Expand Beyond gets broad wireless patent

Expand Beyond Corp., which makes tools for remotely managing databases, has been awarded a broad patent for technology used to monitor and manage computer systems from a wireless device, the company announced Friday.

Expand Beyond isn't saying yet how it plans to use the patent, awarded last month by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. It could potentially use it to seek licensing fees from other vendors. Such a patent could also make a small, privately held company like Expand Beyond a more attractive target for acquisition, one patent attorney said.

The patent describes "a system, a method and an apparatus ... for the wireless monitoring and management of computer systems, networks, software systems or databases on a portable and/or handheld device which may monitor, update, and fix the system from any location and at any time."

It also describes methods for formatting and displaying information gathered on the screen of a PDA (personal digital assistant) or other mobile device. The patent includes 46 approved claims, making it "one of the most comprehensive and far-reaching patents awarded in the mobile business software industry to date," the company said in a statement.

Based in Chicago, Expand Beyond is best known for its PocketDBA products, which allow database administrators (DBAs) to keep tabs on their servers while they are out and about. The company also offers software for developing mobile applications.

Expand Beyond touted the patent as proof of its leadership in its field. It began developing PocketDBA in 1999, at a time when the Palm VII was the only PDA on the market with wireless capabilities, and long before Research in Motion Ltd.'s popular Blackberry arrived.

Since then, the market for such devices has ballooned, making Expand Beyond's patent a valuable asset, according to Ari Kaplan, the company's founder and chief executive.

"What I'm excited about is that (the patent) is not just for databases; it encompasses everything from databases and applications to servers and networks, anything you want to monitor and manage from a wireless device," he said.

The U.S. patent office has been criticized in recent years for being too quick to issue broad patents, which can encourage litigation or make it difficult for other vendors to enter related markets. Expand Beyond should be judged by how it eventually makes use of its patent, said Charlie Garry, an industry analyst at Meta Group Inc.

A former DBA himself, Garry isn't convinced that demand will be strong for tools like PocketDBA. "I haven't had a single inquiry from a client saying 'I really want to learn more about this wireless monitoring thing,'" he said. Most laptops these days include built-in Wi-Fi, he noted.

The U.S. patent office would have conducted a thorough search for any "prior art" that could potentially be used to invalidate the patent, Kaplan said. When it comes to software, however, the patent office tends to search primarily among technologies that have already been awarded patents, said Steven Frank, a partner with the patent and intellectual property group of Boston's Testa, Hurwitz & Thibeault LLP. "It's hard to know what's out there until someone has come forward," he said.