Looks like much-maligned U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is getting into the holiday spirit and trying to make entrepreneurs swoon. After six years, the agency has suddenly decided to give Steve Rosenbaum, founder and CEO of Magnify.net, the gift he’s been waiting for—U.S. Patent No. 8,117,545, covering a hosted video discovery and publishing platform—complete with a Valentine’s issuance date.
It’s a “big thumpy one too :), ” Mr. Rosenbaum told Betabeat over Skype. Thumpy? “Makes noise when you put in on the desk… thump,” he explained.
Considering Mr. Rosenbaum, author of “Curation Nation,” had to suffer through three rejections and two years of straight silence along the way, we say it should’ve come a bag of Sweethearts®, at least.
While consumers may not be familiar with Magnify, its video platform powers sites like New York magazine, TEDxTALKS, and Mediaite. It allows publishers to populate their sites with video from around the web and create their own video channels.
We talked to Mr. Rosenbaum, who was recently named entrepreneur-in-residence by the New York City Economic Development Corporation and also built the 9/11 Memorial iPad app, about why Fred Wilson calls patents “the Anti-Christ” and the three ways a company can respond once its been granted a patent.
