Wildfire says General Magic infringed

Electronic News, Sept 22, 1997

Lexington, Mass.--Wildfire Communications, a developer of electronic telephone assistant software, is in talks with General Magic over possible patent infringements involving Wildfire's latest software product, Network Wildfire.

The company introduced electronic assistant technology in 1994 with a pricey first-generation Wildfire product that receives and manages incoming telephone calls for a subscriber. In July, Wildfire Communications was granted a U.S. patent, No. 5,652,789, for Network Wildfire, a software product designed for telecommunications carriers so that they could offer enhanced services to their customers.

Wildfire Communications said General Magic has infringed on this patent in the areas of technology and the software interface in the development of General Magic's electronic assistant software, code-named Serengeti, which will also incorporate intelligent communications technology into network-based communications services targeted to mobile workers. Still under development and scheduled for release sometime next year, Serengeti, like Network Wildfire, contains a voice interface so that users can call Serengeti on a telephone and, in English, give it commands or request information, such as appointments.

According to Wildfire Communications CTO Rich Minor, General Magic has made a number of implications that indicate it is develop-Wildfire Says General Magic Infringes continued from page 6 ing similar technology. "I saw an FCC filing where General Magic stated that their future is riding on a Wildfire-like product." For instance, Wildfire will "stay" in the background, while the subscriber is having a telephone conversation. If the subscriber receives another call while on the phone, Wildfire will whisper in the subscriber's ear that he or she has a call waiting. Mr. Minor said Serengeti does the same thing, based on "analogies drawn by General Magic." "We felt we needed to alert them (General Magic) to this, since they are banking their future on this type of technology," said Mr. Minor. "If we are to protect our intellectual property, we are obligated to inform people that they are infringing." A spokesperson for General Magic said based on "current information," the company sees little evidence that substantiates Wildfire's claims. "We are reviewing Wildfire's patent, and aren't in a position to discuss it further."

General Magic has received a written notice from Wildfire Communications. As of Wednesday, when Electronic News spoke to both parties, discussions between both companies had not progressed.

Mr. Minor said Wildfire Communications will take actions against any company it believes is infringing on its patent. "To get to the level of simplicity and ease of use we've done with this product is a great challenge. I wouldn't want to be a company who is relying on dwindling amounts of money to think they can develop this."

Wildfire Communications co-developed Network Wildfire with AT&T Wireless and Pacific Bell. Unlike the first-generation product, which was priced at roughly $100,000, Network Wildfire's price was reduced by two orders of magnitude so that telcos could offer subscribers monthly fees in the $10 range. The company replaced $25,000 worth of software in the flagship product with about $600 worth of Pentium processors.

Network Wildfire has undergone test trials by Pacific Bell in San Diego, with possible rollouts planned for San Francisco and Los Angeles. Orange Network, a wireless provider in the U.K., will be the first to go live with the product. Mr. Minor said he's working with a couple of European providers to develop the product in at least two different languages.