The New Paper did an email interview with Ron Langford. So what did he said?
1) Ron claimed that the came up with the idea in 2000.
Editor: The idea does not sound new in 2000.
2) He claimed that at that time the internet bandwidth prevent images and other multimedia to be used extensively.
3) He claimed that broadband Internet was still in in infancy and hyperlinking from images to multimedia could NOT be supported.
4) He STRESSED that his company is invoicing the companies because his company has been ‘damaged financially to the tune of millions of dollars’.
5) He says that he is ’surprised and disappointed’ at the hostile responses because ‘there has been no law broken’.
Editor: [Patent Troll?] Obvious that no law has been broken.
6) He says that ‘We have tried to be good citizens in a country where we thought there wa a lot of support for innovation and peoples’ rights.’ ‘Instead, the message seems to be, ‘We are going to drive you out of this city.”
Editor: Do differentiate Singapore government from Singapore citizens. The government is extremely supportive of innovation. The citizens when step on (prior art seemingly available and seemingly obviousness of claims), are naturally outraged. Oh, don’t tell me you don’t know there is a difference.
Man who sparked patent uproar says…
By Liew Hanqing
May 29, 2008
BEFORE last week, his company was virtually unknown.
But it has since riled netizens here after some website owners were sent invoices for using a technology the company claims to have patented.
Mr Ronald Langford, 68, the man behind Singapore-based Vuestar Technologies, maintains that his idea is original and that his company’s claims are valid.
In 2003, the Australian was granted a patent for an invention, which he calls the ‘Method of Locating Web-sites using visual images’.
He claims that websites which use images to link to pages that contain an organisation’s contact information have breached his patent.
In an e-mail interview with The New Paper, Mr Langford claimed he came up with the idea in 2000, before Internet bandwidth allowed for images and other multimedia to be used extensively.
He added that because broadband Internet was still in its infancy at the time, hyperlinking from images to video, audio and other features could not be supported.
‘The idea was driven by the potential to use this method for speedier web access and to engage commercial advertising initiatives,’ he said.
Mr Langford, a major shareholder of Vuestar Technologies, said he formed the company to handle administrative and licensing matters related to the patent.
He said he gave some shares to close friends, ‘who have remained loyal and provided intellectual input over 18 years’.
BRUNEI SHAREHOLDERS
The company also has two private shareholders from Brunei, but none from Singapore.
Said Mr Langford: ‘We have spoken to potential investors, all introduced by private parties.
‘Some came to know of our existence, and were keen on knowing potential financial rewards, but elected (to take) a wait-and-see attitude.’
He stressed that his company is seeking payment for the use of its technology because the company has been ‘damaged financially to the tune of millions of dollars’.
‘Ironically, we have sat back and watched our technology used to generate millions in advertising revenue,’ said Mr Langford, who lives in Brisbane.
The retiree, who used to have a timber business in Papua New Guinea, said he became interested in the Internet in his early years of retirement.
He is in Singapore for about 20 days a year to monitor the administration of his company.
He said the company hopes to profit from websites which use his idea for commercial purposes and claimed he is seeking profit because his patent is valid and has never been objected to.
But since the company started sending out the invoices last week, it has caused an online uproar on local forums and blogs.
S’PORE AUDIENCE
The company is currently targeting websites with a predominantly Singaporean audience, which include several overseas websites.
But Mr Langford declined to reveal why, or which websites these were.
Some forum members here do not accept the company’s claim, and are calling for those who received invoices to ignore them.
Mr Lin Xiaodong, the forum member who started the original discussion thread about Vuestar on the Hardwarezone forum, told The New Paper he disagrees with what Mr Langford’s company is doing.
Mr Lin, who runs an online classifieds business, received an invoice for $5,350 last week for allegedly breaching Mr Langford’s patent.
He said in Mandarin: ‘Patents are to protect ideas which are creative and innovative – ideas which people don’t yet know about.
‘You don’t patent an idea which already exists, and which people already know about.’
Responding to the online furore, Mr Langford said he was ’surprised and disappointed’ at the hostile responses because ‘there has been no law broken’.
He said: ‘We have tried to be good citizens in a country where we thought there was a lot of support for innovation and peoples’ rights.
‘Instead, the message seems to be, ‘We are going to drive you out of this city.’
Article obtained from The New Paper on 29th May 2008