Chikka, Bidshot granted patents for innovative ‘texting’ products

Philippine-based Chikka Asia Inc. and affiliate Bidshot, the country’s leading mobile messaging and wireless services companies, confirmed that they have received patent grants from the Intellectual Office of Singapore.

Patent grants are also expected shortly from the other signatory-countries of the Patent Cooperation Treaty. Applications, in fact, have been filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty that extends patent protection to most major wireless markets, including the Philippines and majority of European countries.

"Patents are an integral part of our investment in technology and our effort to establish the Philippines as a regional center for excellence in wireless application developments," said Dennis Mendiola, Chikka Asia Inc. chief executive officer.

The patented methods and systems are employed in Chikka’s mobile-centric Instant Messenger, which connects PC users to cellular phones through text messaging or SMS (Short Messaging Service) on GMS networks and in other wireless applications and services. Chikka connects to all major Philippine GSM operators.

The announcement came at the heels of search reports confirming "no prior art" for Chikka’s patent-pending "suffixing" technology. A "no prior art" search report strongly suggests an inventive and novel technology and is the precursor of an actual patent grant.

"Suffixing" refers to the attachment of dynamic indices, be they numeric or alphabetic characters to a basic access code such as 27701 or 277KISS wherein "277" is the main short code supplied by the GSM operator. A patent Chikka has filed says that depending on what a user texts to the main short code, the reply from its servers will have particular numbers attached to 277.

"This suffixing technology has allowed Chikka and Bidshot unparalleled creativity with plain SMS, making it (SMS) highly interactive. Thus, we have been able to adopt any successful model on the Net, like auction, instant messaging, Internet-related chat, or crush-dating, and bring them to the mobile texting world," Mendiola said.

The patents were first employed for the PC to mobile texting application Chikka Txt Messenger where a message coming from a PC user is identified as coming from a basic access code plus the Chikka ID or in the case of a mobile user, the basic access code plus the GSM mobile phone number. In fact, a GSM number used as PC log-on ID is the subject of yet another patent.

Earlier, Bidshot Dotcom, a Chikka affiliate, assigned these "virtual GSM numbers" to transactions and items being auctioned off and bid upon by a community of buyers and sellers.

"The point has always been to give the mobile user more things to do through SMS while retaining the simplicity, intuitiveness and ease of use that have been at the very center of our love affair with text," Mendiola said.

The two companies have, in fact, ventured out of their original messaging and m-commerce platform to exclusively employ these patented and patent-pending solutions such as text hotline and text radio.

A Singapore-registered subsidiary, Chikka Pte. Ltd., holds title to all of Chikka’s intellectual property assets, including all international treaty and national patents, brand names, trademarks and service marks.

"Chikka" is Filipino slang for "small talk."