MIAMI, Oct. 5, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - Miami-based
United American Corp (UnitedCorp), (OTC: UAMA) announced today that
it will take further enforcement steps related to its patent
infringement action against Snap Inc. (NYSE: SNAP) regarding Snap's
use of geo-location based filters which it markets as
"Geofilters".
On October 3, 2017 the iFramed
technology for which UnitedCorp holds the technology rights to,
received a Notice of Allowance from the US Patent Office under US
patent application No. 15/240,515. UnitedCorp contends that the
Geofilters used by SnapChat for photos and videos are based on
iFramed technology and therefore are a direct infringement of the
rights created by the Notice of Allowance). In June 2016 iFramed also received a patent in
Canada the technology is patent
pending in numerous international jurisdictions.
Beginning today UnitedCorp began issuing cease and desist
notices to Snap corporate clients which use SnapChat Geofilters.
Many major corporations such as The Walt Disney Company, Taco Bell
and Starbucks use the Geofilters as a part of their promotional
campaigns. While these companies may until now have been unaware of
the situation, under US Law, (35 U.S.C. Section 271 (a) (b) and
(c)) any entity which makes use of a patented invention even by a
3rd party , without authority can be held liable as
"induced infringer" since they ultimately contribute directly to
the infringement.
"We believe to date Snap's clients have been using SnapChat
Geofilters in good faith," stated Benoit
Laliberte, UnitedCorp's President, "However they now need to
know that by doing this they are potentially in violation of US
patent law. All these companies have their own portfolios of
intellectual property and I am sure they take their rights quite
seriously. We hope that they will respect our rights as well.
Nevertheless UnitedCorp will pursue all legal remedies available in
order to protect its IP if needed."
iFramed's U.S. Patent Application Publication no. US
2016/0359987, which was derived from International Application
Publication No. WO2015/100496 filed December
30, 2014 and claiming a first priority date of January 3, 2014, was allowed by the USPTO and is
scheduled to Issue within the following weeks. Corresponding
Canadian Patent No. 2,887,596 issued June
14, 2016, and is the subject of an ongoing infringement
dispute against Snap Inc. in the Federal Court of Canada.
UnitedCorp will provide the companies it notifies, the
opportunity to discuss various iFramed licensing options that would
improve significantly their commercial exposure by permitting
the use of overlays to all major social media sites simultaneously.
UnitedCorp provides an array of licensing packages for sponsored
geolocation-based image overlay picture and video filters through
the iFramed app and which can be offered to sponsors on a pay per
post or per user basis. The iFramed app provides a simple
smartphone App to post users pictures and videos with a geolocation
based sponsored overlay to FacebookTM,
InstagramTM, TwitterTM, YoutubeTM
and soon to Instagram StoriesTM .
About iFramed
iFramed is a dedicated mobile content sharing application and
platform which allows its users'-originated content to be posted in
real time on their social media accounts with a digital integration
of external content selectable by its users based on their
geo-location. iFramed, the world's first and only social media
posting gateway technology and next generation social network
content sharing platform.
About UnitedCorp
UnitedCorp is a Florida-based
holding and management company focusing on telecommunications and
information technologies. For more information, visit:
www.unitedcorp.com
This news release contains forward-looking statements that are
subject to various risks and uncertainties. The Company's actual
results could differ materially from those anticipated in such
forward-looking statements as a result of numerous factors that may
be beyond the Company's control. Forward-looking statements are
based on the expectations and opinions of the Company's management
on the date the statements are made, and the Company assumes no
obligation to update forward-looking statements should
circumstances in management's expectations or opinions change.
SOURCE United American