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Print 19 comment(s) - last by Mitch101.. on Jul 18 at 5:04 PM
BlackBerry phonemaker is kicked while it's down

It's no secret that Waterloo, Ontario-based device-maker Research in Motion, Ltd. (TSE:RIM) is struggling in a major way.  The company has seen soaring losses, plunging sales, and layoffs that have ballooned to approximately a third of the company's workforce.  As these woes permeated headlines a dripping sense of dread has been instilled among observers of the embattled giant.

I. RIM Must Pay $8 Per Device to Mformation for a Single Patent

Now the company has seen its small $2.2B USD "cushion" of cash reserves battered by a lawsuit loss.

After four days of deliberations, a jury in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (San Jose/San Francisco) concluded that RIM had infringed on seven claims in a patent held by Mformation Technologies Inc.  The jury ordered $147.2M USD in damages -- an $8 USD retroactive royalty on each of the 18.4 million units RIM sold in 2008.

Mformation, much like RIM, offers mobile management solutions.  The firm helps companies manage their smartphone inventory, specifically allowing a remote operator to deliver patches or other administrative commands over a network, securely.  Past and present clients of Mformation include Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) and AT&T Inc. (T).a

Beating a dead horse
Mformation is beating RIM while it's down. [Image Source: South Park Studios]

The patents involved was:

U.S. Patent No. 6,970,917
"A... computer program product that provides the capability to manage, control, and reconfigure wireless devices remotely over a wireless network"

It was filed in Aug. 2001 and issued in Nov. 2005 by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

II. Mformation, RIM Respond

Mformation founder Rakesh Kushwaha cheered the brutal defeat of RIM, remarking:

Mformation created the mobile device management category in the late 1990s and was innovating in this area well before most of the market understood the fundamental importance of wireless mobility management.  Our patents are a core part of our innovative products, and are fundamental to the methods used for device management in the market today.  And [our technology is] central to many critical mobile device management tasks being used by operators, service providers and enterprises around the world, including remote device configuration, lock/wipe and application management.
 

BlackBerry sales
RIM says the patent involved is "obvious".  [Image Source: Christian Science Monitor]

RIM, which, argued that the patents asserted were invalid, responds:

RIM is disappointed by the outcome and is evaluating all legal options. Additionally, the trial judge has yet to decide certain legal issues that might impact the verdict. RIM will await those rulings before deciding whether to purue an appeal.  RIM has worked hard for many years to independently develop its leading-edge BlackBerry technology and industry-leading intellectual property portfolio, and RIM does not believe that the Mformation patent in question is valid.

As RIM's comment alludes to, a final verdict by the trial judge has yet to be delivered.  But it is highly unlikely that RIM will be spared from having to pay the nearly one and a half hundred million dollar sum, unless RIM succeeds in convincing the trial judge of the patent's "obviousness", a critical claim in its defense.

If RIM cannot invalidate the patent, it may face additional damages.  The case only covered infringement up to 2008 for the BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) in the U.S.  Mformation will likely look to collect ongoing royalties and damages in other jurisdictions in future suits.

III. Nokia Looks to Kick RIM a Bit More

Adding to the vultures circling the sickly stray from the smartphone maker pack, Finland's Nokia Oyj. (OMX:NOK1V) recently filed a new lawsuit against RIM .

Nokia sign
Nokia is also circling fatally-wounded RIM.  [Image Source: Unknown]

The lawsuit cites three European patents and was filed in Munich Regional Court.  The patents involved are:
  • EP1474750 on a "method and system for storing and transferring multimedia tags"
     
  • EP08040461 on a "method and apparatus for updating the software of a mobile terminal using the air interface"
     
  • EP1148681 on a "method for transferring resource information"
Nokia helped kick off the lawsuit war in the smartphone space in 2009 when it sued Apple, Inc. (AAPL) seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages.  Nokia, a pioneer in the industry contends that Apple, RIM, and others have "stolen" its work, a claim since leveled by a multitude of other smartphone makers, including Apple.

Source: PCMagazine


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This is Apple's fault
By Tony Swash on 7/16/2012 12:17:47 PM , Rating: 5
This is Apple's fault




RE: This is Apple's fault
By tamalero on 7/16/2012 12:45:20 PM , Rating: 3
of course, also George W Bush's and Saddam's.


RE: This is Apple's fault
By Mitch101 on 7/16/2012 1:31:45 PM , Rating: 2
Dont forget Obama and Global Warming.


RE: This is Apple's fault
By Nortel on 7/16/2012 2:02:15 PM , Rating: 2
they took our jerbs!


RE: This is Apple's fault
By Amiga500 on 7/16/2012 2:34:00 PM , Rating: 2
u dik u derrrrrrrrr


RE: This is Apple's fault
By Shig on 7/16/2012 2:42:30 PM , Rating: 2
aaaaannnddd the patent office fails again, another patent that is so general it should have never been granted in the first place


RE: This is Apple's fault
By topkill on 7/16/2012 5:04:48 PM , Rating: 2
Thank you.

The real sad part of this is that it only further validates the problem with our patent system. It is destroying competitive business in the US.

I'm going to patent farting. You ALL owe me money.


RE: This is Apple's fault
By Belard on 7/16/2012 5:31:55 PM , Rating: 1
Its already patented. No farts for you.


RE: This is Apple's fault
By topkill on 7/16/2012 6:43:17 PM , Rating: 2
Yeah, but I've enhanced your patent with three new patents:

1) sharts
2) silent
3) sulfurous farts.


RE: This is Apple's fault
By Mitch101 on 7/16/2012 8:32:57 PM , Rating: 3
Would you be willing to enter in a cross license agreement?


RE: This is Apple's fault
By Samus on 7/16/2012 10:39:29 PM , Rating: 1
RIM has a history of screwups like this. They infringe on a patent, the IP holder tried to reasonable settle, and RIM ignores them.

The original settlement the company offered gets blown out of proportion to cover legal fees (ie. lawyers get rich)


RE: This is Apple's fault
By Mitch101 on 7/18/2012 5:04:29 PM , Rating: 2
I am in no negotiations with RIM over fart patents but am willing to entertain an agreement.


RE: This is Apple's fault
By Belard on 7/16/2012 11:35:24 PM , Rating: 1
I have the rights to the wet-farts.

One of the most valuable in fart technology.

What would you offer?


This crap has to stop.
By retrospooty on 7/16/2012 1:00:07 PM , Rating: 2
Not that anything like a positive ruling can save RIM at this point, but this lawsuit is total BS and sets a bad precident for all smartphone makers.




RE: This crap has to stop.
By FITCamaro on 7/16/2012 3:19:01 PM , Rating: 2
Yup. You should only be able to patent software implementations. Not software ideas. Imagine the chaos in the games industry if games manufacturers patented ideas around control schemes in games.

Anyone can have a software idea. You shouldn't be allowed to get a patent on something you have no ability or intention to implement. Or be able to have a patent so that no one else can come up with another implementation of a similar feature.


RE: This crap has to stop.
By spamreader1 on 7/16/2012 3:32:28 PM , Rating: 2
I should patent the use of keyboard shortcuts in full screen games. /rubsgreedyhands


RIM
By Blueknight1541 on 7/16/2012 12:28:24 PM , Rating: 2
Why is it that these kind of lawsuits are always done in Cali? I was reading about apple, it has the same type of software for it's corporate customers. Shouldn't they be sued also? Or is mformation and apple connected in some way?




RE: RIM
By rkgriffin on 7/16/2012 12:44:42 PM , Rating: 2
Nokia and Apple are both based in California. Well Apple is at least and that is where Nokia's US office is based.


Corrections
By Theoz on 7/16/2012 1:17:41 PM , Rating: 3
1) RIM couldn't overturn this by now merely convincing the judge that the patent is obvious, this was presumably a question given to the jury. RIM would have the much higher burden of convincing the judge that the jury's verdict was not based on substantial evidence. This motion has a low likelihood of success, but is sometimes successful.

2) There is no such thing as a European Union Patent. A "European Patent" is related to being a signatory on the European Patent Convention, not the European Union Treaty. There are several states that are part of the European Patent Organization but not in the EU, for instance, Switzerland, Norway, and Turkey.

3) You can't sue with a European patent. What they are actually suing on is the German patent that was given by Germany based on the examination conducted by the European Patent Office. Practically, these patents are identical, but this is still an important distinction because a European Patent is only good in the countries where you validated it after it was granted.




“Then they pop up and say ‘Hello, surprise! Give us your money or we will shut you down!' Screw them. Seriously, screw them. You can quote me on that.” -- Newegg Chief Legal Officer Lee Cheng referencing patent trolls











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