Microsoft Beats Google to Image Text Extraction Patent

[ d i g g t h i s ! ] Reading a story on Mashable this morning (you can read it here), I was impressed to read that Google had filed a patent to extract and index text from images (called "Recognizing Text in Images"), potentially allowing users to search for things like street signs, t-shirt slogans and advertisements in pictures located all over the internet. Impressed, that is, until, after perusing the patent listing site in which Mashable had presumably found the Google patent, I noticed that Microsoft had, in fact, applied for a very similar patent (called "Visual and Multi-Dimensional Search"). Even more interesting, Gates' boys had beaten the Goo-guys to the punch by filing three days earlier - Microsoft filed on June 26, 2007, while Google filed on June 29. The implications of the technology are interesting enough, but the implications of the race between the two computing giants being so close are even more telling of the future of that technology. With the patents having been filed so closely, it will be exciting to see which company will be first to go live with the system. The ability to search text within images would drastically increase the value of things like apparel branding, and would bring large roadside billboards and similar advertisements to the internet in almost real time. I've created a set of interesting RSS feeds generated from the patent tracking site at which Mashable and I found these little gems. I suggest adding them as Live Bookmarks in Firefox:

• Google, Inc.
• Microsoft Corporation
• Apple Computer, Inc.
• US Government
• Lockheed Martin

If you find any other interesting companies or groups, leave their patent feed in the comments! PS: Don't ask me why neither Mashable nor I, nor anyone else, had noticed this sooner. Or, if they had, tell me I'm behind the times. Go ahead - I can take it.