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RIM Rejects More Patent Infringement Allegations 127

Posted by samzenpus from the copycat dept.
SilentOne writes "Waterloo based Research In Motion is facing new allegations of patent violation. Visto Corp. of Redwood Shores, Calif., said Monday that it had won an infringement case against Seven Networks, also of California, and is now targeting RIM for infringing four patents, including three involved in the Seven action. "Our case against RIM is based on similar technology, law and patents as the case we have just won," Visto said in a statement. "
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RIM Rejects More Patent Infringement Allegations More

RIM Rejects More Patent Infringement Allegations

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  • More lawsuits... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Beuno ( 740018 ) <argentinaNO@SPAMgmail.com> on Monday May 01, 2006 @07:41PM (#15241548) Homepage
    Anyone else have the feeling the focus is more and more on legal battles instead of tech innovation?

  • WTF?! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by PygmySurfer ( 442860 ) on Monday May 01, 2006 @07:42PM (#15241552)
    "Under the law, which protects consumers from products that contain infringing technology, RIM should not be able to sell the BlackBerry system."

    Since when do patents do ANYTHING to protect consumers from anything?

    • Re:WTF?! (Score:3, Funny)

      by Basehart ( 633304 ) on Monday May 01, 2006 @07:50PM (#15241597)
      I'm betting there are a lot of kids out there who will stay as far away from inventing something as they can (at least in the USA anyway!)

      • Re:WTF?! (Score:2)

        by TheSpoom ( 715771 ) * <slashdot@@@uberm00...net> on Monday May 01, 2006 @08:53PM (#15241944) Homepage Journal
        ...(at least in the USA anyway!)

        This is key. Innovation will simply come from countries that don't have as restrictive laws, who will then be able to capitalize on their inventions. There are many brilliant people in the world; the patent system of the United States is going to be their scientific and innovative downfall.

      • Patents save children (Score:2)

        by Aceticon ( 140883 ) on Tuesday May 02, 2006 @05:48AM (#15243928)
        I can see it now, little Billy, without their parents knowing about it, makes a small rocket out of firecrackers and matchheads. He takes it ouside to try it out and immediatly gets stopped by an army of patent lawyers armed with patents on any and all details of rockets, for example "a means of accelerating an object in a direction by ejecting gases at high-speed in the opposite direction", thus saving little Billy of the disapointment of seing that is rocket actually doesn't work or even from bodilly harm if the rocket exploded.

        In other news, patent lawyers armed with patents on all forms of causing bodilly harm are reducing terrorism!!!

    • Re:WTF?! (Score:0)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 01, 2006 @07:57PM (#15241655)
      It "protects" you in the same way that the PATRIOT act "protects" you... from the terrifying responsibilities that you might have faced as citizens of a free country.

      Wake up, America! Your laws won't change for the better unless you change your lawmakers for the better. For fuck's sake wake up, get down to the ballot boxes, and vote for someone who cares about freedom.

    • Re:WTF?! (Score:2, Insightful)

      by uniqueUser ( 879166 ) on Monday May 01, 2006 @08:10PM (#15241718)
      Our copy-right and patent laws were orginaly set up to protect the small people. But it has backfired. I think that it might be time to completely re-think how the current implementation should be. Big Money has just gotten too big.

      • Re:WTF?! (Score:2)

        by Yartrebo ( 690383 ) on Monday May 01, 2006 @08:49PM (#15241917)
        I'm not sure about patents, but copyrights were set up to hand out business favors to the monarch's friends and for censorship (early forms controlled who was allowed to operate a printing press).

        And they have never functioned to help out small artists, not that I would care anyway since copyrights cost me easily 10x the dollar cost of what they're paid, along with substantial freedoms.

      • Re:WTF?! (Score:3, Insightful)

        by typical ( 886006 ) on Monday May 01, 2006 @09:57PM (#15242270) Journal
        Our copy-right and patent laws were orginaly set up to protect the small people.

        I don't know about that. They were set up with the intent of funding content creation. Copyright laws may still do that -- abused and stretched as they may be -- but software patents are actively harming the ability of engineers to function in the United States.

        (And engineers who want to make a product that can be sold in the United States, which is damn near everyone.)

      • Re:WTF?! (Score:1)

        by rpbird ( 304450 ) on Tuesday May 02, 2006 @01:45AM (#15243313) Homepage Journal
        American patent and copyright laws were created to foster innnovation by allowing the authors and inventors to prosper from their work. This isn't a matter for speculation, as the US Constitution demonstrates:
        "To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries." It's been a while since I read Jefferson's works, but I do believe he echoed these ideas. Wikipedia's nice article on the subject even points out that the French class copyrights under "Rights of the Author." Though we'd all like to live in an X-Files universe, not everything was created in a conspiracy to screw over the human race. That good intentions lead to muddled results over time is the more likely scenario.

      • Re:WTF?! (Score:2)

        by SerpentMage ( 13390 ) on Tuesday May 02, 2006 @07:39AM (#15244151)
        Patents seem to have backfired, but I would debate the point that copyrights have backfired. If you are saying that the RIAA is draconian with its copyright. Fine so be it, I wont argue with that. DON'T BUY ANYTHING FROM the RIAA. I am amazed at how people like sheep continue buying records, etc. These days there is more than enough choice. The problem is that one has get off their butt and find that choice.

        The problem with patents is that one entity controls access to the source. Whereas copyright controls access to the interpretation of the source. Don't like the interpretation? Get another source, as copyright allows that, but not patents. I would even say with copyright we have an industry in books, music, art, whatever you can think of.

    • Re:WTF?! (Score:2)

      by pete6677 ( 681676 ) on Monday May 01, 2006 @08:58PM (#15241974)
      It doesn't, but newswriters are so used to sprinkling the word "consumer" throughout their stories that they went ahead and used it here as a filler word, whether it made sense or not.

  • This is what many knew would happen (Score:5, Insightful)

    by DarkFencer ( 260473 ) on Monday May 01, 2006 @07:42PM (#15241555)
    This is why RIM fought so hard against NTP. They could have settled early on for far less then the recent settlement + legal fees. They didn't want to give in early (or at all if possible) so they didn't end up as a target for a dozen more places like NTP.

  • Using Patents (Score:1, Redundant)

    by Metabolife ( 961249 ) on Monday May 01, 2006 @07:42PM (#15241557)
    "Our case against RIM is based on similar technology, law and patents as the case we have just won," Visto said in a statement. So instead of using the patents they have to make money, they wait for other companies to use them and file suit. When will the patent system be amended to finally make sense?

  • Well, I knowing first hand.. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by LeddRokkenstud ( 945664 ) on Monday May 01, 2006 @07:46PM (#15241569)
    As an employee of RIM, knowing about this first hand is kind of scary. I work as the manager of material processing, and I'm actually afraid of the outcome. The whole company is frustrated/fearful of this whole situation, and we just want to keep our jobs. I don't think the suits will stop.
    • The whole company is frustrated/fearful of this whole situation, and we just want to keep our jobs

      Well, I sure hope you all don't lose your RIM jobs.

    • Re:Well, I knowing first hand.. (Score:5, Interesting)

      by ShieldW0lf ( 601553 ) on Monday May 01, 2006 @07:56PM (#15241645) Journal
      Cut your losses. Take the blackberry service out of the US. Instantly. Leave every single blackberry owner, including the entire government, hanging out to dry. Use RIM patents to prevent anyone else from servicing them, ensure that where this is concerned, they are well, truly and permanently fucked as a consequence of their screwed up society. Refuse to penny up a dime. That's what should have been done in the first place. The US is not a suitable place to do business. On the contrary, to do business with the US is to fund the most aggressive nation in the world and contribute to global unrest. Just don't do it.

      • Re:Well, I knowing first hand.. (Score:0, Offtopic)

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 01, 2006 @08:29PM (#15241817)
        Well if you think freeing millions from the clutches of dictators and deposing tyrants makes the US the most aggressive nation in the world, then we take that as a compliment, thank you.

        We are the greatest military power the world has ever seen, don't be so jealous because you don't have our cool weapons and bombs. We are happy to come to your aid when you get invaded, that's our honor to come save your asses when you need it.

      • Re:Well, I knowing first hand.. (Score:0)

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 01, 2006 @08:32PM (#15241839)
        You realise that, well, some of us LIVE in the US. And, migrating isn't an option (At least not for a few years, and even then, family ties keep me here.)

        And there is always a PDA with Wi-Fi, or those new cell networks.

      • Re:Well, I knowing first hand.. (Score:0)

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 01, 2006 @08:46PM (#15241901)
        Man. What a TROLL. Modded insightful. I guess a shitton of europeans got mod points this week...

        Its too bad that the US and China are the only places really even DOING business....Everywhere else is socialist BS, suckling at the teat of US + China real economic growth.

      • Re:Well, I knowing first hand.. (Score:3, Informative)

        by thrillseeker ( 518224 ) on Monday May 01, 2006 @09:02PM (#15241997)
        Cut your losses. Take the blackberry service out of the US.

        Thank God you're not the guy in charge of insuring shareholder value for RIM - you know - the people that own the company - yeah, they bought it, with their own evil money. Wanna see how far an $80 stock price can fall when you remove the source of the majority of its revenue? Wanna see if it makes any difference to a Canadian company if a US court rules against 'em? Think the Canucks are gonna send the mounties to the border, or enforce the US ruling? Really hard to figure out why you'll never run a major corporation.

        • You sir seem to have missed the past 20 years of trade agreements; American laws, especially those concerning business with the US, are certainly valid here.

          Not that I think this is right, mind you, but we did elect the "let's bridge the imaginary gap between Canada and the US that 9-11 caused" conservatives, and minority government or not there will be nothing but red tape to protect RIM at this point.

        • Re:Well, I knowing first hand.. (Score:2)

          by SillySlashdotName ( 466702 ) on Tuesday May 02, 2006 @12:10PM (#15246177)
          What an ass.

          RIMM had Income of $361.2 Million on sales of $1.9 Billion in the last 12 months.

          Of that $361.2 Million, they paid out $612 Million in the last litigation, plus how much in future licensing fees? Now another hyena is sniffing.

          Yeah, I just bet the shareholders are happy to be going in that direction!

          Really hard to figure out why you'll never run a major corporation.


          Somehow I have the same feeling about you.

      • Re:Well, I knowing first hand.. (Score:1, Funny)

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 01, 2006 @09:32PM (#15242139)
        Nice to finally see an aggressive Canadian rant!! Why didn't they just let the US carriers stop selling BB's if the court had the balls to impose an injunction instead of paying NTP for useless patents? How long does it take to lose 600 million? However, perhaps Visto does have some good patents. I guess we'll see.
      • EUers say that the US really sucks, are bullies, etc., but without the United States, there would be no world economy. The American consumer overpays to bring products to market, and the rest of the world gets it at a cheaper price. Furthermore, the American market provides a crucial incentive to bring products to market. The sum of these effects that that without the United States, the world would be at the Stone Age, and it has nothing to do with American innovation but rather the utter idiocy and feckless spending of its citizen-consumers. No one would make drugs, illicit or prescription, if the American consumer was not dumb enough to overpay with American dollars--which other country drives up the price by illegalizing marijuana? The same goes for "entertainment" and pop "culture"--who else would may $20 for a music CD with spyware and put up with **IAA? Only the American consumer. Would Airbus try to bring the A380 to market if it couldn't sell to the good ol' USA? Probably not--wouldn't make the initial R & D outlay back.

        Conclusion: it's hard to have an economy without the American market and its consumers. Walmart must be fed.

        • Re:Well, I knowing first hand.. (Score:4, Interesting)

          by iplayfast ( 166447 ) on Tuesday May 02, 2006 @12:15AM (#15242965)
          EUers say that the US really sucks, are bullies, etc., but without the United States, there would be no world economy. I don't think so...

          It would just be a smaller world economy. US debt is well on the way to making this situation anyway. Ever wonder why the Canadian economy gaining against the US? The US has a larger growing season, Canada has a population of California, but Canada is gaining.

          Look to
          1. Bad policies in regard to the public ability to do what it wants. For example, you buy software, but are limited to what you can do with it, and this is accepted because it's called a license. If you were to license a pen, would you only be able to use it on one sheet of paper?
          2. Bad policies in regard to patents, software patents in particular.
          3. Bad policies in regard to copyright. (Copyright lasts for how many years?!?!)
          4. Bad policies in regard to foreign policy. (The war was a stupid waste of tax payers money, now the whole economy is paying for it).
          5. Bad policies in regard to how politions can be swayed by corperate desires.


          The Chinese are gaining ground as well, not to mention the Japaneese and European countries. The US is in sad sad shape compared to what it should be, and you've only your government to blame.

        • Re:Well, I knowing first hand.. (Score:2, Interesting)

          by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 02, 2006 @02:56AM (#15243517)
          The American consumer overpays to bring products to market, and the rest of the world gets it at a cheaper price. [...] who else would may $20 for a music CD with spyware and put up with **IAA? Only the American consumer.


          No.

          While I am not familiar with the price differences taken over the entire spectrum of products (and too lazy to investigate), you are wrong, at least about specific products, and my guess would be that you are wrong in general, as well--at least when comparing US prices to prices where I live.

          Your specific example of a music CD, I did look up--you typically see new CDs for 24.90 EUR here, or about 31.31 USD.

          Another thing, which I believe is more expensive here, is gasoline. At this very moment, it's listed at 1.373 EUR per liter (dm^3) at the gas station next door, or (evidently) 5.20 USD per US gallon.

        • Re:Well, I knowing first hand.. (Score:2)

          by Chemicalscum ( 525689 ) on Tuesday May 02, 2006 @08:45AM (#15244412) Journal
          Would Airbus try to bring the A380 to market if it couldn't sell to the good ol' USA? Probably not--wouldn't make the initial R & D outlay back.

          As of April 6 2005 of the 159 orders placed for A380 Airbus aicraft, only 30 were for US airlines. This is about proportional to the the US's economic weight in the world, about 20% of the global economy. So I guess we don't need you and that Airbus would have gone ahead as a project even if there was no US.

      • Re:Well, I knowing first hand.. (Score:2)

        by Fractal Dice ( 696349 ) on Monday May 01, 2006 @10:54PM (#15242587) Journal
        But then the terrorists^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hlawyers win.

        • Re:Well, I knowing first hand.. (Score:2)

          by ScouseMouse ( 690083 ) on Tuesday May 02, 2006 @06:25AM (#15243992) Homepage
          Personally, i think this should be moderated insightful rather than funny like its going to be.

          What other group had done more to scare the h*ll of out of the ordinary citizen than Lawyers? and usually in a personal way rather than in a general "we hate the US/UK/EU/UN/Bagels way"

          Terrorism, while being a real threat, is statistically, not nearly as dangerous as a drunken moron in a SUV, How many of us spend our time worrying about that?

          I doubt I would want to be an innovator in a field controlled by any large interests. You can be sued over nothing. Even if you win, you loose. Thats the power of Lawyers. They have the power to destroy your life, leave you penniless and witha mountain of debt, and if they get caught doing anything like that, the most they are likely to get is a slap on the wrist, and in most cases, they dont even seem to get that.

          Anyway rant over. I know most Lawyers are decent people trying to make a living, I do after all work at a legal firm. However, there is a large minority who feel that Money is more important than Truth, and that to me is a general contempt of the court system than anything else i can think of.
      • This comment is waaaaay overrated.

      • Re:Well, I knowing first hand.. (Score:2)

        by burnin1965 ( 535071 ) on Tuesday May 02, 2006 @10:54AM (#15245323) Homepage
        "Cut your losses. Take the blackberry service out of the US."

        Better yet, open source the software, open up the blackberry to community developers, sell the hardware as an empty shell if necessary, flood the market with the devices and still provide subscription services but let the community provide the software.

      • Re:Well, I knowing first hand.. (Score:2)

        by duffer_01 ( 184844 ) on Tuesday May 02, 2006 @11:17AM (#15245603) Homepage
        Sounds like a great idea in theory, but I expect there are a few 1000 people in Waterloo that would disagree with you when they lose their jobs. US is a HUGE market to RIM and there is no way the board would approve such a thing.

    • Re:Well, I knowing first hand.. (Score:2)

      by typical ( 886006 ) on Monday May 01, 2006 @09:55PM (#15242255) Journal
      And for people who don't sympathize, remember -- if you work at a successful tech company that makes unusual products, you're liable to be put in this guy's shoes any day.

    • Re:Well, I knowing first hand.. (Score:2)

      by ScouseMouse ( 690083 ) on Tuesday May 02, 2006 @06:12AM (#15243965) Homepage
      Unfortunately what goes around comes around.

      I'm sure the employees of Handspring know exactly what you feel.

      http://www.pdastreet.com/articles/2002/9/2002-9-19 -Research-in-Motion.html [pdastreet.com]

  • terrorists! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Feyr ( 449684 ) on Monday May 01, 2006 @07:51PM (#15241610) Journal
    that's why there shall be no negotiation with terrorists! as soon as you cave in to their demands they'll just make more of them!

    • Re:terrorists! (Score:5, Insightful)

      by ScrewMaster ( 602015 ) on Monday May 01, 2006 @08:02PM (#15241687)
      Really, though, in this case the comparison to terrorism is weak. I'd say it's more like dealing with a school of really hungry piranha. Or maybe a programmed death machine ... to quote Reese when he was describing a Terminator to Sarah Connor:

      Listen. Understand. That Terminator is out there. It can't be reasoned with, it can't be bargained with ... it doesn't feel pity or remorse or fear ... and it absolutely will not stop. Ever. Until you are dead.

      That's kinda how I look at these patent-wielding law firms. As long as you have the money to pay prote^H^H^H^H^Hlicense fees they absolutely will not stop. Ever.

  • This is the danger of paying an extortionist... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Ritz_Just_Ritz ( 883997 ) on Monday May 01, 2006 @08:00PM (#15241670)
    it brings all the others out of the wordwork and encourages more extortion. Granted, RIM is no angel, but this is just getting silly.

  • Those who can, do. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Opportunist ( 166417 ) on Monday May 01, 2006 @08:01PM (#15241680)
    Those who can't, sue.

    • Re:Those who can, do. (Score:2)

      by DaveInAustin ( 549058 ) on Monday May 01, 2006 @10:16PM (#15242366) Homepage
      This is exactly right. Patents are biased against the do-ers and towards the thinkers. You can't infringe unless you are being productive. The do-ers thought that they could protect themselves against frivoulous patent lawsuits by getting some frivoulous patents themselves. Patents won't you protect you against an entity that make anything but patent lawsuits. Part of me would like to see the Blackberrys shut down for a few days to wake some people up to what is going on.

    • Re:Those who can, do. (Score:1)

      by dc_dog ( 767092 ) on Tuesday May 02, 2006 @07:31AM (#15244135)
      Wait a minute... I read the story and these guys seem like a different animal than NTP. They have contracts with major carriers to sell the product and claim to employ 400 people. If I remember correctly NTP just bought their patents and went hunting--without running a traditional business. If these guys actually invented this stuff as they claim, and have been making a go at it for 10 years, you'd think entrepreneurial folks on this board would support them.

  • Those who can, do. Those who can't... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by FFFish ( 7567 ) on Monday May 01, 2006 @08:09PM (#15241716) Homepage
    ...sue the asses off those who do.

    What a wonderful world we'll live in when it becomes so financially risky to try anything new, out of fear of some obscure patent-camping leech stealing the investment and work it took to make that new thing.

    We need patent reform: use your patent, or lose your patent.

  • patents? (Score:1)

    by CommanderEl ( 765634 ) on Monday May 01, 2006 @08:17PM (#15241756)
    Im going to patent walking.
    So I can sue anyone I see walking to work or going for an afternoon stroll. You are allowed to drive or catch the bus, but not walk.

    So its happened in Germany too :S
    If Da Vinci Patented his ideas, we would all be screwed.

  • From TFA (Score:0)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 01, 2006 @08:35PM (#15241851)
    Waterloo, Ont.-based RIM (TSX:RIM) recently settled a long-running patent infringement case by paying NTP Inc. $612.5 million US.

    NTP owns a stake in Visto, Bloomberg News reported.

    Coincidence? I think not.

  • We need a linux based RIM alternative SOON!!! (Score:4, Insightful)

    by crazyjeremy ( 857410 ) * on Monday May 01, 2006 @08:36PM (#15241857) Homepage Journal
    Lawsuits like this will happen whenever a company rakes in hundreds of millions of dollars where others have tried and failed. These lawsuites have permanently damaged Corporate America's trust in RIM (or any single point of failure for Corporate Mobile Communication).

    HOWEVER! This has actually produced a fertile field for alternative devices. With WindowsMobile getting more secure and more devices being wireless / wifi capable, the blackberry is no longer the only choice for corporate america (nor should it be). Microsoft is trying to play catchup by pushing Windows Mobile as real alternative to Blackberry. There is no comparison. Microsoft simply doesn't offer an end to end service like RIM. BUT if we got a VERY stable and VERY secure linux alternative (handheld and server?) it could save companies hundreds of thousands. But the service must be able to sync with Exchange / Domino and other corporate mail clients.

    Coming from a company with over half a million dollar budget for mobile devices and working closely with management, I saw many in Senior management that are very AFRAID to stay with RIM. They are looking for other alternatives just in case something ELSE happens to RIM and there IS no way out the next time. They are just now looking to not "put all their eggs (for mobile email) in one basket".

    Bottom line? Windows is now in the market with crappy devices (any 240 x 240 screen, Palm 700). Palm is in the market with a good device (treo 650 with 320 x 320 screen). But there is room to grow in this market.

    As soon as a developer gets one of these wifi/cell-enabled devices to run a solid linux distro and get some good encryption on it, mark my words, SOME in corporate America will eat it up, especially with the cost savings. RIM proved this in a way. Blackberries are wonderful email devices. They faltered (till recently) as phone devices. They are NOT PDAs. Corporate America doesn't necessarily need all their employees to have PDA's, but many if not most need email and a viewable calendar 24/7.

    Botom line: RIM made lots of money from an email device and now that corporate America is afraid of RIM someone else can cash in if they beat Microsoft to the punch..

  • sharks (Score:3, Insightful)

    by cahiha ( 873942 ) on Monday May 01, 2006 @08:38PM (#15241869)
    The sharks seem to be circling each other: RIM, NTP, Visto, etc. Let them all sue each other out of existence, while the rest of us keep using our wireless E-mail based on standard protocols and standard servers.
    • The sharks seem to be circling each other: RIM, NTP, Visto, etc. Let them all sue each other out of existence, while the rest of us keep using our wireless E-mail based on standard protocols and standard servers.

      These trashbags will shut down anyone. If you are making money, they will take it. If you are not they will shut you down so someone else can take it. If what people familiar with the case say is true, NTP never had a patent on a non obvious invention, they had a patent on obvious business methods. Such patents can be used on anyone who tries to do anything.

  • Shoot the lawyers (Score:3, Funny)

    by Lead Butthead ( 321013 ) on Monday May 01, 2006 @08:39PM (#15241871) Journal
    No matter which company wins this round, the lawyers win, ALWAYS. I say we take'em out of the equation.

  • Fight it! (Score:0)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 01, 2006 @08:43PM (#15241891)
    RIM needs to fight this battle so that if they end up losing, they can just shut down their network for a few days. Let's see how the US government feels, and maybe that will get their attention and maybe we can have some patent reform?

    I am probably dreaming, but it would be interesting to see.

  • The saddest part... (Score:1, Informative)

    by HaloZero ( 610207 ) <protodeka@gma i l .com> on Monday May 01, 2006 @08:46PM (#15241904) Homepage
    ...is that NTP Inc, and Visto don't even have products. I'd never heard of NTP before the Research In Motion fiasco. Come to find out, they're a 'patent-holding' company. What the hell? So you're a bunch of campers. Nice.

    Just read that NTP has a large stake in Visto. This just keeps getting better.

    I hope to see NTP and Visto get driven into the ground, and RIM come out on top.

    • Re:The saddest part... (Score:0)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 01, 2006 @08:55PM (#15241956)
      Camping is a good word for it. Squatting, however, is an even better word. Given the legal assaults against domain squatters, why can't the same sort of force be applied to patent squatters? It's fundamentally the same damn thing, or is the USPTO just too addicted to the constant stream of patent filing fees from patent holding companies?

    • Re:The saddest part... (Score:3, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 01, 2006 @09:11PM (#15242036)
      Wow, Visto has no products. I guess their clients will be surprised to hear that. Clients like AT&T Wireless, Bell Mobility, KPN, Manitoba Telecom Services, Nextel Communications, Inc., Rogers Wireless, SaskTel Mobility, SmarTone, TELUS Mobility, Vodafone Global, Vodafone Germany, Vodafone Italy and Vodafone Spain (lifted from http://www.visto.com/about/index.html [visto.com]). "Visto's products are used by over 200,000 mobile professionals globally. Our enterprise customers include GE, Sara Lee, USA Credit Union, and Xerox."

      And what are their products? Again, same web page:
      "Visto Mobile(TM) is Visto's patented, operator-grade platform for mobile access to corporate and personal email, calendar, contacts (PIM) and other corporate data. Visto Mobile provides secure, IP-push, continuously synchronized, real-time access to email/PIM data for POP3, Microsoft Outlook/Exchange and IBM Lotus Notes/Domino servers via GPRS and CDMA 1x wireless networks. Visto Mobile Enterprise Server and Visto Mobile Personal Edition solutions support WAP and most other browser enabled phones or PCs, along with smart phones using Symbian OS, Palm OS, Windows Mobile for Smartphone and Pocket PC Phone Edition, and J2ME operating systems, as well as IMAP and SyncML-based clients. Visto's customized, brandable solutions are available through to mobile operators worldwide as a hosted service or a fully licensable and integrated platform."

      Not exactly NTP....

  • three in the Seven? (Score:1, Troll)

    by Black Parrot ( 19622 ) on Monday May 01, 2006 @09:18PM (#15242072)
    Is that a new Star Trek character?

  • and this..... (Score:1)

    by wap911 ( 637820 ) on Monday May 01, 2006 @09:22PM (#15242097)
    me thinks RIM should tell Vista, *similar technology* this ,,!,,
  • Bastard companies that abuse software patents should be first against the wall when the revolution comes.

    Or perhaps the fools in government that legitimized them in the first place. Both at once?

  • Once you pay the Danegeld... (Score:2)

    by russotto ( 537200 ) on Monday May 01, 2006 @09:51PM (#15242240) Journal
    Not only do you never get rid of the Dane, you attract more of them.

  • shake em down! (Score:2)

    by Danathar ( 267989 ) on Tuesday May 02, 2006 @09:01AM (#15244494) Journal
    They caved once, now the other muggers are enboldened to try it again.

    Moral of the story..When the bully comes after you the FIRST time, defend yourself to the end. Use a baseball bat if nessessary.

    "Those who beat their swords into plowshares will plow for those who don't" - Thomas Jefferson
  • For those of you railing against software patents, in this case that is NOT the problem. The fact is that up until recently one had to have a working prototype to get a patent. The Constitution allows patent protection to foster innovation by allowing a company to recoup R&D investment during the early years of a product. Recently courts have allowed patent infringement cases to proceed when there was no product to protect and no product ever intended. By patenting an idea and fiercely protecting it without ever making a product you essentially take that idea and any innovation around that idea off the market. If the courts required a working prototype to get a patent and an actual product to defend a patent, this wouldn't happen.

  • RIM (Score:1)

    by certel ( 849946 ) on Tuesday May 02, 2006 @12:10PM (#15246178) Homepage
    Companies are targeting RIM because they're based out of Canada. It's a conspiracy I tell you.

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