| Author |
Message |
Hitchhiker
Rear Admiral
Joined: 11 Aug 2004
Posts: 3514
Location: Ontario, Canada
|
 Thu Feb 02, 2006 8:10 pm Blocking BlackBerry could cost $49 Billion: RIM |
|
| TheStar.com wrote: | Blocking BlackBerry could cost $49B: RIM
Feb. 2, 2006. 02:50 PM
TYLER HAMILTON
TECHNOLOGY REPORTER
Research In Motion Ltd. argued in court filings yesterday that the American economy could take a $49 billion (U.S.) hit if its popular BlackBerry device is slapped with an injunction, just as the U.S. patent office issued yet another initial rejection of a fifth patent at the centre of its legal battle in the United States.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has now issued non-final rejections of all five patents at issue in a BlackBerry patent-infringement case before a Virginia district court.
However, a final outcome from the patent office could be months away. Experts say the judge presiding over the infringement case is hesitant to delay the proceedings any further, and could grant an injunction against RIM at a court hearing scheduled for later this month.
Patent-holding firm NTP Inc. wants to shut down the BlackBerry service for most users in the United States. The U.S. Department of Justice filed another brief yesterday to oppose any shutdown, requesting that the judge in the case at least hold off until the government is sure its users will be exempted and ultimately not affected.
RIM went further in its own filing, pointing out that the public interest doesn�t end with government services and that exemptions proposed by NTP are too narrowly defined. RIM said NTP failed to consider the millions of BlackBerry users who rely on the device for personal and family safety in times of crisis, or the hundreds of large companies that would experience business disruptions.
�It is hard to see how disruption to the financial services industry or to Fortune 500 companies would do anything but harm the public interest,� according to RIM�s final court filing, which cites a U.S. economist who estimates an injunction would have a $25 billion (U.S.) direct impact on the U.S. economy and $24 billion in indirect effects.
It added that the exemptions would not protect health care because �it contains no general exemption for doctors or hospitals.�
RIM shares (TSX: RIM) went up $6.75, or almost 9 per cent, to close at $84 on the Toronto Stock Exchange yesterday, but were down slightly in early afternoon trading.
The patent-office challenge is RIM�s way of trying to defend itself against a federal court ruling in 2003 that sided with NTP and awarded the U.S. patent-holding company significant damages and royalties.
NTP lawyer James Wallace said the patent-office review process is likely to stretch out more than six months because of the various appeals NTP is entitled to pursue.
NTP has 30 days to respond to the most recent patent-office decision. After the patent office issues its final decision, NTP can appeal before the patent appeals board and, if necessary, also appeal to the federal district court.
The timing doesn�t favour RIM. U.S. District Judge James Spencer will hear arguments Feb. 24 on whether to grant NTP�s request for a shutdown of most U.S. BlackBerry services.
The U.S. justice department filed another brief yesterday, saying not enough evidence had been submitted to show that a plan to exempt government users from the shutdown �can be realistically implemented.�
RIM said in its filing it is impossible to create and maintain a white list of excluded BlackBerry users given that NTP�s proposed exemption would require the company to keep track of more than one million users.
RIM also argued that NTP�s scenario of giving millions of non-exempt commercial BlackBerry users 30 days to switch to an alternative service �bears no resemblance to reality.�
�Indeed, it is not even clear if two million `comparable� devices are available for purchase within the next 30 days,� according to RIM�s filing, which points out that some alternatives suggested by NTP -- such as Microsoft�s Windows Mobile 5.0 software -- are not even commercially available on the market yet.
�Even assuming other alternatives were available, it would take a Fortune 500 company several months or longer to transition to an alternative system.� |
Source
Anyone ever think that we're even slightly too dependent on our technology? 
|
|
|
Republican_Man
STV's Premier Conservative
Joined: 26 Mar 2004
Posts: 14823
Location: Classified
|
| Thu Feb 02, 2006 8:14 pm |
|
lol, maybe so.
This was on the news Sunday. Interesting story, I think.
-------signature-------
"Rights are only as good as the willingness of some to exercise responsibility for those rights- Fmr. Colorado Senate Pres. John Andrews
|
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group
Star Trek �, in all its various forms, are trademarks & copyrights of Paramount Pictures
This site has no official connection with Star Trek or Paramount Pictures
Site content/Site design elements owned by Morphy and is meant to only be an archive/Tribute to STV.com
|
Search
FAQ
Log in
