Mobile barcode firm NeoMedia Technologies is reporting significant growth in its mobile barcode solutions in the first three months of 2012.

There are now 227 countries, representing more than 20m handsets, using NeoMedia’s NeoReader barcode scanning service. Phones using the Android operating system account for 56 per cent of scans, followed by iOS, Symbian, Blackberry and then, Windows Phone 7.

Overall, the number of unique NeoReader users grew 148 per cent between the first quarter of 2011 and the first quarter of 2012. Users are predominately male, though the number of female users has grown over the past year. The majority of all users are under 35 years of age.

Compared to the first three months of 2011, NeoMedia has seen a 138 per cent growth in QR code scanning in the first three months of 2012. Broken down, 1D scanning has grown 27 per cent and 2D scanning is up 212 per cent. The total number of QR codes scanned grew 13 per cent. The number of mobile barcodes generated through NeoMedia’s NeoSphere platform totalled 73,000. 

“We continue to invest in our mobile barcode solutions to make them easier to use,” says NeoMedia CEO, Laura Marriott. “The growth we’ve seen over the past year proves that NeoReader is becoming one of the most popular QR code readers amongst mobile users worldwide.”

Separately, NeoMedia has filed a patent litigation lawsuit against SpyderLynk, LLC. The suit, filed in the District Court for the District of Colorado, asserts infringement of two NeoMedia patents related to its mobile barcode resolution technology. Specifically, the complaints assert infringement of the following patents:  U.S. Patent Nos. 6,199,048, and 8,131,597. The lawsuit seeks to enjoin SpyderLynk from using NeoMedia’s patented technology and to recover damages caused by the infringement.