Perceptive Impression: Billion Dollar 'Ring Back Signal' Gains Patent Allowability; Karl Seelig Et Al. 'Ring Back' Music and Advertisement Patent for Cell Phones Gains Allowability from the US Patent Office

Business Wire, August 30, 2005

LOS ANGELES -- PromoTel holds two patent filings from Karl Seelig which replace the "ring back" signal with any kind of music or message. Today, PromoTel Inc. is majority owned by Los Angeles-based Perceptive Impression, an international advertisement agency. Earlier this year, PromoTel received the note of allowability for the first of its patents from the US patent office. There are many steps before a company can protect their inventions. The patent has to be filed, the patent has to be allowed and then granted. To gain patent allowability is a milestone in reaching full patent protection. PromoTel fully intends on maximizing its patent strength, upon patent issuance and dominating this new advertising platform.

According to consultancy Ovum, the estimated ring back market will grow to $2.4 billion by 2008. Perceptive Impression estimates that replacing music with advertisements would put that figure closer to $14 billion sooner than 2008.

Today, major telecoms like AT&T and Verizon have introduced ring back replacement with customized music. Kind of like a higher-end ring tone where the caller hears the music, not the person receiving the call.

References:

John Bonosoro, PromoTel Advertisment, The Economist, August 2001, USA

Olga Kharif, Telecom Tales, Business Week, 6 Sept 2004

Karl Seelig & Anita Erickson US Patent application # 20030086558, #20030002657

Unknown, Dialing-for-Dollars, Orange County Register, July 3, 2001

Ring Back Tones to Become Ad Channel, CellularNews.com Story 13889, Dated 8/29/05

Streetinsider.com/news, Dialing-for-Big-Dollars

Wirelessiq.info/co "Ring Back" Can Add Billions in Telecom Bottomline Revenue