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Tag: technology patents

  • BlackBerry Patent Portfolio Could Draw Interest

    Back in August, following another dismal quarterly report, BlackBerry announced that it was exploring “strategic alternatives” – including the possible sale of the company. Earlier this week that possibility became a reality, with a consortium led by FairFax Financial offering $4.7 billion for the Canadian company.

    The buyout seemed to have been announced early, with FairFax still having six weeks for due diligence. During that time, BlackBerry has the option of courting other offers. Though another wholesale offer for BlackBerry is unlikely to appear, CNN this week reported that offers for the company’s patent portfolio are a very real possibility.

    The report states that BlackBerry’s patent portfolio could be worth $2 billion to $3 billion, making up possibly more than half of the FairFax offer. As was speculated shortly after BlackBerry announced its “strategic alternative” search, the company could find a better offer by selling off its more important pieces. BlackBerry’s stockpile of mobile enterprise patents could prove particularly valuable in such an endeavor.

    The CNN report goes on to quote Chris Marlett, CEO of MDB Capital Group as saying BlackBerry’s patents could give a “massive advantage” to any company engaged in the widespread practice of tech patent lawsuits. Marlett was also quoted as saying the patents make up such a large portion of BlackBerry’s value “because their business is falling apart.”

    (via BGR)

  • Facebook Wins In Appeals Court Against Leader Technologies

    Back in 2008 Leader Technologies,a developer of internet-based system, filed a lawsuit against Facebook claiming they had infringed on one of their patents with the invention of the site. The technology in question was one which it made it possible for people to communicate on a large scale such as we do on Facebook. An ultimate jury decision found that Facebook had indeed infringed on the patent.

    Yesterday we learned that the patent claim was rendered invalid by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington. Their decision was largely based on the company taking too long to apply for patent protection for the technology. Typically one must seek protection within a year of offering an invention for sale. Evidence suggests Leader was peddling the technology all throughout 2002, but didn’t file for protection until December 2003.

    So Facebook is off the hook with this lawsuit, but it seems there are countless others always popping-up around the social-networking giant’s technology platform. In early March Yahoo filed a claim against Facebook asserting the site had infringed on patents stemming from their research and development efforts.

    Yahoo comments on the suit in a written statement:

    “Yahoo! has invested substantial resources in research and development through the years, which has resulted in numerous patented inventions of technology that other companies have licensed. These technologies are the foundation of our business that engages over 700 million monthly unique visitors and represent the spirit of innovation upon which Yahoo! is built. Unfortunately, the matter with Facebook remains unresolved and we are compelled to seek redress in federal court. We are confident that we will prevail.”

    Recently Yahoo updated its court filing against Facebook claiming they also infringed on several more open source technology patents from Yahoo. This brings the number of patents in question to 16. It seems there’s no end to these patent disputes.

    We will keep you posted on all of Facebook’s patent wars and the upcoming public offering and IPO roadshow. In the meantime, try to figure out if there’s anything you can sue Facebook for, after all, it seems like the trendy thing to do.

  • Twitter Publishes Patent Agreement to Combat Trolls

    It’s sad for an engineer or inventor to see their work used as a ball-gag to stifle innovation. Too often companies referred to as “patent trolls” will buy up patents without any intention of using them or licensing them fairly. It’s a problem plaguing the tech industry and is decried by many industry leaders such as Mark Cuban and Steve Wozniak.

    Now Twitter has taken a stand in the movement to stop patent trolling by introducing the “Innovator’s Patent Agreement” (IPA). According to a post on the official Twitter blog by Adam Messinger, Vice President of Engineering at Twitter, the IPA is a way for inventors to make sure their inventions can only be used as they intend. From the blog post:

    The IPA is a new way to do patent assignment that keeps control in the hands of engineers and designers. It is a commitment from Twitter to our employees that patents can only be used for defensive purposes. We will not use the patents from employees’ inventions in offensive litigation without their permission. What’s more, this control flows with the patents, so if we sold them to others, they could only use them as the inventor intended.

    “Defensive purposes” seems a bit subjective, but the text of the IPA makes it clearer. The patent-holder can only assert its claim to a patent under the IPA against a company or person who is suing them over intellectual property, against known patent trolls, or to deter a patent litigation threat against the patent-holder. Any other use and the patent-holder must get permission from all of the inventors.

    Messinger stated that Twitter will begin using IPA later this year for all patents issued to their engineers. Twitter wants their designers to be confident their work will only be used as a “shield rather than as a weapon.”

    The full text of the IPA has been posted by Twitter at GitHub. It’s written in patent-law gobbledygook, but careful examination of the document reveals that it is a huge departure from the industry standard. Normally, employees sign agreements that make patents they file the sole property of their employers.

    Do you think the IPA will catch on with other tech companies? Could it lead to real patent reform for the tech industry? Let me know in the comments section below.

  • Dell Acquires Wyse Technology and Cloud Patents

    Dell Acquires Wyse Technology and Cloud Patents

    Dell has announced today, they plan to acquire cloud computing solutions provider, Wyse Technologies. With Wyse comes comes almost 200 technology patents which will greatly expand Dell’s current enterprise solutions portfolio.

    Here’s a sample of what Dell will inherit with the acquisition of Wyse:

    * Cloud clients : Wyse offers a wide selection of secure, reliable, cost-effective thin and zero clients designed to easily integrate into any virtualized or web-based infrastructure, while meeting the budget and performance requirements for any application.

    * Cloud software : Technology powering a new world of cloud connected smart devices.
    Management software – Secure, easy and scalable remote device management for the extended enterprise.

    * Virtualization software – The best user experience with Microsoft, Citrix and VMware virtual desktop infrastructures.

    * Mobility software – Secure mobile connectivity to your personal, private or public cloud for mobile devices.

    * Services: Wyse offers a wide range of cloud computing services to complement its cloud clients and software solutions. Services are available for specific or on-going engagements.

    Jeff Clarke, president, End User Computing Solutions at Dell commented on the acquisition:

    “Desktop virtualization can help organizations streamline IT management, improve productivity and security, and increase cost efficiency for discrete workloads or usage scenarios,”

    “The Wyse Technology desktop virtualization capability complements Dell’s strongest-ever device and computing solutions portfolio, and strengthens our position in offering customers among the broadest set of computing choices from the edge to the core to the cloud.”

    Tarkan Maner, president and CEO of Wyse Technology also offers his sentiments on the deal:

    “The combination of Wyse and Dell provides us with tremendous growth opportunities for our core desktop virtualization business, helps us expand into new and fast-growing market segments including mobility and cloud computing, and provides us with reach and scale we did not previously have,”

    “We believe that taking this step with Dell is a very natural progression for our business and offers our customers many great advantages not available to them today.”

    An analyst call with Jeff Clarke, president, Dell End User Computing; Dave Johnson, senior vice president, Dell Corporate Strategy; and Tarkan Maner, president and CEO, Wyse Technology;a webcast was broadcast live today at 8:45 a.m. Central Time and archived at www.dell.com/investor.