Interacting With A TV Show Via Mobile Phone Now Patented
from the more-silly-patents dept
Well, at least this one isn’t starting in the US, but we have another silly patent that is only going to slow down innovation rather than encourage it. YooMedia, in the UK, has received a patent on any “synchronized interaction between mobile devices and TV”, which they take to mean any TV show that lets viewers interact with the show by text message. The patent is also pending in other countries – though, they’re not named. YooMedia has made it clear that they intend to go after anyone else who dares to use such an idea without paying them first. Wouldn’t any sort of infomercial/home shopping network be perfectly reasonable prior art? What ever happened to the requirement for patents to be on “non-obvious” ideas, anyway?
Comments on “Interacting With A TV Show Via Mobile Phone Now Patented”
Bullying in Silicon Valley
Nah Nah Nah Nah Nah Nah ….
I got a Patent and you don’t …
See how creative my lawyers can get so I can scam … err I mean skim away your profits ?
Patent laws need to change.
Wireless device. You mean like a radio?
Any TV show that takes requests from a radioed signal. Or perhaps the changing of camera views for a TV show based on information relayed by the radios cameramen use to communicate. Ummm, any “Live” broadcast, since the mobile units are sending back a signal in a wireless manner. This is a pretty ridiculous patent. I can’t see it standing up to real scrutiny.