The broad markets have been crazy these last two days.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average had about a 150 point swing yesterday after completely reversing course from chasing levels not seen since 2008 to diving into the red.  The focus on Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and its climb to become the biggest public company ever, has had a collateral effect in putting attention on Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), the company whose record Apple broke.  Investors and analysts are questioning what is in the works for Microsoft to compete with the fruit monster of the tech world.

Whatever Microsoft has up its sleeve may have something to do with NeoMedia Technologies (OTCQB: NEOM), a growing company in global mobile barcode management solutions.  NeoMedia specializes in solutions in the rapidly-growing Quick Response , or QR, Code space.  QR code is the trademark for a type of matrix barcode (or two-dimensional code) that was originally produced for the auto industry, but now has become extremely popular in other industries because of its fast readability and large storage capacity compared to legacy UPC barcodes.

With its extensive portfolio of intellectual property, products and services, NeoMedia is quickly building its footprint in the QR code arena as mobile technologies are keeping consumers continuously connected and engaged.

Yesterday afternoon shares of NEOM ran fast upon the company disclosing that it had granted Microsoft a worldwide, non-exclusive, license to NeoMedia’s patent portfolio, consisting of over 74 patents awarded and pending worldwide that encompass many mobile barcode implementations used widely across the industry today.  No details of the licensing agreement were provided.

The agreement is obviously a smart move by Microsoft as patent wars are raging right now with Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), Apple and Samsung in the headlines this week alone.  Patents are crucial and highly sought after as the world continues to become more and more mobile.  When one-time giant Nortel fell-apart in 2009, majors from across the globe came running to snare their IP, with more than 6,000 patents selling for in excess of $4.5 billion.

“The agreement between NeoMedia and Microsoft underscores the importance of intellectual property to our growing industry,” said Laura Marriott, Chief Executive Officer of NeoMedia. “As mobile barcodes become a key fixture in the mobile marketing mix, it is important for stakeholders across the industry to ensure the solutions they employ leverage the relevant intellectual property in a responsible manner.”

Today, NeoMedia followed yesterday’s press with an executive move that brings wireless industry veteran Mark Lanphear to its team as its new Vice President for Sales in North America. Lanphear will have responsibility for sales and business development of NeoMedia’s core products, NeoReader® and NeoSphere™. Lanphear was previously VP of Global Sales and General Manager of Boulder, Colorado-based ZOMM LLC where he held global responsibility for sales and distribution strategy, operations, brand partnerships, loyalty marketing, pricing and channel development.

NeoReader is a universal mobile barcode application that is presently installed on over 20 million devices and available for over 700 mobile device types.  It can scan both 1D and 2D barcodes, including QR codes, Datamatrix, Aztec, UPC, and EAN.  With NeoReader users can scan a code to access the web, send email, store contacts and much more.

NeoSphere is NeoMedia’s barcode management system that delivers robust metadata to brands and marketers looking to better understand exactly who and what people are scanning.

Sporting a market cap of only $12.87 million, NEOM has plenty of headroom for growth.  A concern arises with the 1.1 billion shares outstanding which can be difficult for any upstart to overcome to garner a strong price per share for shareholders.   Even as such, the company could be worthy of further due diligence, an action that we strongly recommend with any public company.

Shares are pulling back today after a 140 percent rampage yesterday to rise to $0.0137 with 261 million shares changing hands.  Heading into the closing bell, shares are down 14.6 percent at $0.0117 on another stellar volume day with more than 338 million shares traded.

NeoMedia Technologies (NEOM) Stock Quote and News:

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