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Just read an article about NTP trying to unearth their lawsuit against RIM for patent infridgement. It will be interesting to see what if anything comes of it, but I'll keep an eye out on this one as the memories of fear of a life without Blackberry still haunt me, LOL.
BlackBerry Battle: RIM/NTP Patent Case Takes New Turn
This pisses me off, patent companies should be made illegal. They represent the biggest flaw in the whole patent system.
The company I work for got hit by one and they just wanted money. In the grand scheme of things it was peanuts to settle but a major expense to fight. The owner decided to fight on principle.
In the end we stomped them but stopped short of a ruling. Instead the owner of my company decided to pay even more money, to the trolls. He bought the patent and had the lawsuit dropped. His actions saved our industry from a world of hurt. He has since shelved the patent, never intends to use it.
That aside, if the Justice Department pulls the old "critical infrastructure" card then NTP is out of luck, regardless of their position.
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This all new to me but should I understand from it that RIM built the busines on the back of other people's patents/inventions?
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wow when will they stop
Maybe, but the point is they are fighting a patent firm. The whole point of a patent firm is to snap up lapsed patents and then sue people into giving them money. They do absolutely nothing legitimate with the patents except extort money from honest businesses.
Nobody will stop trying to go after the bigger company .. There greedy for money and too lazy to earn it on there own
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Aha, that explains a bit. They should be protected against that, like web domain names. I thought the patents only lasted for so long tho and the anybody can use them. I think this might not be the case as RIM is not that old. They must've used them while they weren't lapsed as this started a few years ago.
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Depends on the patent, most have a 14 to 20 year lifespan. Being that technology moves so quickly now a 20 year old piece of technology is considered ancient and probably isn't used in cutting edge devices.
That's what I was thinking, there's no way they're arguing over a 20 year old patent, this must be something relatively new and still protected by the original patent.
Either way, there's no way RIM will be allowed to collapse, too many governments rely on it. They'll have to pay up to NTP
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Oh @#$%! Again!?!
I've long been of the opinion that patent holding companies should be illegal, with only a couple exceptions.
Patents are meant to protect intellectual property from being stolen and used to compete with the original inventor.
Buying patents and sitting on them with the hope of either selling them or suing someone who infringes on them should be completely illegal!
I think that:
a.)The patent length needs to be decreased in the electronics industry. 14-20 years is insane. I'd say a maximum of 10 years would be more reasonable, given the current advancement rate of technology.
b.)I think a "lapse" policy would also make sense. Basically, if you don't use, attempt to use, or further develop a patent within 5 years, it should lapse, at least you should have to prove to a court why it shouldn't lapse.
c.)I think it should be illegal for a company to exist for the sole purpose of holding patents, unless that company is wholly owned by a company that actively uses the patents for its primary business.