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May 2, 2006
Here we go again - Blackberry patents
From DealBook at the New York Times - BlackBerry’s Legal Deja Vu:
Do not bother hitting the “reload” button or clearing the cache in your Web browser — it will not help. Tuesday’s hauntingly familiar headlines about a patent-infringement lawsuit against BlackBerry maker Research in Motion are, in fact, new.
The lawsuit, filed by software company Visto, seeks to shut down the popular (and, for some, near-addictive) BlackBerry wireless e-mail service less than two months after a similar suit from patent holding company NTP was settled. Research in Motion agreed to pay NTP $612.5 million to resolve that earlier case, averting the possibility that its service would be shut down by court order.
For those who thought NTP’s lawsuit lacked merit, the large settlement raised concerns about what are known derogatively as “patent trolls” — investment companies that acquire intellectual property and then sue businesses that use similar technology. In recent months, Research in Motion chairman James Balsillie has been urging United States lawmakers to reform the nation’s patent law immediately so that similar legal troubles will not afflict another company.
There is an important difference between the NTP suit and the latest suit against Research in Motion. Unlike NTP, an entity that lacked business operations, Visto actually competes with Research in Motion, as Forbes.com points out. This relationship, and the following quote from a Visto executive to The New York Times, suggest that Visto may see a BlackBerry shutdown as its ultimate goal:
“We’re not seeking a royalty, we’re seeking an injunction,” Visto’s co-founder and senior vice president, Daniel Méndez, said. “Unlike NTP, we are a company with 400 employees and a viable business to protect. That’s what we’re trying to do with these actions.”
(link to NY Times story)
The Visto patents were the subject of a $3.6 million Texas court judgment on Friday against Seven Networks. What DealBook doesn't mention (from that same NY Times story) is the following:
At Seven's request, one of Visto's patents was reviewed by the United States Patent and Trademark office and upheld. A second patent is still under review.
So this maybe a very different case. And may highlight more the monopoly role of patents - rather than the troll aspect.
Posted by Ken Jarboe at May 2, 2006 1:01 PM
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