Bolt vs Blackberry

[Exile]

Just cool...I was sharp last night...and wicked.

[Gamma]

ah well...today is another day!

[Don1]

ah well...today is another day!

no harm meant boss

[Gamma]

den mi nuh done know dat long time....

[Peter R]

So how come no fuss when they came out with the Blackberry Pearl?

[Assasin]

and all the ones before.

Uf you know the history of Blackberry then you won't be surprisedd

[Peter R]

I don't know the history other than they are a young company that grew very fast... they're based in Waterloo, Ontario next to University of Waterloo where I went to school. I know they were sued by a small US company for patent infringement (?) a few years back and they settled out of court.

What else should I know?

[Assasin]

RIM patent infringement litigation
In 2000, the now infamous patent troll company NTP sent notice of their wireless email patents to a number of companies and offered to license the patents to them. NTP's patents were not based on any existing technology or even a working prototype, as no research and development had ever been done or had ever been planned by NTP on the patents. In contrast, RIM had spent years and millions of dollars developing its invention. Due to what was widely seen by industry leaders as NTP's attempt at extortion, none of the companies took a license. NTP brought a patent infringement lawsuit against one of the companies, Research in Motion, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. This court is well known for its strict adherence to timetables and deadlines, sometimes referred to as the "rocket docket," and is particularly efficient at trying patent cases.[15]
During the trial, RIM tried to show that a functional wireless email system was already in the public domain at the time the NTP inventions had been made. This would have invalidated the NTP patents. The prior system was called System for Automated Messages (SAM). RIM demonstrated SAM in court and it appeared to work. But the NTP attorneys discovered that RIM was not using vintage SAM software, but a more modern version that came after NTP's inventions were made. Therefore the judge instructed the jury to disregard the demonstration as invalid.
The jury eventually found that the NTP patents were valid, that RIM had infringed them, that the infringement had been "willful", and that the infringement had cost NTP $33 million dollars in damages (the greater of a reasonable royalty or lost profits). The judge, James R. Spencer increased the damages to $53 million as a punitive measure because the infringement had been willful. He also instructed RIM to pay NTP's legal fees of $4.5 million and issued an injunction ordering RIM to cease and desist infringing the patents. This would have shut down the BlackBerry systems in the US.[16]
RIM appealed all of the findings of the court. The injunction and other remedies were stayed pending the outcome of the appeals.
In March of 2005 during the appeals process, RIM and NTP tried to negotiate a settlement of their dispute. One of the terms of the settlement was to be for $450 million. But negotiations broke down due to other issues. On June 10, 2005 the matter returned to the courts.
In early November, 2005 the US Department of Justice filed a brief requesting that RIM's service be allowed to continue because of the large number of BlackBerry users in the US Federal Government.[17]
In January of 2006, the US Supreme Court refused to hear RIM's appeal of the holding of liability for patent infringement, and the matter was returned to a lower court. The previously granted injunction preventing all RIM sales in the US and use of the BlackBerry device might have been enforced by the presiding district court judge had the two parties not been able to reach a settlement.[18]
On February 9, 2006, the US Department of Defense (DOD) filed a brief stating that an injunction shutting down the BlackBerry service while excluding government users was unworkable. The DOD also stated that the BlackBerry was crucial for national security given the large number of government users.
On February 9, 2006, RIM announced that it had developed software workarounds that would not infringe the NTP patents, and would implement those if the injunction was enforced.
On March 3, 2006, after a stern warning from Judge Spencer, RIM and NTP announced that they had settled their dispute. Under the terms of the settlement, RIM has agreed to pay NTP $612.5 million (USD) in a “full and final settlement of all claims.” In a statement, RIM said that “all terms of the agreement have been finalized and the litigation against RIM has been dismissed by a court order this afternoon. The agreement eliminates the need for any further court proceedings or decisions relating to damages or injunctive relief.” The settlement is believed low by some analysts, because of the absence of any future royalties on the technology in question.[19]

[Tilla]

It is an AT&T ad. Since they were pushing speed, I wondered why they did not call for the services of Bolt.

[OJ]

i think its the Blackberry BOLD not bolt.http://na.blackberry.com/eng/devices/blackberrybold/

[OJ]

also the blackberry "BOLD: as been around or in planning a while. It would be nice if Bolt did the commerical for the BOLD.

[OJ]

why do you mean by that assassin.. Whats to know about RIM... except they are a very fine Canadian Company that has made good salary for many youth straight out of university.. Again its not the Bolt is the Bold..

[Gamma]

unnuh a eediat!! everybody know seh is mccain invent di blackberry!!!

[OJ]

ahh. where is Mexx.. is he alright..

[OJ]

ntp should not have been compesated.