Data Fusion: A Source of Contention?
June 29, 2011
Research. is reporting that Kantar and TRA are doing battle over intellectual property. In their article, “Kantar and TRA at Loggerheads over Data Fusion Patent” they report that Kantar and Cavendish have filed a joint complaint as a pre-emptive strike against TRA who is threatening to sue them over patent right infringement.
According to Kantar and Cavendish, TRA claims that Kantar’s RapidView-Retail product encroaches on its patent. The product marries TV audience data and purchase behaviour data with a view to better targeting ad spend. The case is unusual as Kantar has been a long-time investor in TRA, and Sheila Spence, a WPP and Cavendish executive, sits on the TRA board – though she is alleged to have been excluded from a recent board meeting and may also be excluded from another upcoming meeting.
Let’s think about this. Will a patent spat about data fusion in the ad world trigger potential downstream issues in other market sectors. On the surface, a person might say, “No.” However, with the surprises the US legal system can spring, I am not so sure. My view is that patent litigation can spill over and take out the entrepreneurial Minots and Fargos. There is considerable risk in certain legal matters. Data fusion is the issue but the problem is the advertising. Some folks care a great deal about advertising. My yellow warning lights are now flashing.
Stephen E Arnold, June 29, 2011
You can read more about enterprise search and retrieval in The New Landscape of Enterprise Search, published my Pandia in Oslo, Norway, in June 2011.
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