A local technology firm that dares to dream

A Melbourne-based, ASX-listed technology firm is working on harnessing the business potential of patent breakthroughs.

A Facebook user streamed the recent pay-per-view boxing bout between Anthony Mundine & Danny Green. Imagine a technology that enables a broadcaster know who is live streaming and to individually warn both the viewers and streamers as soon as they start breaching copyright.

Imagine a technology that would enable the police, on seeing a vehicle behaving suspiciously in say Melbourne or Nice, to be able to bring up data on a handheld screen almost instantly detailing what that vehicle had been doing in for the past few hours.

Given vehicles are becoming the weapon of choice for many terrorists, we are going to need to use all the technology that is available to get advance warning.

Imagine a technology that enabled me to search Google to watch the aces served by a player in the Australian Open or the goals scored by my favourite footballer or sixes hit by my favourite cricketer.

Imagine a technology that would enable cable/internet television companies to identify exactly who is watching a particular program so advertisements can be personally directed.

And finally imagine a technology that enables a broadcaster like Foxtel to know who is live streaming to social media, say, the Mundine-Green fight (or a movie) and to individually warn both the viewers and streamers as soon as they start breaching copyright.

We are developing such a technology in Melbourne, Australia. Indeed, it’s already being marketed.

I am always very nervous about writing about technology developments because it’s a high-risk business and journalists who go overboard claiming the attributes of a particular technology can look very silly.

Nevertheless, we are living in a world where people are prepared to accept technology and those who can patent breakthroughs can make good money — if their technology works and they know how to market their discovery.

In the case of the above technology, the market does not rate it highly by capitalising the company that is developing and marketing the technology (Linius Technologies Ltd) at less than $35 million.

But my attention was drawn to the technology by the horror of the Bourke Street rampage and then by the fact that the co-chief executive of Village Roadshow, Rob Kirby, invested $500,000 of Kirby family money in the equity.

Rob Kirby would not have invested family money in a technology that had no chance. He will have been attracted by the personalisation of advertisements and the ability to protect copyright. The stock is still selling at the Kirby buy-in price.

Around the world technology companies are gaining ratings way above those in Australia and, while they don’t always succeed, they are, in total, generating great wealth for the nations that nurture them.

In the case of Linius (LNU), the inventor of the base technology never fully developed it. Chris Richardson, who has a record of developing technology companies, saw the potential, and took on the task of taking the technology to the next level and taking out global patents. It was backdoor listed in the middle if 2016.

Linius now putting themselves to the test by appointing executives to market each of the products listed above. And, in the personalised content space, they have linked with major set top box maker DigiSoft.

The company will need at least one of its market thrusts to generate solid revenue because developing four markets will be expensive for a company that is not cash rich. But the global market for each of the avenues is huge.

The original inventor retains a shareholding. I hope he wins.