GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Gilbarco Inc. will make two key patents available by non-enforcement to the industry for implementations of the Petroleum Convenience Alliance for Technology Standards (PCATS) Open Site Architecture (OSA), contained in the PCATS Fueling Point Specification.
The Gilbarco patents are U.S. Patent Nos. 6,571,201 and 6,820,041, filed in August 2000. These patents facilitate efficient communication and interoperability between a fuel dispenser and other retail devices using a data-type aware markup language. XML is one example of a data-type [image-nocss] aware markup language. The patents are not limited to any particular application or type of data exchange.
PCATS members and other companies may implement PCATS standards without the need to be separately licensed by Gilbarco, as long as their implementations stay within the scope and precise elements outlined in the standards. This announcement does not constitute a free license to developers. It only covers implementations inside the precise elements of the PCATS standards or that otherwise do not exceed the necessary elements of the PCATS standard.
Gilbarco will continue to remain actively involved in working on the evolving OSA/Fueling Point standards and updates to PCATS-NAXML standards.
Gilbarco Veeder-Root and Gasboy are leading suppliers of integrated fuel control, site management and support services for petroleum marketers and commercial fueling enterprises worldwide.
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