WestTrader, you are clearly not a computer expert. Anyone in the industry will tell you the patent system is not fit for purpose, especially when it comes to software. Some people choose to have fun with it. A few years back an Aussie patented the "circular transportation facilitation device" to demonstrate how broken it all is. Some patents, like Apple's patent on rounded corners in their interface design (granted in 2012), are claimed as a weapon, and are really quite harmful to the industry. You can't blame IWG for joining the game but that doesn't mean their "invention" has any value.
The IWG patent 8,615,014 is for the VIN. It claims a way of connecting one computer to several others through a single communications port, with software then sorting out which data belongs to which communication channel. That is called "multiplexing" and it has been a common technique since the early days of computer communications back in the 1960s. There are decades of prior art, so it wouldn't take an industry giant like Google or Cisco to blow it out of the water. I would suggest the patent is worthless.
I saw in the latest investor presentation that IWG are gearing up a new patent claim for the VSP itself. I can't wait to read about that one.
IWG Price at posting:
36.0¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Not Held
Anyone in the industry will tell you the patent system is not fit for purpose, especially when it comes to software. Some people choose to have fun with it. A few years back an Aussie patented the "circular transportation facilitation device" to demonstrate how broken it all is. Some patents, like Apple's patent on rounded corners in their interface design (granted in 2012), are claimed as a weapon, and are really quite harmful to the industry. You can't blame IWG for joining the game but that doesn't mean their "invention" has any value.
