Patent Office Rejects Another (Yes, Another) NTP Patent
from the this-is-getting-damn-silly dept
What were we just saying about about NTP's actions showing an anxiousness to settle the RIM deal before the US Patent Office definitively rejected its patents? Well, just weeks after the USPTO made it clear that one of the core patents in the case almost certainly isn't valid they're saying the same thing about another NTP patent. If you're playing the home game on all of this, this would be the second time the USPTO has rejected this patent -- suggesting that NTP's response wasn't particularly convincing. It's not the final ruling, but the USPTO (as they did with the last patent) made it clear that it's very, very likely the final ruling will reject this patent. This particular patent isn't as key to the case as the one from a few weeks ago, but it still does suggest a pattern in these NTP patents. So, with all of that happening, why is everyone, including the judge, saying they don't want to wait and see what the patent office has to say? Doesn't that seem like a key bit of extremely relevant information? Why should RIM pay what might turn out to be a billion dollars when the US Patent Office is basically admitting they screwed up in the first place? Can RIM sue the USPTO for a billion or more due to negligence?
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Good sell short tip.
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Can they settle with a condition?
Should the US PTO overturn the rest of the NTP patents, NTP should have to return all funds to RIM as well as all money spent on legal fees, court costs, etc.
If I was RIM, I'd publicly make that offer and put that before the judge. If NTP isn't willing to accept under that condition, then NTP must not really feel they have a strong case and thus it should be tossed out - or at the very least, postponed until the US PTO has had it's chance to resolve the issue once and for all.
It seems to me it's a bit like a single mother suing a man for child support and not waiting for the paternity test results to come back first.
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Not a bad idea...
A suit against them may not go far but it could create a critical mass inside the agency. Major changes have been triggered by less. And this office needs a serious wake up call.
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A conundrum wrapped in an enigma...
It seems like RIM is going to have to pay some company a sizeable amount of $$$ to license the technology. Maybe they'd rather just deal with the devil they know at this point.
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the real problem is...
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Re: Can they settle with a condition?
There is nothing left for the judge to do. It is now a matter between NTP and RIM. NTP can ask the judge to remove the stay and order the shutdown of the Blackberry (save and except for government users). If that happens both NTP and RIM lose.
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Re: A conundrum wrapped in an enigma...
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Re: A conundrum wrapped in an enigma...
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Organized Crime?
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Re: the real problem is...
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Re: Can they settle with a condition?
Should the US PTO overturn the rest of the NTP patents, NTP should have to return all funds to RIM as well as all money spent on legal fees, court costs, etc
The rumor going around was that was actually the settlement that was offered earlier this year... which NTP rejected. And the "return all funds" part was the sticking point.
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Re: A conundrum wrapped in an enigma...
No, the point isn't that "someone" holds the patent, but that the entire patent isn't valid. Not everything gets to be patented. It's only stuff considered "non-obvious", and plenty of people would say the idea of making email mobile doesn't qualify as "non-obvious."
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ARTICAL
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Re: ARTICAL
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Re: the real problem is...
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Re: A conundrum wrapped in an enigma...
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