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So with Nokia suing RIM again, and the judgement against them yesterday, I think it is time for RIM to start flexing its own patent muscles. This would serve two purposes. First to get some cash. Second and more importantly, act as a deterrent to other companies showing them they have plenty of IP to play the game with too. As much as I detest the practice, sometimes things like this are necessary to fend off the wolves.
The lawsuit that RIM just lost was filed in 2008. Arguing technical issues before technically uneducated judges and jurors is a complete gamble - it really comes down to who has the better lawyer team, not who stole whose idea. And it's not a quick way to get some cash; you need to spend a lot of $$ upfront just to have a shot at a payout several years later.
RIM does sue for patent infringement, afaik, and the vast majority of these lawsuits never get to trial.
I would like to agree, but you can see the tech bloggers headlines now :rolleyes:
Si.
I don't think RIM has the capital and the time to pursue such tactics now. Their priority is to get BB10 out of the door, anything that goes counter or deviant from that objective is exactly what RIM does not need. This is why Nokia is seizing the opportunity to launch an objective to sue RIM now, when it is the most crucial for the development careers of many guys in RIM right now..
After posting a quarterly loss, the last thing RIM needs to do is get into expensive litigation. It would be very costly up front, and any return should they win would be years in coming.
Then there's the point that it'd serve nothing more than to support a flawed patent system that's in dire need of restructuring.
Let me see if I understand this: The way for RIM to combat patent trolls is to
essentially become one?
This is the last course of action RIM should be pursuing. They cannot afford it
and they have far more pressing issues on their plate at present.
Doesn't surprise me that Nokia would sue RIM: they likely want to position Windows as the #3 go-to mobile OS and ensure RIM stays a distant 4th. What better way to distract RIM than to sue sue sue. Nokia knows very well that RIM won't launch anything for the next 7-8 months or so, so anything they can do to derail BB10 is likely fair game for them.
For this to hold true Nokia would have had to have been amazingly prescient. They
would to have known about BB10 back in 2008, when this suit was initiated.
Actually, that is usually the way it works, between two companies that have products. They line up the patents like cannons facing each other across the battle front, analyze their respective forces, and settle out of court.
That RIM did not counter-sue Nokia probably indicates that RIM has a weak patent position with respect to Nokia, or that for whatever reason RIM did not want to start a war.
There may be different definitions, but to me, an actual patent troll is a company which has no products and thus can't be countersued for patent violations ... so for me, Nokia is not a patent troll, and RIM would not be a patent troll if it started filing lawsuits against other companies.
RIM is constantly being sued, like most tech companies probably. In the latest quarterly report, the list of legal proceedings in which RIM is the defendant (mostly intellectual property complaints, mostly by actual patent trolls) starts on p. 26 and ends on p. 35.
On "patent trolls" Yep, I chose my words cavalierly :o I just don't think getting
into protracted tit for tats is a smart move for economic reasons.
That last paragraph is scary for the sheer volume if nothing else.
Getting into legal battles as retaliation is counterproductive. It always damages the reputation of both parties and achieves little except to line the pockets of lawyers.
to sue for patents cost money money that i don't think RIM wants to spend right now, atleast i wouldn't if i were them
I don't think that RIM can spend money and time on lawsuits, they need to invest everything they can on BB10, Advertising and support.