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Governments Take Sides In Blackberry Patent Suit
geekboy_x writes "The recent court decision giving NTP a big chunk of Research In Motion's Blackberry profits has attracted an unusal participant - the government of Canada. The original ruling, where RIM was judged to have violated 5 of NTP's patents, has now been stayed pending appeal, and the Canadian government has filed a motion in the U.S. court to request a full re-hearing. At stake is not only money, but the rights to sell and service any Blackberry-like product."
If I am not mistaken (and I frequently am) the patent at the centre of this is about how the Blackberry uses the cellphone network to access mail, etc. Although a Blackberry uses the cell phone system to check email constantly, it uses a different communication protocol than what a regular cell phone does, and accesses a different type of communication system from that point on. It is somewhere in between there where the patent at issue rests. Someone, somewhere, at some time dreamed this idea up in the States, got a patent for it (although they never actually made anything) and then formed a company whose sole purpose was litigate to generate revenue, meanwhile, in Canada at roughly a the same time, RIM developed this into a working idea first, then started patenting it.
Really? I work in Waterloo as well, and I don't recall ever having the city shut down or having a day off because of RIM. Sure, RIM is huge in Waterloo, just look at RIM park! Oh wait, 2 CAO's lost their jobs over RIM park... Sure RIM is important to the community and to Canada as well. It's one of the largest employers in the Waterloo area and has a huge boon on the Canadian economy. I personally hope I never have to use a blackberry because I don't like the idea of ALWAYS having access to my email, but I digress... All I wanted to point out is that I don't recall RIM having as much power as the parent is stating.
They also synch more than just email. Calendaring and contact info can by synchronized wirelessly using the BES (Blackberry Enterprise Server) software and Exchange. It's not just simple email, and the systems RIM uses to provide the services through carriers and corps is a little more involved than just mail access protocols.
Idiot, n. A member of a large and powerful tribe whose influence in human affairs has always been dominant
I just moved from Waterloo in the last few months, and I was raised there most of my life. My ex-gf works there, and she's still a good friend. You couldn't be further from the truth. (I sincerely hope you have tongue in cheek on this one.)
#1: Population of Waterloo in the last few years has grown. It exceeds 100,000.
#2: There are no pipes ensuring there's no snow on the roads RIM's offices are on. I've driven to and from there dropping my ex-gf off hundreds of times. Those roads get mighty bad just like the rest of them.
#3: The big celebration in October is called Oktoberfest, and has been a part of K-W since probably before you were born. And it's not a holiday, you get no time off for it.
#4: RIM employees have their taxis paid for by RIM before and after company events so that they don't drink and drive, NOT the city.
Yes, RIM is a bit of an institution on Waterloo now, much like the Toyota plant in Cambridge. But lets not go overboard.
And for what it's worth, I still think the 2 guys that started RIM are pompous assholes.
The Court of Appeals for the FC decision is here (as a PDF). It lists the patents, and everything else you can think of.
http://www.fedcir.gov/opinions/03-1615.pdf/
"This would be the same Research In Motion that tried to gouge Palm and HandSpring for patent licensing fees on the idea of a PDA with a keyboard, right?"
Not so much the idea of a PDA with a keyboard, but the specific design of such keyboard. A look and feel (and function) lawsuit. Blackberry's keyboard design includes keys on each half slanted down toward the center creating a wider surface perpendicular to the direction of the thumb - assuming a two-thumb tapping style. That's their patented innovation. It works well. I find my Blackberry quite comfortable to type on. You might notice that when Palm (or was it Handspring?) came out with a PDA incorporating a keyboard that all the keys slanted the same direction. That is because of RIM's patent.
Uh, no. This isn't about the product, per se, but the service. The infrastructure of the service is located in Canada, which should mean that Canadian patent law governs, not US patent law.
What is at stake is the whole patent system since if a company in country B can sell products in country A and promote them in country A while infringing on patents in in country A then the patent system will collapse.
Geneva notwithstanding, there is no truly international patent system yet in existence, and you are ignorant if you think that US patent protection automatically extends across the globe.
Bottom line is that this is an interesting and complicated case, and not at all the simple issue that you have represented. My gut feeling is that because of the can of worms (in terms of international trade and diplomacy) this has opened, the companies involved will be pressured to settle, and the issue will be swept under the rug for now.
It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.