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RIM Chairman Wants Changes to U.S. Patent Law

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the with-good-reason dept.

florescent_beige writes "The Globe and Mail is reporting that James Balsillie '... called on U.S. lawmakers yesterday to fix a system that he says boxed the company into one of the largest legal settlements in U.S. history.' Although this will do nothing to change the $612.5M(US) settlement RIM was forced to sign with NTP, Mr. Balsille says he wants to help 'assure that no other company experiences what we endured over the past five years.' Mr Balsillie's rhetoric was direct: he said RIM's treatment at trial was like '... a judge in a murder case pondering execution while ignoring DNA evidence that exonerates the accused ... RIM was virtually held up for ransom by NTP...'"

9 of 245 comments (clear)

  1. Wait a minute... by Chris+Burke · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Is this not the same company that sued Handspring over the shape of the buttons on their Treo keyboards?

    I'm not saying the circumstances are the same, and the article doesn't make clear what reforms he wants (apparently patents with hundreds of claims are seen as problematic, and I agree)... it just strikes me as a case of the pot calling the kettle black. I personally am more against the extremely low standards for novelty and non-obviousness than anything, which is why RIM striking out against patents sticks in my craw. But hey, maybe they've now seen the light and realize patent holders simply have too much power.

    --

    The enemies of Democracy are
  2. Ridiculous patent... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    "NTP's eight original patents, for example, contained an average of 240 claims each, including one with 665 claims, Mr. Balsillie said."

    Coming from someone with granted patents, patents pending, and patent applications on the works, I can tell you that 665 claims is totally ridiculous in a patent.

    I propose NTP's lawyers be sent -airless- to outer space, that company's executives be hanged, and its servers donated to a Barbie website. Hot pink.

  3. RIM should have shut down gov users by emil · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It would have been interesting if RIM had called NTP's bluff and provoked an injunction.

    While the damage to their business would have been grave, it would have been interesting to see them FIRST shut down all government users en masse.

    If they could have delayed the shutdown of commercial systems by a few days or weeks, they might have gotten congress to pass special legislation putting a stop to it.

    I wonder what shutdown options were discussed in the board room.

    1. Re:RIM should have shut down gov users by debest · · Score: 3, Interesting

      If I remember correctly, the government had asked for (and received from the judge) an exemption from the shutdown. In other words, RIM would have been forced to shut down everyone but the government's Crackberry addicts.

      --
      Look at the tomato! Isn't it sad? He can't dance! Poor tomato!
  4. Re:Am I missing something? by smbarbour · · Score: 5, Interesting

    No, that's not quite it...

    1) RIM established it's BlackBerry service
    2) NTP filed a patent on how it works. (And did not subsequently do ANYTHING with it)
    3) NTP contacts RIM to "negotiate" a licensing agreement for NTP's patent (RIM walked away)
    4) Lawsuits are filed
    5) Patent office invalidates NTP's relevant patents
    6) RIM ordered to pay, due to the courts not allowing the testimony of the patent office.

    The patent system needs to be reformed. Patents are supposed to protect companies against theft. Patents are not supposed to be a form of revenue.

    The way it should work (in my opinion) is that if you want to patent something, you had better have something tangible to present with your filing. In this case, NTP only held a piece of paper saying they invented something. They did not write any code or develop any product (or component of a product). Essentially, there were only three possible sources of revenue for NTP: Investments, Licensing, and Lawsuits.

  5. Re:Am I missing something? by Mydron · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Yes you are missing something. Namely that NTP doesn't have patents, they have patent applications. Applications that were found to be undeserving of issuance by the PTO; but only for the time being, ultimately anything is patentable if you're determined and willing to pay enough continuance/appeal fees to the PTO.

    Unfortunately for RIM, fortunately for NTP, patent owners can litigate and license their patents before issuance. This little loophole was introduced because applications take so long to be examined by the PTO.

  6. RIM, the patented jihadist got burnt by saha · · Score: 3, Interesting
    You're right. Prior to the NTP fiasco RIM was on a patent jihad. Rampaging against companies not just for something as mundane as its QWERTY keyboard arrangement and shapes of its keys.

    From the horse's mouth. Research In Motion Files Wireless Patent Complaint Against Glenayre Electronics, Inc

    I guess what goes around come around, at least in this case.

  7. People can change by Gorimek · · Score: 4, Interesting

    You could see that a hypocritical, but I prefer to see it as someone having their eyes opened once they became the victim of the system. People can learn from their mistakes and become more enlightened.

    If they were just self serving and opportunistic I don't see why they would keep campaining on the issue now that their own problems have been solved.

  8. How to turn $19 into -$9,000,000 by cheesedog · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Balsillie made an interesting point yesterday -- NTP spent $19 on postage to send out cease and desist letters to 47 companies. Because of the length of the claims in their 5 patents, it would cost each company roughly $200,000 just to respond to the claims (to consult with counsel to avoid willful infringement), which means that just by sending out those letters, NTP cost the economy a net $9 million bucks, and this is before ever stepping into court!

    To read the exact excerpt (where Balsillie made the point quite eloquently), read this