Subject: Yet another patent

From: Paul Hoffman / IMC <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 23 Mar 2000 09:18:38 -0800

Of probable interest to this WG. I have no idea if this is valid or 
interesting.

Innovative Technology Enables the Worldwide
Installed Base of Fax

Machines to Send Documents to Email

ATLANTA, March 22 /PRNewswire/ --
E-mate.com LLC announced today that it has
been issued United States Patent 6,023,345 and
United States Patent 6,025,931 for technology,
which the company believes, will radically
change the way businesses deliver hard-copy
documents over the Internet. By using E-
mate.com's patented solution, businesses can
use their existing fax machines as "input" devices
to send hard-copy documents to any email
recipient in the world. A recipient retrieves and
views the document as an image file in the
ordinary course of reading their email. This
capability is significant in that the technology
enables the 100 plus million installed-base of fax
machines to become instantly "email compatible"
for sending hard-copy documents directly to
recipients who have an email address.

According to Mark Bloomfield, E-mate's founder
and CEO, "The patents are significant because
the company owns the basic procedure, design,
and techniques for sending documents from a fax
machine to email. The only other way to
accomplish this task is to replace existing
standard fax machines with expensive IP-enabled
machines or IP adjunct devices. Our technology
represents a simpler, cheaper and more universal
solution." The company has additional patents
pending in the U.S. and has foreign applications
in 17 other countries.

The E-mate service includes a small keypad
device that when plugged into the accessory
phone jack of the user's fax machine, becomes
the interface and connection to the Internet.
The keypad contains the technology required for
the fax machine to communicate with Internet
servers for delivering a document to email. Using
this keypad, a user enters an email address or
recalls one stored in memory and initiates a call.
The document to be delivered is placed in the
fax machine tray and is scanned, then delivered
via the Internet to the recipient's email. There
are no busy signals and no fax cover sheets.
E-mate works with any fax machine and
anywhere in the world.

The technology incorporated in the keypad can
be software embedded into future fax machines
so that new machines are "E-mate-enabled" out
of the box.

Furthermore, the software could be embedded
into a myriad of other Internet devices such as
Internet phones, Internet appliances, and
portable organizers/communicators. In this
scenario, the E-mate application would perform
the same functions as the E-mate "keypad." In
portable devices, the E-mate service would be
especially useful for users who wish to have
E-mate capability while traveling.

E-mate.com is a privately held, Atlanta,
Ga.-based R&D firm formed specifically to
develop and patent the E-mate technology. Now
that the patents have been issued, E-mate.com
is seeking strategic partners who can rapidly
commercialize the technology and bring the
services to market. In this regard, the company
has retained First Union Securities and
Atlanta-based TDRC, a nationally recognized IP
technology-consulting firm, to identify companies
who may have an interest in purchasing the
E-mate.com technology.

"We believe the E-mate story is a good one and
represents a significant opportunity," states Don
Erb, Director of Technology Investment Banking
for First Union Securities. "E-mate.com has many
of the components we look for in technology
winners. The technology provides a
first-to-market position, the technology
possesses 'viral marketing' attributes in that
every user becomes a seller, and finally, the new
patents provide a strong barrier to entry from
competitors. We are pleased to assist the
company in finding the right strategic partners
who can help bring this technology to the
market."

Adds David A. Kennedy, Executive V.P. of TDRC,
"The E-mate technology is here today and it
works. Our firm has been using the E-mate
service as a beta customer for several months.
Most of the people we do business with have
email and so its only natural that this is the
medium we like to use to send them our
hard-copy and fax documents. Not only has it
reduced our long distance bill, but it is simply a
better solution than faxing, mail, scanning or
overnight delivery."

Web site (demonstration only):
http://www.e-mate.com

SOURCE E-mate.com

CONTACT: Mark Bloomfield of E-mate.com LLC,
770-850-9126, or [email-masked] , or Donald
G. Erb of First Union Securities, 404-827-7448,
or [email-masked] , or David Kennedy of
TDRC, 404-253-7900, or [email-masked]

Web site: http://www.e-mate.com

--Paul Hoffman, Director
--Internet Mail Consortium