Mformation Patents to be Auctioned by ICAP Patent Brokerage

Recently the ICAP Patent Brokerage announced that at the end of July 2014 it will auction via sealed bid several patent families in the area of remote, over the air (OTA) mobile end point management. The patent families are presently owned by Mformation IP Holdings LLC, which is a holding company affiliated with Mformation Software Technologies LLC.

As more devices are networked via wireless Internet, the complexity of managing such devices over the air has increased. This Mformation patent portfolio, which will be auctioned at the end of July 2014, addresses the challenges of managing the enormous amount of communication and interactions of mobile devices over wireless networks.

The portfolio to be auctioned includes 12 issued U.S. patents, 12 currently pending U.S. patent applications, 5 issued foreign patents and 43 currently pending foreign patent applications. It should be noted, however, that this portfolio does not include the patent asserted by Mformation against RIM – U.S. Patent No. 6,970,917.

Mformation sued RIM alleging violation of various patents and won a jury verdict of $147 million. Subsequently, U.S. District Court Judge James Ware ruled that Mformation had failed to establish that RIM infringed its patents. Mformation has appealed that decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, seeking reinstatement of the jury verdict. The appeal remains pending.

[Internet-Things]

Nevertheless, the issued U.S. patents that will be sold each have a priority filing date ranging from March 15, 2005, to September 26, 2008. The U.S. issued patents for auction are:

1. U.S. Patent No. 7,707,632, which is titled System and method for automatically altering device functionality, and includes 16 patent claims, some of which are drawn to a system for automatically altering certain functionality of a wireless device in response to an occurrence of a predetermined condition, and some of which related to the associated method. The patent application (App. No. 11/495,004) that lead to this patent was filed on July 27, 2006, and claims priority to a provisional patent application (Serial No. 60/704,110) that was filed on July 28, 2005.
2. U.S. Patent No. 7,925,740, which is titled System and method for service quality management for wireless devices, and includes 19 claims, which are drawn to a system and methods for service quality management of wireless networks based on monitoring the service quality experienced by wireless devices even when the devices are disconnected from a network. The patent application (App. No. 11/495,003) that lead to this patent was filed on July 27, 2006, and claims priority to a provisional patent application (Serial No. 60/703,804) that was filed on July 28, 2005.
3. U.S. Patent No. 7,991,427, which is titled System and method to provide application management on wireless data terminals by means of device management agent and dynamic link libraries, which includes 24 patent claims written to cover the system, an associated method for remotely managing applications and non-transitory computer readable medium claims. This patent application (App. No. 11/898,420) that lead to this patent was filed on September 12, 2007, and claims priority to a provisional patent application (Serial No. 60/844,092) that was filed on September 13, 2006.
4. U.S. Patent No. 7,996,906, which is titled System and method for altering device functionality, which includes 13 patent claims that cover a system and method for remotely setting software traps for detecting software viruses and, upon execution of the traps, establishing a quarantine on infected devices using a variety of methods. This patent application (App. No. 12/613,641) that lead to this patent was filed on November 6, 2009, and is a continuation of the aforementioned ‘004 patent application, which matured into the ‘632 patent. It also claims priority to provisional patent application (Serial No. 60/704,110) that was filed on July 28, 2005.
5. U.S. Patent No. 8,001,379, which is titled Credential generation system and method for communications devices and device management servers, which includes 32 claims that cover systems and methods for mutually authenticating a remotely managed device and a device management server that eliminate the need for out-of-band communication of passwords to users, as well as user input of passwords into devices. The patent application (App. No. 12/055,752) that lead to this patent was filed on March 26, 2008. It does not claim priority to any other filing date.
6. U.S. Patent No. 8,010,100, which is titled System and method for monitoring and measuring end-to-end performance using wireless devices, which includes 21 patent claims that cover a system and method by which a mobile wireless device dynamically decides the other end host to initiate a session to automatically conduct a performance test. This patent application (App. No. 11/374,986) that lead to this patent was filed on March 15, 2006, and claims priority to a provisional patent application (Serial No. 60/661,506) that was filed on March 15, 2005.
7. U.S. Patent No. 8,311,042, which is titled System and method for automatic detection and reporting of the mapping between device identity and network address in wireless networks, which includes 18 patent claims that cover a method by which core network elements of a wireless communication system detect a wireless device and report the identity of the device to a device management server. The patent application (App. No. 11/763,738) that lead to this patent was filed on June 15, 2007. It does not claim priority to any other filing date.
8. U.S. Patent No. 8,335,212, which is titled System and method for providing least-cost routing of voice connections between home and foreign networks using voice-over-IP infrastructure, which includes 15 patent claims that cover a method for establishing least-cost paths for calls to and from mobile wireless devices that roam, such as in different countries or regions. The patent application (App. No. 12/238,742) that lead to this patent was filed on September 26, 2008. It does not claim priority to any other filed application.
9. U.S. Patent No. 8,413,138, which is titled System and method for securely load a management client from a stub client to facilitate remote device management, which includes 15 patent claims that cover a method of downloading an application onto a remotely managed mobile wireless device. The patent application (App. No. 12/026,807) that lead to this patent was filed on February 6, 2008. It does not claim priority to any other filed application.
10. U.S. Patent No. 8,438,391, which is titled Credential generation management servers and method for communications devices and device management servers, which includes 32 patent claims that cover a method of mutually authenticating a communications device and a server. The patent application (App. No. 13/209,519) that lead to this patent was filed on August 15, 2011, and is a continuation of the aforementioned ‘752 application, which matured into the ‘379 patent. Thus, it claims priority to the ‘752 application that was filed on March 26, 2008.
11. U.S. Patent No. 8,515,390, which is titled System and method for protecting data in wireless devices, which includes 20 patent claims that cover a method to perform security operations on a wireless device prior to denying network access to the device. This patent application (App. No. 11/868,345) that lead to this patent was filed on October 5, 2007. It does not claim priority to any other filed application.
12. U.S. Patent No. 8,559,947, which is titled System and method to enable subscriber self-activation of wireless data terminals, which includes 23 claims that cover a system and method to enable subscriber self-activation and configuration of wireless data terminals by means of an activate button provided through a user interface. The patent application (App. No. 11/798,243) that lead to this patent was filed on Mary 11, 2007, and claims priority to a provisional patent application (Serial No. 60/844,109), which was filed on September 13, 2006.

According to ICAP, the Mformation patents encompass the technologies that are critical to the overall success of various business models applicable to the Internet of Things initiatives. The Internet of Things, sometimes simply referred to as IoT, today refers to advanced connectivity of devices, systems and services.

Indeed, the patents in the portfolio relate remote OTA activation, management, security, protection of critical data, and QoS/performance measurement to monitor SLAs (Service Level Agreements), which are critical to the overall success of various IoT initiatives related to machine to machine devices.

“Mobile device manufacturers, as well as automobile manufacturers, telecommunications providers, and those building management solutions, particularly for machine to machine interactions, are just a few of the many types of companies that should find this portfolio interesting,” says Dean Becker, CEO of ICAP Patent Brokerage.

Bidder registration packages are available currently for those interested in considering this portfolio. The bidder will be asked to sign a bidding agreement and will receive a bid identification number, as well as be given access to due diligence data. ICAP will accept bids for this Mformation patent portfolio from July 29, 2014, through July 31, 2014. For more information is available on the ICAP website.