01-23-2006, 11:00 PM
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Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,228
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RIM Handed Defeat On Supreme Court Appeal
http://money.cnn.com/2006/01/23/technology/rim/?cnn=yes
"BlackBerry maker Research in Motion was dealt a setback Monday after the Supreme Court turned down a request to review a major patent infringement ruling against it. The move takes away yet another barrier between BlackBerry users and service interruptions. There are more than 4 million users of the BlackBerry e-mail service. Research In Motion (RIM) had petitioned the Supreme Court to review a federal appeals court ruling that could lead to a shutdown of most U.S. BlackBerry sales and service."
I never imagined it would go this far. It could really be turned off, though many speculate even if the Blackberry service is forced to shut down for most, it would be left running for goverment and emergency workers that have come to rely on the devices. Still, I think worst case scenario is RIM pays NTP whatever is necessary to keep the service going.
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01-23-2006, 11:37 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 157
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This is rediculous! Hasn't the US Patent office already said (or at least essentially said) that NTP's patents are invalid? "The law is an ass!"
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01-23-2006, 11:58 PM
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Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 3,060
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Nope. The Supreme Court has reviewed that decision and ruled (twice, now, I believe) against RIM. It's stupid that a company that had no interest whatsoever in using their patent to actually produce anything is allowed to hold RIM users hostage.
I expect that RIM will pay a huge ransom (after a brief interruption) and will be forced to pass that fee onto its users.
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01-24-2006, 12:03 AM
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Sage
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 601
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Hugh Nano
This is rediculous! Hasn't the US Patent office already said (or at least essentially said) that NTP's patents are invalid? "The law is an a$$!"
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That is a fact as reported last month:
U.S. Patent Office Sides with RIM
It is absolute crap that NTP should gain anything financially from this scheme.
__________________
CTSLICK - ROCK ON
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01-24-2006, 01:25 AM
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Oracle
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 866
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NTP is one of those ar$ehole companies that uses patents to make money buy extorting it from legit companies that have products based on their patent.
I believe that you should show proof that you intend to use an idea before you patent it to stop this crap of patenting an idea so that companies that want to use it have to pay you.
This kind of thing is absurd, and the whole patent system needs reviewing to stop this kind of extortion.
Extortion is basically what this is.
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01-24-2006, 03:13 AM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,202
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The Supreme court decision was expected - RIM was appealing on the basis of being a Canadian Company, so not subject to the order to shut down, a tough sell since 80% of RIM's revenue comes from the US.
However, the Patent office has indicated that all or almost all of NTP's patents in this case are invalid - subject to appeal, which is really the issue now. The patent office have written to the judge who issued the injunction against RIM that the Patent's are invalid and that is highly unlikely that they will change that decision, even on appeal.
The real issue now is whether the judge wants to stick to his original injunction, knowing that it is most likely based upon an invalid patent. I think it would be a huge misuse of justice if he decided to enforce the injuncition, forcing RIM to either pay a huge settlement or shut down.
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01-24-2006, 03:19 AM
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Sage
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 718
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I've read that NTP only has one or two actual employees and the rest are lawyers. Patent suing is how they make their money.
This is especially annoying since NTP already agreed to a $450 million settlement a while back but renegged on it, looking for more cash. That's the thing that really burns me. But despite this agreement (which is overly fair and NTP should be forced to uphold IMO - and even then, RIM is still getting jobbed), the US courts seem determined to force RIM into financial ruin. This is strictly conspiracy theory stuff, but we all know that since 9-11, there's been an anti-foreign backlash here in the US. Since NTP is US based and RIM is Canadian, well, do the math  As I said, no proof, but suspicious because I can see little legal reason for these judicial decisions.
Of course, not wanting the wrath of the US government to come down on them (Blackberry is hugely popular in government circles. Even Bush's boys use them  ), NTP has "graciously" said that any shutdown would not apply to government contracts. That's very big of you NTP * ahem * but, uh, nice try. If Blackberry is forced to shut down service, do it everywhere including government service. Let's see how long NTP's stance lasts with the weight of the US government on their arses.
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01-24-2006, 04:22 AM
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Thinker
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 392
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well, that is the craziness of being in the states - you can sue, and can be sued for practically anything under the sun as easy as buying hotdog of a corner street...
american's are just "sue-happy"...
:twisted:
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01-24-2006, 07:28 AM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 126
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If I remember what I was told correctly, was awhile ago...
US Government Blackberry services run through a NOC in the US, not the one in Canada. I don't know if this is for all US Gov. agencies or only specific ones.
The security part of my brain has a problem with forwarding internal email to a different country before being received by another employee of the same company/agency who sits two desks away.
Here an interesting thought for you Blackberry users [conspiracy hate on] 8)
Normally the NSA cannot spy on US Citizens[sic], so they would at times have other agencies like the CSE (Canadian equivelant) do it. So...
- Imagine if you could get most of the US Federal Government (Civilian and Military), State Government and corporations to use a service where their communications (e-mail etc. in this case) actually leave the US and are processed in a differnt country. Been Done
- Imagine if the NSA had a relationship with that countries NSA equivelant (remember the CSE). They Do
- Expand this theory, how much would the NSA or CSE love having other foreign governments and corporations doing the exact same thing. Drool and been done
Still like your internal documents and email going to Canada (RIM)? [conspiracy hat off]
I'll stick with managing our own server and direct communications with our devices, Microsoft got this one right.
:dilemma:
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01-24-2006, 10:46 AM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 55
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The Supreme Court is not a bunch of nutters. And considering the Patent Office's input the court must surely have a good reason for the verdict.
Anyone familiar with the arguments for the other side?
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