Mobile Maps and Online Mapping Tools in IP Monetization
The importance in licensing and monetization in mapping technologies for the use of engineering and various STEM related or enterprise projects are key to understand how this specific technology attains monetization and value both for the seller, the licensee by making navigation easier. In the scenario of consumer based maps, we will take into consideration mapping in the context of street view developed by Google and used by multiple industries and key players in the software sector.
Mapping provides value to many aspects of life, business and engineering communications. We see numerous examples and products that map environments, objects and territories to better understand how we should proceed with a consumer or commercial endeavor. One key product where IP and patentability are considered of value are popular mobile phone maps and applications—they all do it differently, however the outcome is generally the same...hence leading you to your destination. When discussing IP, feature sets, ubiquity varies from one platform to another as seen in Apple Maps, Google Maps, Waze and other mapping systems. However, one specific feature we will focus on is Street View and its profitability as a licensing tool for everyone to use as an integration method into a business model through its API.
Street view is a convenient way to see a building, home or structure in order to ensure and verify you are doing business with the correct address, and everything from fast food delivery apps, grocery delivery, packages and other tangible assets and mapping tools use streets maps to visualize work effort. Conventionally these processes used paper mapping methods, knowledge or memory to ensure deliveries and correspondence were allocated correctly but with the advent of visual representation, satellite imagery and sensor mapping with the likes of Google, Waze and many other back end mapping tools—we’ve had the convenience of identifying our destination addresses easier with coordinates and positioning systems. With these technological benefits, what are the value line’s in IP monetization where APIs and proprietary code can be licensed and cashed out?
When taking a look at mapping systems we see product development solutions on a digital platform—a database of information where multiple amounts of primary and secondary tiers of business use it to improve their work flow. The IP monetization value derives from the work the originator has done to put together the unknown pieces of the visualization work space known as Street View, Terrain View and various other cartography feature sets, satellite imagery and voice guided turn by turn vocational tools. Mapping in any field or sector is an ongoing effort. For example…in 2018 when Google replaced its old mapping licenses, it implemented a new model of Pay as you go, the company would now evaluate your average yearly usage of its API and charge you accordingly. In result the original work done by the company through deploying vehicles, sensors and camera's around the globe to capture road conditions, routes and visualizations of your surroundings provided novelty by eliminating conventional paper maps, but also deploying an API where other entrepreneurs could utilize in their applications. In and around 2004 Danish brothers Lars and Jens Eilstrup Rasmussen approached Google proposing searchable, scrollable and zoomable mapping leading to the introduction of Google Maps in 2005. Mapping for the consumer sector started to take off and feature sets started to pour in, Yahoo! hit the map sector first, Map-Quest added turn by turn directions, but then Google started to pour money and time into improving maps on an intricate scale with driving and public transport directions and eventually the famous Street View.
Regardless of the technology or feature at hand, mapping is a competitive business as one feature like street maps could drive revenue in and deflect external competition out--people want to see exactly where they are stopping. Google maps alone generates and estimated $4b a year from licensing and ads on its platform from various enterprise solutions that use its API. Thus, in the helm of intellectual property and ownership, mapping is always an ongoing effort. In order to bring value to market, one would need to propose novelty beyond doubt and possibly build upon existing infrastructure through improvements. Nevertheless, mapping if done correctly is a great licensing opportunity.