Local.com, a US-based local search engine, has registered a patent for Local Search in the Internet and challenges the competition to start negotiations (with them).

Local.com initially registered the US-Patent #: 7.231.405 on January 10, 2005. The patent application was approved by the USPTO (US-Patent and Trade Mark Office.

The patent, which is only enforceable in the USA, describes a procedure, with which websites take user-entered local data, for example street address, and then search, index and order by geographic location, thus enabling a local search in the internet to be completed. This method, as described, is the same or similar to that utilized internationally by thousands of local search engines.

What consequences this patent registration will have on the local search industry in the USA, remains unclear. Local.com in the press release makes clear reference to its expectation that it will earn licensing fees from other local search engines. Business Manager for Local.com, Heath Clark addresses the competition: “We encourage other local search companies that are interested in using our intellectual property to enter into licensing agreements with Local.com.” What will happen, when other search machine enterprises do not enter into such agreements with Local.com, is not referred to – one can surely anticipate future legal challenges to this action.