The U.S. Patent Office has sent a final rejection letter in the SMI patent claim case, raising big shouts of joy from everyone who does online registration (use 09809595 as the application number if you click through to see the actual notice). Back in 2002, Software Management Inc., a Pittsburgh-based meeting technology provider filed a patent application claiming the invention of 158 meeting-related online processes, and raised a bit of an uproar among online meeting services companies, meeting planners, and meeting industry associations. SMI also sent royalty invoices to 25 organizations that were potential violators of its patentable claims—I wonder how many paid up, anticipating a loss?
For more background on this issue, click here.
For MPI's white paper on the original filing, click here.