Juno Online Services, the company that pioneered free ad-supported e-mail service, today announced it has been granted a U.S. patent that relates to offline interactive advertising.
The company said the techniques that are covered in the patent, which Juno requested in April 1996 and was issued this past September, are integral to its business model.
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office patent number 5,809,242 gives Juno a patent on a system that displays and updates interactive ads -- or other messages -- on a remote user's computer after the user has disconnected from the Internet. Juno will hold the rights to the patent until 2016.
One industry analyst, who asked to remain anonymous, said the Juno patent is further evidence that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has been issuing patents for Internet business models rather than for technology. The analyst cited patents granted this year to Priceline.com for reverse auctions and to Netcentives for online shopping rewards programs.
"The Patent Office doesn't have the technological savvy to distinguish between a technology and a business model," the analyst said. "The larger problem is that people are trying to secure exclusive business models in order to protect their investments."
