A host of critical problems and issues with patenting are ignored by Mirasys UK’s recent article on patent licensing in the surveillance industry.
The reality is that software patents, like the ones Object Video have, are hotly debated and contested.
Movement against software patents
It is not that surveillance industry is relative new and naive to the concept.
Leaders of the US software industry generally want software patents to be eliminated.
One of the most well cited recent posts is from the famous VC investor, Fred Wilson: “I believe software patents should not exist. They are a tax on innovation.”
Damage of software patents
Patents are often just as likely to destroy the playing field than they are to level it.
Rather than providing protection, it regularly feeds trolls that want to capture and control innovation.
For example, see the controvery around patent holding company Lodsys and their actions against the mobile application market.
Here, in our own industry, we have another patent holding company, Walker Digital suing remote surveillance monitoring companies.
Because of the prevelance of these actions, many believe that software patents do more to stifle innovation than to foster it.
Legitimacy contested
With the ObjectVideo patents, the legality is legitimately contested.
In the United States, patents are based on first to invent rather than first to file.
A recent report provides evidence claiming that ObjectVideo was not the first to invent.
Indeed, both Bosch and Sony are contesting in US District Court whether ObjectVideo was truly the first to invent this technology.
Ultimately, this is a matter for the legal system to decide.
Suing integrators and end users
The final fear that Mirasys presents is that end users and integrators are subject to legal proceedings and fines.
At some level, anyone can try to sue anyone. We doubt, though, this is a practical concern as ObjectVideo has its hands and pocketbook full dealing with two complex legal actions against multi-national multi-billion dollar corporations.
What then?
Maybe ObjectVideo ‘wins’ these legal actions. Time will tell.
For now, though, we think it is clear that genuine questions exist to the validity of ObjectVideo’s patents.