[paulfr2]

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/10/te...tml?oref=login

Login required... visit this site for an account -> http://bugmenot.com/view.php?url=nytimes.com

I think that NTP should be banned because they never produced a device like the Blackberry, they just "own" a patent on the technology behind the blackberry.... USPTO needs to be overhauled from the ground up!

[paulfr2]

Here's the article -

Companies Unable to Settle BlackBerry Suit

E-Mail This
Printer-Friendly
Reprints


By IAN AUSTEN
Published: June 10, 2005
OTTAWA, June 9 - Final talks in a patent infringement lawsuit involving the popular BlackBerry e-mail messaging device have reached an impasse, the two companies involved said Thursday, raising the possibility that the BlackBerry service could be banned from the United States market.

The two companies, Research in Motion of Waterloo, Ontario, which makes the BlackBerry, and NTP, a small patent-holding company in Arlington, Va., reached a settlement in March to end an infringement suit that is three and a half years old. R.I.M. agreed at the time to pay NTP the unusually large sum of $450 million to end the suit.

On Thursday, however, it was apparent that negotiations to reach a final settlement had failed.

Late Wednesday night, R.I.M. asked a United States federal court to enforce the settlement reached in March. Meanwhile, in court papers filed Thursday, NTP denied that the settlement was ever clear-cut, and urged the court to reject R.I.M.'s request.

In a conference call Thursday with analysts, James L. Balsillie, the chairman and co-chief executive of R.I.M., said he could not comment on the specifics of why the talks had foundered, citing a confidentiality agreement between the companies. He emphasized, though, that R.I.M. had not tried to alter the settlement's terms, and blamed NTP for the impasse.

"This is an enormous amount of money, one of the largest settlements in the history of any patent system," Mr. Balsillie said. "I'm at a loss to understand what in the world one would want beyond that."

In its filing, however, NTP said that it had pressed R.I.M. for a complete set of documents detailing the terms of the agreement during three days of negotiations in March.

"Nevertheless, because of R.I.M.'s pressing need to leave town, the signed agreement was limited to a vague, ambiguously worded term sheet," the court papers said.

NTP had won the right to ban Blackberry e-mail in the United States in an earlier court decision, but that ruling was suspended when R.I.M. appealed. In its filing Thursday, though, NTP said that if no settlement was reached, it would again ask for an injunction on the sale of BlackBerry pagers and e-mail service in the United States. Research in Motion is dependent on Blackberry sales in the United States for about 75 percent of its revenues.

Gregory E. Upchurch, an intellectual property lawyer in St. Louis, said that about 80 percent of the time, courts enforced previously announced settlements. "Courts are in the business of resolving disputes," he said.

[Dawg]

well consideringthat there are alot of US government employees and politicians using RIM products I dont see the ban happening. It will all work out in the end too many people use RIM based products in the US to allow this to happen.

[finch]

I question if its greed? What the 450Mil offered up by RIM wasn't enough for the folks at NTP...

[Dawg]

yeah thats quite a bit of money in any realm Holy mackral thats a ship load ( a bigone) of money

[FlemmingRiis]

Its a 2way street

http://siliconvalley.internet.com/ne...le.php/1368361


yeah yeah i know its old just first hit on google ;)

[Dawg]

I dont disagree with the suit I disagree that the 450 mil isnt a good enough settlement.

[FlemmingRiis]

Originally Posted by Dawg

I dont disagree with the suit I disagree that the 450 mil isnt a good enough settlement.

Yeah it seems a insane ammount of money.

[virus.EK]

$$$ talks.

Maybe NTP wants $$$ up front plus royalties on top. Imagine that. As long as RIM stays in business they'll always have cash flowing in. Either way NTP won't be successful in placing a ban because of the essential service it offers to its clients (ahem... US government)

[mgerbasio]

From reading this week on the net, Congress is coming under increasing pressure from industry to stop patent trolls. These are companies that are issued broad patents without any intention of developing a product. They sit back and wait for someone else to develop a product that they can claim uses their technology.

It seems RIM vs Good has more merit since both have actually developed a product than NTP vs RIM. NTP is basically a small firm of lawyers developing nothing and holding a patent on the obvious.

Regards-Michael G.

[guinda35]

This is a court case, and it won't matter whether politicians or government workers use Berries. This will have no influence. What I think is key, though, is the last paragraph of the article, where it is noted that courts overwhelmingly enforce agreements. I don't think the court will want to try the many sticky issues of the case and be an instrument to feed NTP's greed, if NTP is indeed still trying to strong-arm RIM after agreeing to settle the case. This might backfire on NTP badly. I sure would like to know what the specific issues are, so I could decide whether to buy more or dump my RIM stocks.

[jibi]

I still agree with RIM's approach from the Canadian government concerning the fact that US patents should not affect a Canadian-based company. If NTP wanted to go after RIM, then file the claim in the Canadian patent office and court system.

[twizardt]

Originally Posted by guinda35

This is a court case, and it won't matter whether politicians or government workers use Berries. This will have no influence.

I totally disagree.
True they have no illegal influence, but when you have that many government employees and multimillion dollar carriers vested that heavily in a product, they will never allow it to be stopped. At worst, it will be held up in court and appeals for a long long time.

[guinda35]

Wizard:

"...they will never allow it to be stopped."

Except that it's already happened. That's why RIM settled. The court enjoined the sale of Berries in the US, RIM appealed, and the court of appeals agreed, except for some minor matters.

jibi:

As to the Canadian issues, that's already in the rear-view mirror. The US courts agreed to accept jurisdiction. That's why RIM's *ss is in a crack.

[twizardt]

Originally Posted by guinda35

Except that it's already happened.

Guinda, Im purely talking in the long term.

[guinda35]

The long term can only mean the Supreme Court, and SCOTUS is not likely at all to hear it, which is why RIM agreed to fork over such a huge amount. The settlement dispute is an intriguing point though, because if the courts get pi**ed of at NTP for being greedy, all bets are off (if indeed that's why the settlememt broke down). But this has nothing at all to do with how many of us are using Berries, or who we work for, and everything to do with getting mother nature (ie the courts) upset with messing with her rules.

[jibi]

the courts could be overruled, temporarily, by a law. and then the law could be found unconstitutional by a lower court. then it could go to the supreme court, who would then uphold the law. then the president could recommend a constitutional amendment (hey, he's already said he'd do it about gay marriage, so why not blackberry). then congress could pass that (or whatever that process is). and then blackberry could be legalized in america and a gigantic middle finger could be raised to NTP and the US Judicial system.