Company has raised a total of $22.78 million since 2007 and holds nine patents
If technology is a no-rules gold rush, then patents are how you stake your claim. For Greenville-based Zipit Wireless, that claim is five years in the making – not to mention millions in R&D – and they’re ready to defend it.
“The bulk of our revenue coming into our business is from this technology. Eighty to 90 percent is in our critical messaging system, and it’s growing,” says Ralph Heredia, Zipit cofounder and vice president of business development. “We’ve invested heavily, millions of dollars, into our technology, and we believe we have the right to protect that intellectual property.”
Awarded in September, the patent covers Zipit’s bread-and-butter business – critical messaging systems – used by hundreds of their customer organizations across the health care, emergency services, manufacturing and government sectors. In a nutshell, he says, the technology lets users distinguish between critical and not-so-critical messages, and allows remote users to protect sensitive data that may need to be deleted if the device is lost.
“The patent goes into detail about how we prioritize messages, how we we rise above the noise and take over your device and force you to respond when necessary,” he said.
The problem, he says, is other companies are beginning to use the same technology, and if Zipit doesn’t defend it, there’s no guarantee competitors will respect patent law.
“That is part of you owning that patent,” he says. “We haven’t decided what we’re gong to do yet, but I can tell you we’re being aggressive about protecting our intellectual property, and I think we have to as a company.”
And for Zipit, aggressive is exactly as it sounds. For example, the company filed a still-pending lawsuit against BlackBerry in late 2013 claiming the technology behemoth infringed on two patents issued to Zipit in 2011.
Not many startups can afford lengthy legal battles against firms with deep pockets, Heredia said. “I’ll tell you it’s very expensive, not only for the patent process but also to defend it.”
[ Photos by Greg Beckner unless otherwise noted. ]
