Patent News
`Thursday, June 09, 2005
`
`To view the issued patents, follow the link and enter one of the following patent numbers:
`http://patft.uspto.gov/netahtml/srchnum.htm
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`6,895,557
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`6,732,162
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`
`Press Release
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`AdMission Corp. Granted Web-Based Media Submission Patent
`
`Innovation Proven in over One Billion e-Commerce Transactions Now Patent Protected
`
`SAN RAMON, CA, June 2, 2005 - AdMission Corporation, a provider of directional advertising
`solutions, today announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued U.S. Patent No.
`6,895,557 entitled "Web-Based Media Submission Tool." The patent is directed to a process of
`efficiently and intelligently collecting media objects such as digital photos, video and audio files
`from remote contributors. AdMission's Web-Based Media Submission Tool has supported over
`one billion e-commerce transactions on sites which license the technology such as eBay,
`Realtor.com, The Washington Post and Cars.com.
`
`One aspect of the patent is the concept of preprocessing media on the user's computing device
`prior to transmission. The AdMission platform facilitates drag-and-drop selection of files with
`visual feedback and affords the user the ability to crop, rotate, enhance, and annotate their
`media. Behind the scenes, AdMission accelerates uploads by up to 30X by performing intelligent
`operations such as format conversion, image scaling, and file compression on the client computer
`before passing the data to remote servers. This process guarantees that only useful data is
`transferred resulting in fast uploads, and consistent, reliable media submission, greatly improving
`usability, and increasing efficiency.
`
`"This technology has proven itself to be an invaluable and fundamental building block for the
`future of the Web," said Alexis Gerard, president of imaging consulting firm Future Image and co-
`author of 'Going Visual - Using Images to Enhance Productivity, Decision-Making and Profits'
`(John Wiley & Sons). "Devices such as digital cameras, camera-phones and camcorders are
`proliferating, and becoming ever more capable. Providing a simple, intuitive means for collecting
`media from millions of users and making it distributable becomes critical, whether it is for photo
`sharing, auctions, classifieds, communities, blogs, personals, real estate, or many applications
`not yet imagined."
`
`"This latest addition to our expanding intellectual property portfolio has broad implications across
`a myriad of industries," said Sarah Pate, president and CEO, AdMission Corporation. "For over
`ten years we have been pioneering the use of media to enhance commerce and communication.
`In that time frame, digital photo sharing has become a core online activity. Making that process
`easy and pain-free is what our patents facilitate. We will remain focused on making our directional
`
`
`
`1
`
`Exhibit 2026
`Apple Inc. and Twitter, Inc. v. Summit 6 LLC
`IPR2015-00686, Summit 6 LLC
`
`

`
`advertising customers successful with innovative products, and we look forward to licensing our
`intellectual property for use in other markets.
`
`About AdMission Corporation
`AdMission Corporation is a provider of patented technology solutions for directional advertising
`publishers including newspaper classifieds, yellow pages, e-commerce websites and online
`directories. AdMission is a hosted media platform that provides local advertisers with the means
`to create rich, visual ads showcasing their businesses, products and services, resulting in more
`relevant searches for consumers and qualified leads for advertisers. AdMission's powerful
`competitive advantage provides publishers with one of the most visual, interactive online
`marketing solutions available. Admission is offered as fully featured products via AdMission
`Classifieds™ and AdMission Directories™ or as a custom integrated solution. Learn more about
`AdMission at www.admissioncorp.com.
`
`AdMission Corporation became a privately held independent company with substantial employee
`ownership in February of 2005. Prior to that time, it was a fully owned business unit of IPIX
`Corporation. All directly related customer contracts, operations, hardware, software, intellectual
`property and business know-how, were acquired by AdMission Corporation.
`
`=============================================================
`
`Classified Intelligence Alert (Jim Townsend)
`
`AdMission granted far-reaching patent on uploaded media
`
` AdMission Corp. has been granted a patent for technology that has far-reaching
`implications for not only the San Ramon, Calif., company and its competitors, but for the overall
`future of electronic media.
`
` After a six-year review punctuated by several legal challenges, the U.S. Patent and
`Trademark Office has granted Patent No. 6,895,557 to AdMission, provider of rich-media
`processing technology and directional advertising platforms. Privately held AdMission was spun
`out of Ipix Corp. in February. With it went the intellectual property developed by Ipix.
`
` The patent, entitled “Web-Based Media Submission Tool,” describes in very general terms
`the means by which any data element --- be it a photo, video, music file or even text --- is
`uploaded, undergoes any sort of server-side processing and is displayed on the World Wide
`Web.
`
` The patent doesn’t merely give AdMission exclusive ownership of the processes – it gives
`AdMission the rights to the concept of uploading files, massaging them and redisplaying them in
`any sort of standardized, homogenized fashion. It’s not just the basis for uploaded photo displays;
`it’s the basis for nearly all media presentation beyond basic HTML, from blogs to billions of e-
`commerce transactions. Neither is it limited to what people do with PCs. The patent applies
`anytime anyone uploads a digital file – via PC, PDA, phones, IPods, gaming systems and future
`platforms – whereby the file goes through any sort of processing to be redisplayed to other
`devices via the Web.
`
` A big deal? Very.
`
` For AdMission, future licensing revenues are of unfathomable proportions, which could
`employ generations of intellectual property lawyers to protect and preserve its patent. But for
`now, the company will concentrate on its core products, CEO and president Sarah Pate told us.
`
`
`
`2
`
`Exhibit 2026
`Apple Inc. and Twitter, Inc. v. Summit 6 LLC
`IPR2015-00686, Summit 6 LLC
`
`

`
` “We will remain focused on making our directional advertising customers successful with
`innovative products, and we look forward to licensing our intellectual property for use in other
`markets,” Pate said in a news release that will be issued on Thursday.
`
`=============================================================
`
`Classified Intelligence Report (Jim Townsend)
`
`AdMission’s patent: What’s it mean?
`
`It took six years, but AdMission Corp. now holds two U.S. patents on the processes it uses to
`upload and display rich media. The company’s core patent was issued in May 2004. Its newest
`patent was issued in May 2005. Both were filed in 1999, back when AdMission was Ipix Corp.
`
` San Ramon, Calif.-based AdMission, a provider of image-processing technology and a pretty
`slick ad-entry platform, was spun out of Ipix Corp. in February. With it went the intellectual
`property rights developed by Ipix.
`
`The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted Patent No. 6,895,557, entitled “Web-Based Media
`Submission Tool,” describes in general terms the method by which any data element – be it a
`photo, video, music file or even text – undergoes preprocessing on the client side according to a
`server side set of instruc- tions before it is uploaded to a server. It’s a so-called method patent,
`agnostic of the client and server technologies used to employ it, and of the operating systems that
`are used.
`
`As we reported in our June 1 alert, the newest patent has some far-reaching implications for
`Internet industries. Our alert touched a small storm of criticism from a few other companies with
`ad-entry platforms, none of which we’ll name, each of which rushed to assure that nothing they
`were doing resembled AdMission’s methods of rich-media entry.
`
`That we can tell, no ad-entry provider that we know of (we know quite a few) collects data in
`AdMission’s unique fashion. We’re neither technologists nor intellectual property lawyers (and
`those we contacted declined to be quoted). Patent compliance can be a sticky issue. If you have
`any doubts about your systems, you should consult your attorneys.
`
`Nonetheless, criticism of our alert was warranted, as it underexplained some points and
`overreached others. For instance, the patent wouldn’t appear to apply to systems that upload
`“raw” photos (or other data files) and performs no manipulation of files before they are uploaded.
`If client-side manipulation occurs, it would have to be based upon server-side instructions to the
`client in order to fall into AdMission’s patent space.
`
`Taking the example further, if a system were to allow the user to add a caption to a photo, or
`resize it, or add a watermark – before it’s uploaded – that might violate AdMission’s patent if the
`server is telling the client what to do.
`
`While AdMission’s ad-entry competitors don’t appear to operate this way, we note a few
`companies in other Internet industries that seem to. MSN features a degree photo preprocessing.
`Just last week, Yahoo launched a photo e-mail service that allows users to drag-and-drop up
`images to create up to 300 thumbnails in a single e-mail message, with captions. Whether the
`methods Yahoo and MSN are using are similar enough to AdMission’s patent, we don’t venture to
`say. If there are legal issues, that’s for attorneys to sort out.
`
`
`
`3
`
`Exhibit 2026
`Apple Inc. and Twitter, Inc. v. Summit 6 LLC
`IPR2015-00686, Summit 6 LLC
`
`

`
`Still, the patent’s implications are far-reaching. For one, it means that if you wanted to emulate
`the process in your own business, you’d have to license it from AdMission. And if you’re a direct
`competitor, AdMission isn’t likely to license to you. Whether you’d want to or not, the significance
`is that you can’t go down that path.
`
`For another, the patent is not limited to PCs. Emerging mobile platforms – phones, PDAs and
`networkable, handheld entertainment devices – often operate in client-server environments
`because of limited processing power. As these handhelds proliferate – as you build mobile
`services – to be certain, AdMission will be watching how these technologies interface with the
`Web.
`
`“The opportunity that we foresaw was that if you’re going to work with media, and you wanted to
`create some sort of standard for collection, just like you would collect textual or numeric data,
`there needs to be some additional work there,” said AdMission VP Scott Lewis, co-author of the
`patents. “Anywhere you would want to use it, whether a blog, an instant message, an auction or a
`classifieds experience, a personals site – an insurance claim – anywhere where you have people
`remote who are collecting media elements, and they’re needing to get that in some way
`homogenized, processed, standardized and distributed up to a remote destination. … “It’s doing
`that intelligent division of work between the client and the server, where you’re determining what
`is the highest-quality piece of data you need to preserve on the server side. … It’s really just to
`say ‘I only need this much data [on the server] and I’m going to append that with additional detail
`to give context and meaning to the data – and then I’m going to pass that to the server.’”
`
`Once the data’s on the server, it might require redistribution to multiple servers, where each has
`its own requirements for the data. That’s where the May 2004 patent comes in, Lewis said. U.S.
`Patent No. 6,732,162 describes processes in which digital media might be reformatted on the fly
`for any number of data destinations.
`
`How much of a business AdMission might build in patent licensing remains to be seen, but it
`could be significant, if not huge. It already licenses to EBay. But for now, the company will
`continue to concentrate on its core products, said AdMission CEO and president Sarah Pate.
`
`“We’ll continue to use our patents to support our interfaces to give our customers an absolute
`competitive advantage,” Pate said, adding that the company is “aggressively looking” at ways to
`leverage its patents outside its core markets. “We think there are several potentially lucrative
`licensing opportunities.”
`
`=============================================================
`
`ClickZ.com (Kevin Newcomb)
`
`AdMission Wins Far-reaching Patent
`
`After nearly six years of legal wrangling, online classifieds technology provider AdMission Corp. is
`now the proud owner of a patent that could affect scores of companies -- including online
`advertisers, Web publishers and other ad technology firms -- whose technology deals with digital
`media files.
`
`On May 17, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued U.S. Patent No. 6,895,557 entitled
`"Web-based Media Submission Tool," which describes a process of collecting media objects --
`such as digital photos, video and audio files -- from remote contributors.
`
`
`
`4
`
`Exhibit 2026
`Apple Inc. and Twitter, Inc. v. Summit 6 LLC
`IPR2015-00686, Summit 6 LLC
`
`

`
`"This patent covers the efficiency of being able to do pre-processing on all sorts of media files, on
`all kinds of devices," said Sarah Pate, president and CEO, AdMission.
`
`AdMission uses the technology described in the patent for its advertising applications that let
`users add images to a publisher's online classifieds, yellow pages and e-commerce sites. The
`company licenses its platform to eBay, and hosts applications for companies like Cars.com,
`Realtor.com, The Washington Post, Knight Ridder Digital, Tribune Interactive, and the New York
`Times. AdMission is offered as fully featured products via AdMission Classifieds and AdMission
`Directories or as a custom integrated solution.
`
`At the core of the patent is the automation and intelligence built into the process of handling and
`transporting rich media files. The patent covers all automatic resizing and formatting of digital
`images, as well as the generation of a thumbnail image to allow a user to verify the file to be
`submitted.
`
`"We'll continue to heavily invest in our platform, which leverages the processes described in this
`patent," Pate said. "But we're also looking for licensing opportunities outside of our core markets.
`We'll focus first on places where media is heavily used to communicate, and where it has to be
`efficient."
`
`Those non-core markets could include media file handling for advertising and e-mail, photo
`sharing and printing sites, and even blogging. These areas have companies that are already
`using technology covered by the patent or could benefit from doing so, according to Scott Lewis,
`VP product strategy at AdMission and one of the original authors of the patent.
`
`"If you want to understand where it would apply, look for any case where you have lots of media
`being collected," Lewis said. "If you look at portals, they tend to have a whole set of functionality
`ranging from auctions and classifieds, to personals, to instant messaging and e-mail, to
`communities and blogging -- all of which utilize photos and other files collected from billions of
`remote contributors. You can look at those examples and start to extrapolate the impact."
`
`The patent application was originally filed by PictureWorks in July 1999. PictureWorks was then
`acquired by IPIX, which restructured itself a few times. In February 2005, AdMission separated
`itself from its parent via a management buyout, taking the patent portfolio along with it.
`
`"When we filed the patent, we had a vision of how media was going to be used to communicate
`and enable commerce. We really think that's coming to fruition and accelerating very rapidly now.
`The patent for us is far more valuable to us today than it would have been had it been issued
`earlier," Pate said.
`
`The '557 patent faced several legal obstacles over objections that it was being interpreted too
`broadly. It seems to cover in very general terms the means by which any media file -- including
`photos, videos, music files or even text -- is uploaded, undergoes any sort of server-side
`processing and is displayed on the Web, according to Peter Zollman, founding principal of analyst
`firm Classified Intelligence.
`
`"The patent doesn't merely give AdMission exclusive ownership of the processes -- it gives
`AdMission the rights to the concept of uploading files, massaging them and redisplaying them in
`any sort of standardized, homogenized fashion," Zollman said. "For AdMission, future licensing
`revenues are of unfathomable proportions."
`
`=============================================================
`
`
`
`5
`
`Exhibit 2026
`Apple Inc. and Twitter, Inc. v. Summit 6 LLC
`IPR2015-00686, Summit 6 LLC
`
`

`
`Future Image (Alexis Gerard)
`
`ADMISSION PATENTS WEB IMAGE UPLOAD PROCESS
`Ipix' spin-off AdMission has received a patent on its process for collecting media objects such as
`digital photos, video and audio files from remote contributors, whereby, prior to transmission, the
`media is processed on the user's computing device with such changes as format conversion,
`image scaling, and file compression, before passing the data to remote servers.
`
`Only useful data is transferred, resulting in fast uploads, the company says.
`
`U.S. Patent and Trademark Office patent No. 6,895,557 entitled "Web-Based Media Submission
`Tool," covers a somewhat specific technique wherein a website issues sizing and formatting
`instructions to a remote client [either PC or portable device] that the client than follows for image
`upload. It does not therefore cover more general processes such as camera-phones that
`automatically resize images for upload.
`
`The process is however crucial for many websites, including classified advertising. The company
`already licenses the technology to such sites as eBay, Realtor.com, The Washington Post and
`Cars.com. We note that this technology has proven itself to be a fundamental building block for
`many Web sites. With ever-increasing mobile image capture, providing an intuitive means for
`collecting media from millions of users and making it distributable becomes critical.
`
`=============================================================
`
`Kelsey Group (Greg Sterling)
`
`The Potential Implications of AdMission's Patent
`Last week, Admission Advertising Process/Platform AdMission Corp. (formerly a business unit of
`IPIX) announced that after six years, it had been awarded U.S. Patent No. 6,895,557 for its “Web-
`based media submission tool.” The customary articles that followed the announcement made
`reference to the potentially “far-reaching implications” of the patent (a second related patent has
`been issued and a number of others are pending). So what does this patent cover, and what
`exactly are the implications?
`
`AdMission offers rich media processing technology and related advertising platforms for Internet
`publishers. The company has an impressive suite of products and its technology is currently used
`by a marquee list of companies, including eBay, the New York Times, the Washington Post,
`Tribune Co., Knight Ridder, Yell.com and many others.
`
`A company called PictureWorks filed the original patent application in 1999. PictureWorks had
`enormous foresight to recognize that digital media was going to become a greater and greater
`part of the Internet experience, and that the efficient processing of digital media files would be
`critical for Internet publishers and advertisers.
`
`PictureWorks was acquired by IPIX; AdMission separated from IPIX in a management buyout
`earlier this year (IPIX is an AdMission investor). The core team from PictureWorks has survived
`and now runs AdMission.
`
`The current AdMission patent is a “method” patent that supports particular AdMission business
`processes and their underlying code. Perhaps the most well-known example of this type of patent
`is Amazon’s “1-Click” expedited ordering. Historically, business processes/ methods were denied
`legal protection. However in 1998, a U.S. appellate court held that as long as the identified
`
`
`
`6
`
`Exhibit 2026
`Apple Inc. and Twitter, Inc. v. Summit 6 LLC
`IPR2015-00686, Summit 6 LLC
`
`

`
`method produced a “useful, concrete and tangible result,” a patent could be issued. That decision
`was given a stamp of approval by the U.S. Supreme Court when it refused to hear the case.
`
`Broadly speaking, AdMission’s patented method involves the following aspects and processes:
`
`• Drag-and-drop functionality for one or more images or files (batch submission)
`• Preprocessing of files prior to upload for publication or distribution (automated sizing,
`formatting, etc.)
`• Transfer of digital media files from any device to any other (in the context of
`preprocessing of those files)
`•
`“Information capture” along with upload or file processing (textual or other annotations,
`captions, contextual information, IDs appended to media files, etc.)
`• Automated integration of the media files within existing databases
`
`“This is all about efficiency,” explains Sarah Pate, CEO of AdMission. “We’re enabling people
`who don’t have the skill or the time to communicate or enact commerce using media. Our
`processes are all about how to efficiently get media deployed.”
`
`As suggested, the patent covers the preprocessing and upload of any digital media (including
`video and audio) from any device, whether a phone, digital camera, scanner or a PC. This could
`mean an insurance adjustor taking pictures of an accident scene and uploading those images
`with related data into a carrier database. It could also mean a photo processing/sharing Web site
`where images are uploaded and processed – files compressed or otherwise altered – for
`subsequent distribution or printing. It certainly implicates directory and classified uses of digital
`media, where AdMission technology is already in widespread use.
`
`“With Yellow Pages, you need to keep a variety of media together: maps, logos, text,” says Pate.
`The patent language covers the automated processing and association of those types of digital
`files. In addition, an earlier-granted patent extension expands coverage and protection to the
`subsequent distribution of media files, for example in ad networks.
`
`The Bottom Line: We are not intellectual property attorneys at The Kelsey Group. However, it’s
`fairly clear that the scope of AdMission’s patents are extremely broad and some sort of legal
`process will probably be needed to determine their exact contours and precise limits.
`
`AdMission hopes to use licensing fees from third parties in an effort to help fund its ambitious
`product roadmap. Those fees could be quite lucrative, given the patent’s breadth. Indeed, it’s
`conceivable that every company and publisher online that uses, processes and distributes digital
`images and rich media files could be affected. LMJ
`
`
`
`
`
`7
`
`Exhibit 2026
`Apple Inc. and Twitter, Inc. v. Summit 6 LLC
`IPR2015-00686, Summit 6 LLC