An AOL subsidiary has been granted a patent on the invention of instant messaging systems, meaning that AOL could potentially sue IM competitors such as Yahoo! and Microsoft.
The patent (6,449,344), originally filed in 1997, and granted in September this year, gives AOL instant messaging subsidiary ICQ rights as the inventor of the popular IM Internet application. The patent covers anything resembling a network that lets multiple IM users see when other people are present and then communicate with them.
0 Responses to “Patent could give AOL an edge in messaging”
Leave a Reply