Battleangel

Here comes patent no. 7,000,180 [USPTO] or “Methods, Systems, And Processes For The Design And Creation Of Rich-Media Applications Via The Internet.” The git and former Macromedia employee who did it will most likely “sell the patent rather than enforce it himself.” Obvious buyers include gargantuan corporate entities who DO have the ability to enforce the patent.

A patent has been granted to a relatively unknown California Web-design firm for an invention its creator says covers the design and creation of most rich-media applications used over the Internet. The patent holder, Balthaser Online Inc., says it could license nearly any rich-media Internet application across a broad range of devices and networks.

Potentially tens of thousands of businesses–not only software makers employing its business processes but companies offering rich-media on their Websites–could be subject to licensing fees when they use rich-media technology over the Internet.

The patent–issued on Valentine’s Day–covers all rich-media technology implementations, including Flash, Flex, Java, Ajax, and XAML, when the rich-media application is accessed on any device over the Internet, including desktops, mobile devices, set-top boxes, and video game consoles, says inventor Neil Balthaser, CEO of Balthaser Online, which he owns with his father Ken. “You can consider it a pioneering or umbrella patent. The broader claim is one that basically says that if you got a rich Internet application, it is covered by this patent.”