Re: NTP vs. RIM (from Wikipedia 'cause it's a good place to
start)
RIM has agreed to pay NTP $612.5 million (USD) in a
“full and final settlement of all claims.”
Although I don't
agree with railroad jobs in court, there may have been more to this dispute than
meets the eye, and we will never know. The government certainly has a lot to
answer for given the ridiculous antics paraded as justice when it comes to
patents.
Another American court hatchet job (not envolving patents) was
a case between Jerry O'Keefe, a former mayor of Biloxi, and The Loewen Group, a
Canadian based funeral services company. A dispute over a deal worth approx.
$4 million was parlayed into a $500 million dollar judgement against the
forgein firm in what has been criticized as a highly predjudiced trial.
Furthermore, the court ordered the defendent to post a $675 million dollar
bond within 7 days if they wanted to appeal, essentially foreclosing the appeal
process. The result staggered and eventually bankrupted the high flying funeral
services company. No one in MS shed any tears, but American justice suffered a
black eye. Two wrongs don't make a right, especially if no wrong was committed
in the first place.
There is plenty of injustice to go around so we
just have to be vigilant and point it out when it happens. I guess that's why I
read Groklaw. [ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
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