Digimarc Files Patent Claims Against Music ID Firm Shazam

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 17, 2009 - 11:49am.

Beaverton, Ore. - Digimarc (NASD: DMRC), a developer of digital watermarking and other technologies, has filed patent infringement claims against Shazam, the maker of mobile music identification software.

Oregon-based Digimarc alleges that Shazam infringes three of its patents, relating to "technology that enables devices to identify audio and visual content and immediately link the consumer to associated internet services."

"Digimarc has invented a range of technologies that employ cameras, microphones and other sensors to enable instant identification of all forms of media content," the company said in a statement.

"The contextual awareness of the phone combined with instant object identification enables new, more efficient and higher quality methods to search without text input. Applications like Shazam use Digimarc's innovations to provide more intuitive means for users to search for and get delivery of rich Internet experiences."

Shazam's mobile music ID application has been downloaded more than 50 million times to date.

http://www.shazam.com