, or otherwise causes another party to infringe a patent, even if the inducer does not directly engage in the infringement themselves. The inducement must involve a knowing or willful act of encouraging or aiding infringement. Here’s a detailed explanation of the elements and examples of what can be considered to induce a party to infringe a patent”

Examples of Inducing Activities

• Providing Instructions or Guidance: Offering manuals, guides, or detailed instructions on how to use a product in a manner that infringes on a patent. This could include technical specifications that match those protected by a patent.
• Supplying Necessary Components: Providing essential components specifically designed for use in a patented process, especially when these components have no substantial non-infringing uses.
• Encouragement and Recommendations: Explicitly encouraging a party to engage in practices that are known to infringe on a patent, such as recommending specific configurations or methods that are patented.
• Advertising Infringing Uses: Promoting a product by highlighting uses or applications that infringe on a patent, such as advertising a device’s capabilities that are protected by someone else’s patent.
• Technical Assistance and Support: Offering technical support or customization services that help others to engage in activities that would infringe on a patent.
• Financial Incentives: Providing financial incentives specifically tied to activities that infringe a patent, where the primary business activity involves the use of a patented system or process.

Legal Consequences

Inducing infringement can lead to legal liability equivalent to that of direct infringement. This means that an inducer can be held responsible for damages and potential injunctive relief, just as if they had committed the infringement themselves. Courts can also consider the behavior egregious enough to warrant enhanced damages if it is found to be willful.

1. What constitutes making a component.

In the context of patent law, “making” a component of a patented system generally refers to the manufacturing or creation of that component. This involves the production of the component by any process or method, whether it is by assembling existing parts, fabricating new parts from raw materials, or any other means of creating the physical element.

In patent law, infringement can occur if someone “makes” a component that is a significant part of the patented invention without authorization from the patent holder. Even if the component itself is not patented, making it with the knowledge that it will be used in a patented system can still constitute contributory infringement or inducement to infringe under certain conditions.

Making and Developing software applications involves several key steps. Here’s a high-level overview of the process of “making” them before implementation or distribution.

Design

• System Architecture: Outlining the overall structure of the application, including hardware and software components.
• Detailed Design: Creating detailed specifications for each component, including data structures, algorithms, user interfaces, and security measures.
• Prototyping: Developing prototypes to visualize the design and gather early feedback.

Development

• Setting Up Development Environment: Preparing the the tools and technologies needed for development (IDEs, version control, libraries, etc.).
• Coding: Writing the actual code based on the design specifications. This step may involve multiple programming languages and frameworks.
• Unit Testing: Conducting initial tests on individual components to ensure they work correctly.

Testing

• Integration Testing: Testing components to ensure they work together as expected.
• System Testing: Conducting thorough testing of the entire system to check for bugs and verify it meets the requirements.
• User Acceptance Testing (UAT): Have end-users test the system to ensure it meets their needs and works in real-world scenarios.

Pre-Deployment

• Prepare Deployment Environment: Set up servers, databases, and other infrastructure needed to host the application.

Documentation and Training

• Create Documentation: Developing user manuals, technical documentation, and guides.
• Training: Providing training sessions or materials for end-users and administrators.

Each of these steps is iterative and may overlap, especially in agile development methodologies where continuous feedback and improvements are integral to the process. Effective communication and project management are also crucial throughout the development lifecycle.

2. Have Made

• Definition: Outsourcing the production of a patented product to another party.
• Example: A company contracts a manufacturer to produce goods that embody patented technology.

3. Import

• Definition: Bringing a product that incorporates patented technology into a country where the patent is in force.
• Example: Importing electronic devices from another country that use patented software.

4. Export

• Definition: Sending a product that incorporates patented technology out of the country where the patent is held.
• Example: A company exports machinery containing patented components to international markets.

5. Provide as a Service

• Definition: Offering a service that utilizes patented technology.
• Example: A cloud service provider offers data storage services using patented encryption methods.

6. Offer for Sale

• Definition: Presenting a patented product for sale, regardless of whether the sale is completed.
• Example: Advertising patented pharmaceutical drugs for sale online.

7. Sell

• Definition: Completing the transaction of selling a product that includes patented technology.
• Example: A retailer sells consumer electronics that incorporate patented design features.

8. Otherwise Exploit

• Definition: Any other form of utilization of the patented technology for commercial gain.
• Example: Licensing the patented technology to other companies for a fee.

Legal Considerations

• Patent Infringement: Unauthorized engagement in any of the above activities with a patented product can result in a claim of patent infringement.
• Licensing: Rights to engage in these activities can be obtained through a licensing agreement with the patent holder.
• Patent Enforcement: Patent holders can enforce their rights through legal action to stop unauthorized use and seek damages.

Practical Implications

• Due Diligence: Companies must perform due diligence to ensure they are not infringing on existing patents.
• Intellectual Property Strategy: Businesses often develop strategies around their patents, including licensing, cross-licensing, and litigation to protect their market position.

Understanding these aspects is crucial for companies to navigate the complex landscape of intellectual property rights and avoid potential legal disputes.

Legal Advice:

Consulting with a patent attorney who specializes in software and technology patents is advised. They can help interpret the patent claims, assess the scope of your license, and ensure that your activities do not infringe on existing patents.

  

PRICE SETTER’S PATENT PORTFOLIO INCLUDES THE PATENTS BELOW

 

Patent No.   8,533,097 THE PARENT PATENT

What is claimed is: 

Claim 1- A system for processing arbitrated price quote transactions over a network from at least one merchant in response to a request for quote (RFQ) by at least one customer, comprising: a customer input device, a merchant database and a transaction arbiter processing component in communication over the network with said customer input device and said merchant database via a remote host computer system, said transaction arbiter processing component storing at least one of algorithms and executable instructions that when executed perform a method comprising: (a) receiving, over the network………..

Patent No.   8,655,771 THE MOBILE COMMERCE PATENT

What is claimed is

Claim 16-  A method of processing transactions generating an arbitrated price quote result from at least one merchant in response to a request for quote (RFQ) from at least one customer comprising the steps of: (a) receiving, over a network, RFQ data for a product or service generated from a customer input device, said RFQ data including parameters specified from said at least one customer; (b) communicating, via the remote host computer……… 

Patent No.   9,892,445 THE DIGITAL ADVERTISING PATENT (REAL TIME BIDDING, PROGRAMMATIC ADVERTISING AND HEADER BIDDING ADVERTISING

What is claimed is

Claim 15-  An improved system for generating a real-time or near real-time bid for a product or service, comprising: a mobile software application operatively connected to a multi functional mobile device; said mobile software application configured as a mediating unit for the integration and processing of data between said multi functional mobile device and a remote server system via at least one high-speed cellular mobile data communication network; said at least one high speed cellular mobile data communication network configured for simultaneously sending and receiving data to, from and between said remote server system and said multi functional mobile device via said mobile software application; at least one remote database storing provider data relating to a plurality of providers and to products or services provided by the plurality of providers, wherein the provider data or the product or service data comprise biding data; a remote server system comprising one or more mobile application servers………… 

Patent No. 10,019,745 THE DIGITAL ADVERTISING NETWORKS PATENT

What is claimed is

Claim 1-  An improved and scalable system to implement a wide range of mobile software applications at remote points of activity in real-time or near real-time over a high-speed networking and communication system, comprising: At least one high-speed cellular mobile data communication network configured to improve the quality, capacity and speed of transferring data files between data input and output sources by simultaneously sending and receiving data between said data input and output sources; A communication exchange architecture configured to exchange connectivity to, from and between said data input and output sources via a plurality of available communication methodologies including said at least one high-speed cellular mobile data communication network; At least one multi functional mobile device in communication with a remote server system………….

Patent No. 10,360,608 THE SMART PHONE FEATURING DIGITAL ADS PATENT. This patent covers smart phones featuring mobile applications that use Real Time Bidding, programmatic bidding and header bidding digital advertising.

Claim 1-  An improved multi functional mobile communication device to implement a wide range of mobile software applications at remote points of activity via at least one high-speed mobile cellular data communication network in real-time or near real-time, comprising: a device housing; an interactive display screen generating at least one user interface and at least part of a data communication exchange architecture;  a plurality of installed mobile software applications of which at least one of said plurality of installed mobile software applications involves bid transactions on a product or service including the location of the multi functional mobile communication device…………….

Patent No. 11,416,903 THE SMART PHONE, OPERATING SYSTEM, PROCESSING AND COMMUNICATION COMPONENTS. This patent covers mobile phones, their Operating Systems, their processing and communication components and their modems.

What is claimed is:

1. A mobile cellular communication device comprising: a data storage device; a plurality of mobile software applications; mobile operating system software stored on said data storage device to manage the operation of the mobile device’s hardware and software and to provide service to the mobile software applications, an interface for displaying information relating to a bid transaction including advertisements; a plurality of integrated data processing components and a plurality of integrated real-time data communication hardware and software components, the plurality of integrated data processing components and the plurality of integrated real-time data communication hardware and software components configured for improving the speed of data processing and data transmission; …..

Patent No.   11,494,819 THE MOBILE SOFTWARE APPLICATION, ADVERTISING SDK, MOBILE DIGITAL ADVERTISING PATENT

What is claimed is:

1.  An improved system for generating a real-time or near real-time bid for a product or service, comprising: a mobile communication device, said mobile communication device comprising integrated components and one or more mobile software applications and advertising SDKs

Patent No. 11,816,716  THE SYSTEM ON A CHIP (SoC) PATENT

What is claimed is:

1. An integrated data processing and communication system for a mobile cellular communication device comprising: at least one integrated data capturing component for capturing data relating to a bid transaction on a product or service, the at least one integrated data capturing component including a GPS (Global Positioning System) for determining a current geographic location of the mobile cellular communication device; an integrated transceiver for communicating data relating to a bid transaction on a product or service with at least one remote server over at least one high-speed cellular data communication network configured for simultaneously sending and receiving data to and from the at least one remote server; integrated data scanner hardware configured to process data relative to the product or service; integrated data communication exchange architecture hardware configured to implement various methods of communication to communicate the data relating to the bid transaction on the product or service to and from the at least one remote server;