Murdoch threatens minnows with 'dubious' patent

Omimedia presses ahead with micropayments case...

Rupert Murdoch's lawyers are pressing ahead with a patent application which, if granted, could drive rivals working in the paid-for web content arena out of business. Omnimedia, a subsidiary of Murdoch's News Corp empire, develops in-house mobile applications. Last month it made an application to patent its paid-for content technology, which would allow users to access material on the web and have any costs added to their mobile phone bils. The application covers a combination of technologies, including those already available in the public domain. And this is where Omnimedia has run into trouble. Those closely associated with the micropayment industry are concerned News Corp will take control of the technology and drive smaller companies out of business. Patrick Naughton, managing director of Telecom One, said: "Using reverse-billed SMS to pay for content is simple common sense and cannot be patentable. A lot of people are getting quite upset about this. If News Corp did manage to establish this as a patent, we would definitely be willing to contribute to a legal challenge." His thoughts are echoed by Gary Corbett, managing director of Opera Telecom. He said he "can't see how Omnimedia will get [the patent] through". He added: "I'm not convinced it's got a new service. It uses a basic technology and if the application infringed on that area it would hinder an awful lot of players." Corbett has also threatened legal action to stop the patent being granted. But Omnimedia's lawyers have defended the company's application. Stephen Carter, a lawyer with Olswang, is processing the application. His response is that while the patent does include technologies already in the public domain, it is the combination of components which is unique. Omnimedia's new piece of technology relates to the generation of a PIN for the customer and a validation security key at the website. Carter told silicon.com if the patent is granted it seems "unlikely" it will stifle development. He added: "Legally it's not possible to stop people doing what they were doing previously." A company would "almost certainly not get into trouble" for using technology that was later patented, he said. Carter also hinted the UK patent application could be widened to a European level at a later date.