NeoMedia bags Microsoft as an IP licensee

Rating: Might be a death knell for the Microsoft Tag

Regular GoMobile News readers have always urged mobile barcode speciallist, NeoMedia Technologies, to take full advantage of its IP portfolio. This now consists of over 74 patents awarded and pending worldwide. The latest milestone is that the company has now granted worldwide rights to license its patent portfolio to none other than Microsoft itself. Neither side seem to mention the fact, but this is a major triumph for QR code technology because Microsoft itself was desperately trying to push a rival technology in the shape of the Microsoft Tag.Now that various companies have discovered ways to insert both colour and images into ‘standard’ QR codes, the advantages of the Microsoft Tag have diminished enormously.

NeoMedia itself hasn’t quite managed to bite the bullet and refer to these symbols as QR codes which has become the generic term for a mobile/2D barcode.

Here’s Laura Marriott, NeoMedia’s CEO, on this latest development. “As mobile barcodes become a key fixture in the mobile marketing mix, it is important for stakeholders across the industry to ensure the solutions they employ leverage the relevant intellectual property in a responsible manner,” she said.

Marriott added, “The agreement between NeoMedia and Microsoft underscores the importance of intellectual property [IP] to our growing industry.”

Rubbing his hands with glee is Ragnar Olson, a partner with the Global IP Law Group. “We appreciate the opportunity to have worked with NeoMedia to bring about this agreement,” he commented.
”
“It is a very exciting time for the mobile IP industry as companies develop new technology for the always connected consumer,” Olson observed.