Beware the ideas of March - Brummie Shakespeare
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Master Objects sues Microsoft over instant search
SOFTWARE COMPANY Master Objects has sued Microsoft for allegedly infringing its patent relating to instant search.
Master Objects alleges that its founder, Mark Smit solved the problem of the so-called "request-response loop", which was the traditional approach used by search engines. This required a search query to be sent to a database server, with a response sent back to the web server, and then an HTML page had to be constructed for the results before finally sending that to a user's browser.
Smit worked on technology that used asynchronous communications technology to instantly send in the initial search query as soon as the user began to type in a search term, all in real-time, significantly boosting the speed at which search results are returned. If that sounds familiar it's because many of the major search engines, including Google, Yahoo and Bing, now use or will use that technology.
The patent in question is US Patent Number 7,752,326, entitled "System and method for utilizing asynchronous client server communication objects". A variation of it was first filed in 2001 and was then updated in 2005. It was granted by the US Patent and Trademark Office in July, 2010.
Google launched Google Instant in September of last year, well after Master Objects was granted its patent. Yahoo launched its instant search update in March of this year. Bing's instant search offering was first previewed in March and should be on the horizon soon, if Microsoft can beat Master Objects in the courts, that is.
The case against Microsoft goes far beyond instant search, however, as Master Objects is also accusing Microsoft of stealing its search suggestions from that same patent. The company claims that the same asynchronous technology is required for the search engine to show a user suggested results, a feature that is present in pretty much every search box across the internet.
Master Objects is seeking an injunction against Microsoft to prevent it from continuing to infringe its patent and it also wants damages. Since this technology is vital to the success of Bing, it's likely that Microsoft will agree to pay a licence fee should it lose in court.
In March Master Objects sued Google and Amazon for the same thing. So far other web sites like Yahoo, Ebay and Apple have avoided its attention, but it's probably only a matter of time before Master Objects unleashes its lawyers on them too. µ
Tags: Microsoft
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But it's not Jack. The patent centers around retrieving search results from a remote database as the search is being provided (typed, etc.). AJAX is merely a technology that can enable that process to take place in browsers. The patent has less to do with how a browser operates, and more with how a search engine will provide results in real-time.
This "patent" is just a simple case of using AJAX. There is no original idea in it because the idea is AJAX which pre-dates it. The reset of it, being database calls and displaying the output from AJAX are all old uses of technology.
This is just an application of technology already created, not a new idea.
Well, it was filed in 2001, and it is a good idea, especially at the time of the filing, two years after major deployment of AJAX-type code in browsers. So yeah, I could see it being an idea which is a valid patent. Stuff like inline-autocomplete were local database type data, and as-you-type searching really only came into vogue recently, certainly not around 2001.
What I find more disturbing is that Master Objects is only targeting Microsoft at the moment. It may be that MS will opt to outright license the patent, yielding a precedent to be used against other companies.
Ok
This is nothing *but* asynchronous communications. The jackass has patented it for a particular payload - search results.
I wonder if I could patent using your car to drive to the bank?
(Come to think of it, the dups at the USPT would probably allow it.)
OK, who can find some kind of type-down search in a client-server database application from the 1990s?
I'd suggest MSDN Library viewer - which had type-down lookups in its index in 1998 - but that's local data, not remote.
Even then it's a blatantly obvious extension to type-down local search.
Why is it that they only sue Microsoft for this? Google and Yahoo offers the exact same thing.
wait, what about AJAX then? Isn't it based on the same technology?
Well, my opinion is that ... for at least 99% of the current patents ... they should be erased ... and no patent could be registered until well after 2200.
This way maybe we'll make some progress as a civilisation.
Instead battling in courts we should be battling in ideas and products.