Patent accepted in USA

Australian-listed property technology company, Openn Negotiation Limited (‘Openn’ or ‘the Company’)(ASX:OPN), is pleased to announce that the United States (‘US’) Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) has issued a notice of allowance for the patent Application No. 16/311989 (‘Patent Application’) made by the Company’s wholly owned subsidiary, Openn Tech Pty Ltd (‘Openn Tech’).

The notice of allowance confirms that, following examination of the patent application, the USPTO considers Openn Tech is entitled to a patent under US patent law. On 8 December 2021, the Company received confirmation that all instructions and payments to issue the patent have been received by the USPTO. The priority date for the accepted patent was established by the original Australian application filed on 23 June 2016.

The accepted patent application relates to a system for conducting real estate sales over the internet where the sale is administrated by a sales facilitator. It covers the type of real estate sales processes enabled by the Openn platform where agents facilitate the sale process between seller and buyer.

The US is considered the largest real estate market in the world, valued at USD $2.5 trillion per year.

This is the first pending patent owned by Openn Tech to be accepted. It is of significant importance because it creates a strong legal pathway to protect the value of investments made by the Openn group in developing the Openn platform.

Openn Tech also advises that it has submitted additional patent applications to the USPTO that link to and extend from the accepted patent. This approach is intended to enhance Openn’s intellectual property protection in preparation for North American market entry.

Duncan Anderson, Director and President of its US subsidiary, Openn North America Inc, said: “The hurdles to obtain patent approval for software are high. This is a significant milestone that rewards Openn’s pioneering work to develop transparent online offer management solutions for the real estate industry. It comes at a time when North American consumers are demanding transparency while realtors are demanding efficiency in offer management.

“The technology subject to this patent is at the heart of the Openn platform and is designed to address both of those demands. So, as the industry turns its attention to filling this current gap in the solutions market, the granting of this patent is helpful to our strategy of building partnerships with well-established complementary technology providers in the North American market.”

This announcement is authorised for market release by the Board of Openn Negotiation Ltd.