Slashdot Mirror
Hopes Rise for RIM
sbowles writes "U.S. District Court has set Feb 24th as the next date for a hearing to consider a possible injunction against Research in Motion. Despite this, RIM shares are rising on news that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), under pressure from crackberry-addicted Congressmen, may be moving to invalidate NTP's patents. As a contingency, RIM has announced that they have a software workaround that will allow service to continue uninterrupted."
news that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), under pressure from crackberry-addicted Congressmen, may be moving to invalidate NTP's patents.
While I agree that NTP's case is bogus, unhappy Congressmen are the wrong reason for invalidating the patents in question: it hoists them above the rules everyone else has to live under.
I think most would agree that far more people are disillusioned about the entire patent process. Apparently, though, nothing will come of that until some government-types are inconvenienced by the system.
Trolling is a art,
Because I'd really love to have a Rim job.
then why not implment it and end the whole mess?
"I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismometer." -Ken Kesey
"As a contingency, RIM has announced that they have a software workaround that will allow service to continue uninterrupted."
Dad was telling me to buy shares in this company. I should have listened.
So what happens to SCo's case if the work around is accepted and validated by a higher court? That's right- they'd be hosed! Well, more so, but it will be interesting to see how this case plays out and the ripples that it causes.
If brevity is the soul of wit, then how does one explain Twitter?
I admit I've always wondered wtf the big deal about the BlackBerry was, browsed the site a bit and probably came to the wrong conclusion. From what I could tell, was that it was a really schpiffy looking PDA'ish type thing that has a nice enterprise-grade suite of integrated backend stuff like mail/etc?
Is that even remotely close to what all the hype is about?
Your hair look like poop, Bob! - Wanker.
Crack-berry people should be admired - they aren't tied to their computers all day, just to do email. They are out and about enjoying their time, getting more done outside the office with these things. Frankly anyone who can actually keep up to date, reply to messages, and who can take care of business with these things is a hero in my books. I have a black-berry and I'm just not disciplined enough to utilize the device to it's full potential.
The invalidation would be irrelevant and unnecessary if RIM has workarounds.
They're not making any money from already-sold devices.
And they'll be able to continue selling new ones.
They'll spend a few bucks selling firmware upgrades, if that's even possible.
Or they'll sell "upgraded" devices (maybe at a slim discount) to current customers.
Now, that might invite a class-action lawsuit from Blackberry owners claiming they were defrauded by someone selling pirated IP, but when has that ever cost any company what it was really worth to the class?
At worst, the judge will order RIM to pay a reasonable royalty. Shutting down the network would not be a legal option.
Now, where's my broker's number? I need to text him a buy order....
under pressure from crackberry-addicted Congressmen, may be moving to invalidate NTP's patents
I don't know about you, but I don't want any addicts making my laws.
He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
Am I the only person here who's never used a Blackberry and never known anyone who's used one?
Yes, I know some genius is going to reply "Yes." and probably get modded +5, Funny for it. But I'm serious. I've never seen one of these things in use.
I just want them to read everything before they sign it. Is that too much to ask?
http://www.downsizedc.org/read_the_laws.shtml
...developing the work around vs. litigating for the last several years?
When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
Hams have used Packet Radio since 1980. Packet Radio is wireless transmission of ASCII messages, which is what RIM provides via Blackberry receivers. How is this not prior art?
What is packet radio: http://www.choisser.com/packet/part01.html
Wiki on Packet Radio: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Packet_radio
Now that RIM has a software workaround, I'm thinking that NTP may have
just lost a lot of money. RIM may no longer have any reason to
settle out of court with NTP, or at least they may cut the offer
way back as a result.
I'm curious as to if this software will work on all BlackBerry
models, or just the newer ones.
[i]The U.S. government has even joined the dispute, arguing that BlackBerry's are vital to national security.[/i] Sure, if they have some flaw known only to the NSA that allows them to read terrorist messages: they don't want people moving to something more secure, perhaps?
If RIM were to say, on a Monday morning, "Due to patent litigation in the US, all Blackberry service will be turned off immediately, indefinitely" we'd see patent reform by Wednesday.
Just as "hard cases make bad law," sometimes there's a confluence of defendant and public (uh, congresional) interest which cause a certain set of facts to be uniquely positioned as a spur to reform. I don't want exclusions for federal workers, I want this case to be used as a blunt instrument to get congress to address the problem. UNFORTUNATELY, what would be best for everyone (IMHO) isn't what's best for RIM, and I doubt they'd take one for the team.
Everybody's a libertarian 'till their neighbour's becomes a crack house.
or the headline woulda read:
Hopes Rise for RIM, JOBS
I believe NTP's patents are on a much narrower definition of the way RIM's system works.
i.e. they haven't patented sending text messages between devices, they've patented a very specific method of making email available to a mobile device. I don't recall, but I believe the patent deals partially with the corporate firewall problem.
In short, whether it is valid or not, their patent does not apply to packet radio, nor can packet radio be considered prior art for the system.
A good example. Joe Caveman invents the wheel in 500 B.C.
In 1990, John Doe invents a specific tread pattern for a rubber tire that has some Really Nifty Benefit. It's based on the wheel, but enhances it. John Doe can't patent the wheel due to prior art (Joe Caveman in 500 B.C.), but John can patent his specific enhancement of the wheel.
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
it would be interesting if, for whatever reasons, Congress will be able to rule NTP's patents with regard to Blackberries invalid. After that, we can push for a lot of things to be made invalid citing similar circumstances.
...huh? What was that? Something about patents? Sorry, I was busy sending out some emails.
Sony ha
Hell I could give a darn less if they cut off the email to mine, however just don't take away my blackberrry ssh terminal.....i live and die by that sucker...
Got Code?
hopes rise for rim
Also, one of TFA includes no information that would justify the comment that the USPTO is under pressure from congressmen to speed up its process of looking into the NTP patents. From the TFA:
Instead, there is an analysis into the patent dispute in one of TFA:Crack-berry people should be admired - they aren't tied to their computers all day, just to do email. They are out and about enjoying their time, getting more done outside the office with these things. Frankly anyone who can actually keep up to date, reply to messages, and who can take care of business with these things is a hero in my books.
b lackberry (WMP or QT)
Riiiight...
Meanwhile, this is how the REST of the world sees Crackberry users:
http://www.cbc.ca/mercerreport/video_player.html?
Does it make you happy you're so strange?
For all the engineering types, here is an interesting article (from 2001) outlining the highs and low's RIM and Mike Lazaridas (CEO) have faced during their climb from humble beginnings to a worldwide brand.
o ntent=477
http://www.profitguide.com/magazine/article.jsp?c
I suspect that there are workarounds possible -- it's "only" wireless email afterall. But RIM still has to continue to fight this until the very end. If they lose, they will have to pay royalties on all devices previously sold. The software fix would allow them to continue selling new, unencumbered, devices. So, RIM is doing the smart thing by dragging this out as long as possible. They have a reasonable chance of winning, thereby saving hundreds of millions in royalties. And, more importantly, it buys them more time to continue to work on the work-around and probably do some full scale rollouts to test customers. It's never easy to make a change that affects a few million devices so the more time the better.
I don't know much about it, but this guy's comment doesn't make RIM look likely to be a good poster boy for patent reform.
Warning that there's a bit in the middle there that is NSFW - may want to think about who you forward it to.
Hilarious and dead-on though!
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Indeed many (most?) Blackberry users instantly stop what they are doing - ordering food, talking, paying attention to traffic, etc. the moment the Blackberry activates.
This might not be so bad, as you mention it is similar to cell phone addicts in this regard - but consider that Blackberry users are doing this every time they get an e-mail! Now think of how much email you get at work, and how many Blackberries are tied into corperate email accounts... and you start to realize the extent of the problem and the reason why many consider Blackberry addicts much worse than phone addicts. Hence teh "Crackberry" since it's so much more annoying a problem.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
My boss threatened to get me a blackberry the other day. I'm praying they go under... Fast!
Or is it rimming congressmen ? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rimming/
its not just congressmen and senators its also their staff and the lobbyists and reporters in DC that live on blackberries. I worked in the senate last semester and saw it first hand, RIM service in DC is indispensable and may bring both legislative houses to a crawl if shut down.
Here's some info on BB security/encryption:
r /exchange/security.shtml
http://www.blackberry.com/products/software/serve
-Nick
"A plan fiendishly clever in its intricacies"- Homer Simpson
...so do the inquiries for RIMjobs
There's one part where he comes out of the shower with helmet and blackberry on - but nothing else.
Funny but some people might take it badly!
At least it's male nudity.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
The only way we'll ever get patent reform is is all those self-important-asshole politicians and CEOs get hoisted on their own petard and are made to suffer inconvenience because of the stupid laws they lobbied for/passed.
RIM shouldn't fight the shutdown. Take one for the team, you selfish bastards!
I want to get hired there so that I can get a RIM JOB. HAHHAHA
because I have been enjoined by this Holy Office to abandon the false opinion which maintains that the Sun is the centre
Still, prior art is prior art in that case. Doesn't really change anything in my example. :)
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
I was wondering if it had originally been pixelized, but unfortunatley the pixeliztion ended up looking like detail sharpening when the rest of the video was resized!!!
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
"All of NTP's patents have already been rejected by the Patent Office and it's expected to issue a final ruling in the coming weeks, which could impact any decisions by the U.S. District Court."
Does nobody actually pay attention to these?
You use your browser to check gmail? Which device?
My 7290 won't do it through the browser, although you can get apps to do it or download via POP.
First of all, your govt representative doesn't give a hoot about service interruption because the court has&will rule that the shutdown must not affect government employees and they must continue to have access.
Second, it seems blatantly clear that the workaround will be implemented only after a shutdown. I suspect whether or not the "workaround" actually avoids infringing on NTP's patents is irrelevant. It will buy more serious time for RIM, time spent in the courtroom deciding on fresh new software, and ultimately more time for the patent office to retract their view on the rest of NTP's patents.
Since this case has started, RIM has been buying time instead of paying out; given time, they know they will be proven right. Why pay with close to $1B in royalties when you can play the legal system game as well as your slimy IP litigator and sit on your bum until your enemy is only months away from having the carpet pulled under him? (plus i loveee sitting on my bum.)