[Mapserver-users] multimap.com patent

[Ed McNierney]

William -

Never make decisions about the scope of a patent by reading the
patent-holder's press release.

If you are indeed concerned about Multimap's patent, you should find a
legal professional to review the document and explain exactly what its
implications are to your work.  I've had quite a bit of software patent
experience (as a CTO who can talk to lawyers, not as a lawyer), and they
need to be read quite carefully to understand exactly what they mean.

Patents don't cover generalities - they cover specific inventions, which
are spelled out in the patent claims.  And I have to say that I share
the opinion that many patents are granted inappropriately, particularly
due to lack of knowledge (on the examiner's part) of prior art.

I would specifically point interested parties to Brandon Plewe's U. S.
Gazetteer map service, which used the Xerox PARC Map Server to generate
base maps on which points of interest generated by queries to an
"information server" were overlaid and displayed, and to Huse's
GRASSLinks at UC Berkeley.  Both were developed and published in the
1994/1995 timeframe.

	- Ed

Ed McNierney
President and Chief Mapmaker
TopoZone.com / Maps a la carte, Inc.
73 Princeton Street, Suite 305
North Chelmsford, MA  01863
Phone: (978) 251-4242  Fax: (978) 251-1396
ed at topozone.com


-----Original Message-----
From: William Miles [mailto:thabo at tdcspace.dk] 
Sent: Friday, February 14, 2003 3:25 PM
To: mapserver-users at lists.gis.umn.edu
Subject: [Mapserver-users] multimap.com patent

Hi all,

I just subscribed to mapserver's mailing list today. In the process off
looking for mapping software, I came upon http://multimap.com and saw
that they have been granted a patent for "covering internet mapping
technology" for both Europe and the US. The article states: "The
Multimap.com patent describes methods for displaying the locations of
one or more places - hotels, restaurants, stores, etc. - on a map, with
hyperlinks between the map and pages of information about the location.
Specifically, the patent covers methods of operating a map server
separately from local information servers."

That is basically what I wanted to use mapserver for. I guess my hands
are tied.

Anyway, the article can be found at
http://www.multimap.com/static/pr/pr9_ukpatent.htm

Cheers
William Miles


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