COMPANY:
EQUIAS TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT llc was incorporated as a Delaware limited liability company in the spring of 2005. In part, Delaware was selected because it provided a more comprehensive match for EQUIAS assets through its special categorization of "patent holding" companies. Today the company operates from its modest headquarters in Malta, New York, a location that has become the "east coast" hub for the most advanced nano-technologies. Referred to as the new "TECH VALLEY", EQUIAS is now being joined by multi-billion dollar chip fabs with thousands upon thousands of talented leaders, who are helping to establish this LOCATION as a center for knowledge and technology.
EQUIAS has licensed a number of very important patents here in the US in an effort to stretch the boundaries of what is possible in interactive mapping and location based intelligence. It has also assembled a team of seasoned technology and real estate players that will help to cultivate the success for its planned launch of the worlds' first international real estate search portal, www.FindaHome.com.
HISTORY:
The genesis of the business strategies that are just now being brought to the public occurred more than a decade earlier. CEO and founder, Scott Tatro began his entree into real estate technologies in 1985. At that time, his business development experience revolved primarily around the creation and operation of a non-profit 501 C corporation (Heart to Heart Ministries) which assisted other not-for-profit organizations in developing creative media and marketing solutions.
It was during this time that Mr. Tatro conceived of a video-based catalog of available real estate property listings that would be referencable by index and time codes and made available free of charge in video rental outlets across the region. This innovative concept ended up creating an opportunity for Scott to become writer, producer, and director of a weekly real estate television show. Tatro later incorporated a host of other technologies, including print publications, which lead to the creation of REAL ESTATE UPDATE, a successful regional classified newspaper which published in nearly 25 different markets across the country.
It wasn't until the early 1990's when Mr. Tatro would finally start to aggregate the company's digital print assets and re-publish them on the internet. SImple USA maps helped to lead consumers to regions of interest where they could learn about and see available properties. With assistance from local business partners, Tatro was able to establish one of the country's first online real estate search sites, HOMESEARCH INFORMATION NETWORK. The product brand INTERCONNEX was an early attempt to dabble in a market that was destined to become a behemoth. Although the company's assets were eventually purchased by Microsoft HOMEADVISOR, and the company disbanded, this was the pivotal period in 1995-96 which foretold of things to come.
PATENTS
The InterCONNEX real estate search project was made possible through the involvement of local technology leaders. As fate would have it, one of those early leaders was the CEO and founder of America's premier publicly traded mapping company, MAPINFO. This was fortuitous, because it was at this time in 1995 that the first patent licensing opportunity came to light. The patent was USPTO 5032989, known as the "Real Estate Search and Location System and Method". InterCONNEX was employing interactive maps in its strategy and wished to continue offering this visual location based method to consumers. During the review and requisite due diligence for the patent, the company was afforded the insight and knowledge of the CEO of one of the industry's true pioneers. The license was requested, approved by the patent holders, and Mr. Tatro became the first licensee in the USA to deploy this consumer solution.
Mr. Tatro sought additional patent licensing over the next several years. One such quest lead him to famed Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) birthplace of the graphical user interface. Although unable to negotiate a license to a technology from this XEROX think-tank called (electronic paper), Tatro was able to participate in an unusual start-up which incorporated the technology. Far removed from the real estate industry, it would be another 3 years before Mr. Tatro would once again focus his efforts on this space.
In early 2003 Mr. Tatro was notified of some particularly disturbing news regarding the USPTO 5032989 license he had earlier acquired. It appeared that the patent holder Real Estate Alliance Limited (REAL llc) was intending on bringing wide-spread enforcement action against many of the companies who were actively utilizing the technology without licenses. Mr. Tatro seized the opportunity to secure his licensing status through active negotiations with the patent holders. Soon, the www.FindaHome.com brand began to take shape, and Tatro looked at ways to build technology value-added solutions which would bundle-in the 5032989 licenses which most agents and brokers were lacking as an alternative to the planned $10,000 per agent license price targeted by REAL llc. The patent holders have begun their enforcement and EQUIAS has found itself in the midst of a significant torrent of controversy.
Mr Tatro believes that this patent along with the other patents and innovations that EQUIAS has brought together in their efforts have become the new standard. Regardless of the actions being taken on various legal fronts for these and other patents, EQUIAS is convinced that progressive brokers, and inquisitive consumers will go where their desire for LOCATION INTELLIGENCE can truly be met. Meeting these needs and desires with Innovation and Integrity is what EQUIAS is all about.