Judge accepts 600 million settlement for Blackberry

[dc dalton]

Just heard on the news a federal judge has accepted a 600 MILLON dollar settlement in the Blackberry copyright suit!

Good news for Blackberry owners in the US but OUCH that's gonna hurt their pocketbook a bit!

Here's a link:

http://money.cnn.com/2006/03/03/technology/rimm_ntp/index.htm?

[KLB]

So somebody finally flinched. The sad thing is most of those patents will eventually be invalidated.

[Chris]

I sometimes wonder what kind of people they have working at the patent office.

[dc dalton]

It's definately getting bad down there. Some of the STUPID patents they have approved lately just make me want to scream!

What really sucks (as Ken said) is that these type patents can cost companies a small (or large fortune), only to have the patent invalidated years later.... do they then get a refund? Don't think so!

Hey, maybe I'll patent forum posting in ALL UPPER CASE LETTERS! ;)

[Cutter]

The patent system is completely broken, the only winners here are lawyers and patent holders. This is hardly an isolated case. There is Acacia who have been going after licensing feeds for sites with streaming video (even iFilm bowed to them.) Now there is another (http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=180206472&subSection=Columns) who just got a broad patent cover all rich media applications.

[dc dalton]

The patent system is completely broken, the only winners here are lawyers and patent holders. This is hardly an isolated case. There is Acacia who have been going after licensing feeds for sites with streaming video (even iFilm bowed to them.) Now there is another (http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=180206472&subSection=Columns) who just got a broad patent cover all rich media applications.

Yeah that rich media patent is a total joke! I cant wait for someone to challenge that one!

[Bleys]

Didn't someone patent the :-) emoticon a few years ago? It has gotten rather ridiculous.

[Cutter]

patent? may be trademark it, which is possible. For example, over 50 Cafepress users were sued (http://www.webpublishingblog.com/trademark-owner-sues-51-cafepress-users.htm) for having a trademarked term on the items they were selling, although I believe most settled out of court for $5,000.

[Dan Grossman]

Didn't someone patent the :-) emoticon a few years ago? It has gotten rather ridiculous.

Despair, Inc. (despair.com) has the patent for :-(