Description: A system that uses natural language processing to respond to customers' online inquiries by email.
Patent Name: Automatic message interpretation and routing system
Patent Number: 6,411,947
Critical Date: April 3, 1997
Crimes against the public domain:
- Patent uses basic natural language processing techniques taught in introductory computer science courses
- Firepond is aggressively threatening and filing suit against companies in the natural language processing software space, thus making it difficult for developers in the field to create new products that are related to customer service or email
- Filed suit against California company Banter for infringement, eventually strongarming Banter into licensing Firepond's patents
