WebFeat Granted U.S. Patent for Federated Search Technology

The United States Patent and Trademark Office recognizes WebFeat’s federated search technology for innovation and importance to the Industry

Old Brookville, NY, December 13, 2004— WebFeat, the original federated search engine, used by over 1,500 leading academic, public, and special libraries, has been granted a patent for its federated search technology by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Granted in the fourth quarter of 2004, U.S. patent #6,807,539 covers WebFeat’s method and technology for managing the authentication and session management necessary to perform a federated search across licensed resources.

Todd Miller, President of WebFeat, commented: “Prior to WebFeat, the only way to search licensed research databases in tandem was with Z39.50, or through an aggregator. WebFeat changed that. Now hundreds of libraries and millions of users enjoy the benefits of WebFeat federated searching. Our success and subsequent patent issuance reinforces WebFeat’s position as the leader in the federated searching space."

WebFeat’s patent focuses on WebFeat’s method and technology for administering the authentication and session management necessary to perform a federated search across licensed resources. Managing licensed database authentication and sessions is widely considered to be the most challenging aspect of federated searching, determining whether or not a federated search engine is compatible with a library’s collection of database resources. To date, WebFeat’s technology has been successfully integrated into over half of the 20 largest U.S. public libraries and one out of every 10 Association of Research Libraries (ARL) institutions.

Todd Miller continued: “Database compatibility is one of the most daunting issues associated with federated search engines. It took years for WebFeat to perfect the complex technology that enables it to perform a federated search against any searchable database."

Mary Marshall, WebFeat Vice President of Sales, agreed: “Compatibility is the most significant problem in the federated search industry. For this reason, it is important to substantiate a vendor’s claims of compatibility prior to making a major investment in a federated search engine.”

Click Here to view the full text of U.S. patent #6,807,539

About WebFeat
WebFeat (US patent #6,807,539) is the developer of the WebFeat Prism™, used by over 1,500 leading public, academic, government and Global 1000 libraries and information centers—including over half of the top 20 largest U.S. public libraries and one out of every 10 Association of Research Libraries (ARL) institutions.

WebFeat’s latest release, WebFeat 3, offers a suite of next-generation federated search tools, PRISM, the SMART™ COUNTER-compliant usage tracker, and MyWebFeat™ personalized federated search system. Originally founded in 1992 as an information technology consultancy, WebFeat has earned industry recognition from leading organizations such as Library Journal and the Gartner Group. Learn more about WebFeat at www.webfeat.org.