PATENTS VICTORY FOR MILLION-2-1

11 January 2008

South African patent issued for HowLo? mobile auction concept awarded


After a two year slog, the mobile gaming provider of lottery, SMS and interactive games Million-2-1, has secured the South African patent for its reverse auction mobile game mechanic, How Lo?

The patent legally attributes the reverse auction model to Million-2-1. Under patent law, all companies that wish to run reverse auctions in South Africa will now have to licence the mechanics from the company.

With international patents pending in the US, Canada, Australia and Singapore, Million-2-1 is expanding its operations internationally with a number of partnership and licence agreements already in place with companies that operate in those territories, a spokesman revealed this week.

Million-2-1 invented the concept of the lowest unique bid auction and has been successfully operating games such as How Lo? with various media partners for three years. In that time the company has completed millions of transactions and given away more than GBP2 million in prizes including Aston Martins, Ferraris, Porsches and a range of consumer electrical goods.

Scott Davies, director and co-founder of Manchester-based Million-2-1, commented: "Securing a patent for the reverse auction mechanic in South Africais a significant business step for us. It gives us the opportunity to enforce our own strict consumer centric values on how reverse auctions are executed. This is a cornerstone to offering a game that appeals to everyone, has longevity and is operated within the local regulatory framework."

How Lo? works by inviting players to text in the lowest unique bid for a prize. Using skill, players respond as to what the lowest bid will be via SMS, WEB, WAP and PRTS. The user receives bid feedback letting them know the status of their current bid. Throughout the auction players will receive free bid updates via their chosen method of entry. Competitions are run within specific time-frames.e.g. by the hour, day, week or month.

Million 2-1's How Lo? has successfully completed nearly 2000 auctions and given away more than GBP 2 million in prizes since it
began operations in 2002, with almost 10 million transactions now completed - the last auction for a Ferrari attracted more than 500 000 bids.

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