Apple Sued By Malaysia Company over iAds

A company headquartered in Malaysia is suing Apple, and other companies, for infringing a patent related to the serving of location-based ads, which is one of the iAd strong points touted by Apple.

The company in question, StreetSpace, develops a remote Internet terminal known as the Web Station.

It allows the average Joe to walk up to a terminal, access the Internet, and view targeted advertisements in the meanwhile, according to a report by AppleInsider.

Apple’s iAds combine the emotion of TV advertising with the interactivity of Internet advertising, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said earlier this year.

In addition to the eye candy, the service relies on spotting a user’s location to serve the appropriate type of ad.

This is what StreetSpace is targeting in the lawsuit filed last week in a U.S. District Court in the Southern District of California, alleging that iAds is in violation of patent 6,847,969.

According to the suit, iAd delivers personalized advertisements based on a user’s location, profile and usage history, alleging that Apple is in direct violation of StreetSpace’s invention.

Published in 2005, the StreetSpace patent is for “A method and system for providing, personalized and integrated online services for communications and commercial transactions both in private and public venues.”

The abstract description of the invention continues, with StreetSpace noting that “[it] provides personalized information that is conveniently accessible through a network of public access stations (or terminals) which are enabled by a personal system access card (e.g., smart card).”

“The invention also provides advertisers the opportunity to directly engage action; and potential user-consumers with selected advertising or marketing content based on each user’s profile and usage history,” the patent application, dug up by MacsimumNews, reads.

The same report reaffirms that Apple has iAd commitments totaling over US$60 million for the year. This represents nearly 50 percent of the total forecasted US mobile ad spending for the second half of 2010, the report adds, citing Apple’s CEO.