Snap acquires geofilter patent from Mobli for record $7.7 mlnApril 21, 2017 - 17:16 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - According to Snap’s S-1 filing for its IPO, of the $400 million in revenues the company has, $360 million is made by selling “Geofilters,” or photo filters based on location, which advertisers can buy. So owning the patent on that concept would seem pretty crucial. But Snap has never had such a patent, until now. Mobli, an Instagram competitor launched six years ago that failed to get ahead of its competitor, actually patented the idea of Geo-photo filters in 2012, after launching it the previous year, TechCrunch reports. But according to sources, serial entrepreneur and investor Moshe Hogeg, who co-founded Mobli, sold Mobli’s Geofilters patent to Snap this month for $7.7 million. This is believed to be the highest amount paid for a patent from the Israeli tech industry. The news was confirmed in an email to Mobli’s 100 shareholders and obtained by TechCrunch in the form of a screen grab. Sources say Snap wanted the patent to protect itself from future litigation. The patent (US#20160373805, US#9459778) was named Methods and Systems of providing visual content editing functions. The specific nature of the patent covered server-side filters, meaning the filter was coming from the server instead of from inside the app, which means the app itself doesn’t have to be updated every time there is a new Geo-photo filter to push. TechCrunch understands that Mobli first spoke to Facebook about selling the patent. Facebook “100% wanted it,” according to one source. However, other Silicon Valley sources poured scorn on the idea that Facebook had even been offered the patent, with one source familiar with both companies commenting that Mobli wasn’t on the radar of local power players. A Facebook spokesperson said the company had no comment to make. Whatever the case, had Facebook secured the patent, it would have destroyed Snap’s ability to garner revenues from geo-filters, and thus Snap’s main source of income. Typically patents can cost $10,000 to $300, or up to a million dollars. The most expensive in Israel to date was a $2.7 million patent to do with Google Maps. Mobli’s original patent for Geofilters was approved in 2014, long before Snapchat created the Geofilters feature. Asked to confirm the story, Moshe Hogeg replied to TechCrunch with “No comment.” We have reached out to Snap for comment. Top stories Yerevan will host the 2024 edition of the World Congress On Information Technology (WCIT). Rustam Badasyan said due to the lack of such regulation, the state budget is deprived of VAT revenues. Krisp’s smart noise suppression tech silences ambient sounds and isolates your voice for calls. Gurgen Khachatryan claimed that the "illegalities have been taking place in 2020." Partner news Most popular in the section | Scholz hopes Armenia-Azerbaijan peace treaty will be signed this year German Chancellor Olaf Scholz hopes that a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan will be signed this year. Armenia, Russia discuss life extension of Metsamor nuclear plant Issues regarding the extension of life of the 2nd power unit of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant were discussed in Yerevan. Armenians stage more campaigns against territorial concessions to Azerbaijan Protesters blocked more roads across Armenia on Friday, April 26 in continuing attempts to scuttle territorial concessions to Azerbaijan. Czech-Armenian military cooperation discussed in Yerevan A delegation led by the Director General for the Industrial Cooperation Division of the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic visited Armenia. |