DataPower Technology Inc. on Tuesday announced it has been granted a patent for its core XML processing and data interchange technology.

The Cambridge, Mass.-based company said it filed for the patent in 1999 and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted the patent covering DataPower's compiler techniques and dynamic code generation for data transformation, including XML processing.

DataPower's patented technology is included in its XS40 XML Security Gateway, XA35 XML Accelerator and X150 Integration Appliance, and is behind the company's XG3 and XG4 XML processing technology.

In a statement, Eugene Kuznetsov, chairman and chief technology officer of DataPower, said the patent is an important addition to the DataPower intellectual property portfolio. "The patent, filed five years ago, is also confirmation for DataPower's status as the pioneer of XML-aware networking and high-performance data transformation and routing technology," Kuznetsov said.

Jason Bloomberg, an analyst with ZapThink LLC, in Cambridge, Mass., said: "We're seeing a much greater understanding among enterprise architects as well as network architects about the importance of XML appliance functionality to building and managing service-oriented architectures. Devices like those from DataPower, Reactivity, Westbridge Technology, and Sarvega not only handle security and performance issues, but can also offer certain management, routing, and protocol translation capabilities, all on a hardened operating system on an easy-to-manage piece of hardware. Solving the same sorts of problems in software, say with a traditional application server-based approach, is understood as being far more expensive, risky, and hard to manage than an appliance-based solution."

Meanwhile, Kuznetsov added that DataPower is committed to "protecting and utilizing our intellectual property rights."

Bloomberg's ZapThink partner, Ronald Schmelzer, said: "These sorts of patents show that there is not only defensible technology in this space, but a rapidly emerging, defensible market. It's clear that companies are looking to implement highly efficient XML processing, and that we're just at the beginnings of what we can expect from vendors in the market. At some point, the network 'big boys' will notice and will definitely look to jump into this space, probably with a strategic acquisition or two."

This article was first published on eweek.com.