NeoMedia's Patent Review Moves To Next Phase

NeoMedia Technologies, the global leader in mobile barcode scanning, announced today that it will respond to the Office Action recently issued by The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) by vigorously defending a patent that has been undergoing re-examination since July 26, 2007. NeoMedia believes the patent to be valid and will provide the USPTO with the necessary documentation to substantiate that validity.

The USPTO recently issued an Office Action regarding the re-examination of NeoMedia's U.S. Patent number 6,199,048. The re-examination procedure is a standard legal process that occurs in the natural course of business -- this is not an "out of the ordinary" event. It is not unusual for the USPTO to preliminarily reject claims during the re-examination process. This initial action is non-final and will be subject to a review process. The '048 patent is presumed to be valid, intact and enforceable during the re-examination process.

While NeoMedia respects the USPTO's finding, it will leverage the due process opportunity to respond to the ruling and defend the patent that it believes valid under patent law. The company has been requested to respond to the Office Action by providing clarification and comment on the cited prior art references by September 3, 2008. Based on prior successful patent defenses, NeoMedia is optimistic that the single patent in question will be confirmed and the re-examination effort will have served to verify the strength of the patent.

"This is a standard patent process and we simply have to let it run its course. We have successfully defended this type of allegation in the past; it's the challenge NeoMedia faces for being an innovator. Our focus is on enabling interoperability and a viable ecosystem of players needed to support a vibrant and growing mobile barcode scanning business," states Iain McCready, CEO of NeoMedia. "Our willingness to share our expertise and license our IP are important factors in helping the industry gain momentum right now. We have developed flexible and creative IP licensing models that respond to the varying needs in the marketplace. The opportunity is huge...we just need to get the ecosystem running."

NeoMedia has a strong and valuable patent portfolio in the arena of connecting barcodes to content over networks that has been successfully defended in the past. This re-examination was limited to only one of NeoMedia's many patents, and none of its other patents are affected by the re-examination.