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Technology Stocks : IDT *(idtc) following this new issue?* -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: SteveJerseyShore who wrote (9068)	6/8/1999 6:43:00 PM
From: blankmind	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 30916

i love it. pin technology they own, not the card. i am sure they are already sending notices to companies to pay now at a discount, or pay full price later. sort of like idtc stock, own it now at a discount, or later for full price. i guess we shall be sending each other x-mas cards for the next ten years as this makes it through the courts, what is your e-mail address?

To: SteveJerseyShore who wrote (9068)	6/9/1999 10:49:00 PM
From: Andrew H	Respond to of 30916

The issue of patenting pre-paid calling cards is an interesting one. I agree the lawyers may have some fun with this one, but the patent has clearly been issued: >>Under the patent, IDT has obtained the exclusive rights to license the use of pre-paid Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) for pre-paid phone cards in Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Spain, France, United Kingdom, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, Portugal, and Sweden. The patent also covers the exclusive rights to recharge pre-paid phone cards as well as transfer balances between calling card users.<< I would like to hear more from the company on the details of this, but it appears they have patents not on all calling cards but on those pre-paid calling cards,using PINs as well as the exclusive rights to recharge the pre-paid calling cards. That should about cover any practical use of calling cards. It is probably cheaper for other companies to negotiate a royalty agreement than to get into a full on suit, but who knows. It appears to be an amazing coup that they got the patent. Those companies probably have a population equal to that of the US. The patent will most likely cover cards used for plain old telephone calls routed over conventional telephone lines as well as those routed over the Internet.