Brisbane man enforces patent claims against all websites with images!

[MisterD]

I don't quite know what to make of this...

A Queensland man has begun enforcing international patents which he believes potentially entitles
him to a license fee from every website in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and the United States
that publishes a URL-linked image, graphic or banner.
Ronald Neville Langford of Battery Hill, Queensland successfully filed for patents over the connection
of a visual image to an Internet URL between 2001 and 2004. Now a Singapore company,
Vuestar, claims to have been appointed by Langford’s RN Technologies
company to enforce the patents. It has recently begun
sending invoices to Singapore website operators demanding
“annual license fees” of about S$5,000 in order for them to have
the right to embed URL links in graphics and images on their
web pages.
...
CommsDay has sighted Langford’s claimed patents. His US patent filing, no 7065520, provides
an exhaustive definition of what constitutes his “original idea”, covering an “image, video, animation,
mini-image of a web page, streaming video, logo of an organization associated with the web
page, and trademark of an organization associated with the web page.” Both the US and later Singapore
patent also specifically mentions the results generated by image search engines. Similar patents
have also been recognised by Australia and New Zealand.

[xwhatsit]

Lol wut?

I'm sure Tim Berners-Lee and the fellers at CERN will have something to say about that

[Steam]

How can that be an original idea if they started doing it before 2001?
It'd be cheaper for a big ISP to just take out a hit on this burke than pay.

[avgas]

Thats great - however it can be argued in court and he will lose. It's like sony lost its court battle with the patent on CD's, likewise Philips on the 3.5" floppy.
Then we had Microsoft and the internet browser, Google and search engines, Apple and the Apple name.......
All tried and failed horribly.
Lets see him try

[R6_kid:Me]

I'll take a patent out on his birth, and say that it was my idea. Everytime his birthday comes around I want another payment thanks.

[Swoop]

That is nothing more than a cut-and-paste story without evidential backup.

Do you have a link?

[Coldrider]

I'll take a patent out on his birth, and say that it was my idea. Everytime his birthday comes around I want another payment thanks.

Better, copyright his name so he can't use it without paying.

[Tank]

Better, copyright his name so he can't use it without paying.

Once something is written down its already covered by copyright law - and its bloody hard to enforce.

But - you could trademark it - that will fuck'em

[henry]

Then we had Microsoft and the internet browser, Google and search engines, Apple and the Apple name.......
All tried and failed horribly.
Lets see him try

Apple won that one. As for the others what are you on about?

[Boob Johnson]

I'll take a patent out on his birth, and say that it was my idea. Everytime his birthday comes around I want another payment thanks.

Until he dumps a load of placenta on ya door step once a year