Another NTP Patent Invalidated

darkmeridian writes "Bloomberg reports that the PTO has granted a non-final rejection of a third NTP patent asserted against Research in Motion in the Blackberry litigation. Five patents have been asserted against RIM, and only one of the three rejected has been found to be valid and infringed. Yet this development helps RIM as it seeks to avoid an injunction against operation of the Blackberry network pending appeal."

Comments

Not much sympathy

[augustz]

Research in Motion was the leader in a lot of this patent litigation.

http://news.com.com/2100-1040-958550.html

I remember them suing over everything, Good technology, handspring with the treo, etc etc.

In this case, NTP is clearly just a patent litigation machine which is worse, but everyone's been using these patents to muscle around in the marketplace...

Re:They wont shutdown anyway

[cbreaker]

Hey, cluless. Patents don't protect against TRADEMARKS.

A lot of people out there that are against software patents are actually against the length of the patents. In 1922, if you developed a special kind of chair, you'd patent the design and you'd be able to sell it for several years before other people could use your design. With those slower times, it was resonable. And patents genetally protected inventions - and physical objects.

Enter the field of computing. And think back 7 years. What technology existed then? Color LCD was crappy and expensive. Windows 98 was just released. The Internet was just getting into full swing. Cell phones were mostly analog. Things move a lot faster in the technology world, and a seven year patent on a key technology can stagnate the industry and have a huge impact on adoption rates, prices, and innovation.

But, if that was the only problem with patents, it might not even be that bad. The fact is, companies are filing so many patents these days to take advantage of the system. They're patenting things they can't create - theory. They patent things that are obvious. The patent offices can't keep up, and they make mistakes by granting patents when they really shouldn't. It's causing a huge problem.