Digital Trends

Developer of wireless phones announces they've been granted a patent on a MP3 phone with speakers on the side and plans to seek royalty payments.

Hop-On, a developer of wireless phones and accessories as well as wireless surveillance systems, announced today it has received a design patent for what it is calling MP3 phones. This design patent, apparently granted here in the United States, is described by Hop-On has being for "a MP3 phone with speakers on the side, in addition to front and side buttons to activate its camera/video features."

Hop-On wasted no time in stating it would be seeking payment from those whose cell phones might fall into their patent's rangefinder. "We look forward to the four major carriers, manufactures selling products and major retailers in the US to cooperate with Hop-on’s past and future royalties of its design patent," said Hop-On in a written statement. "Most MP3 flip phones on the market today have speakers on the side of the phones. We will be seeking royalties from previous and future sales of this design; there have been millions of similar phones sold on the market.”

Hop-On added a subsidiary "had signed essential license agreements with Philips, Siemens, Alcatel, Ericsson, InterDigital, Lucent, Motorola, NEC and Nokia for their intellectual property" in the past, so their new patent demands and claims may end up holding some merit.