Those jackasses at patent holding company NTP once again have opted to use the courtroom to attempt to generate revenue rather than innovating in the technology space. This time they are suing Google, Apple, HTC, LG, Microsoft and Motorola for allegedly violating eight of their patents covering wireless email delivery.
In 2001, NTP filed a similar suit against Research In Motion, and in 2006, the suit was dismissed after RIM paid $612 million in a settlement. As a result of that arrangement, RIM is not named in the new suit, nor is Nokia — the world’s largest smartphone maker — since both companies have licensing agreements with the patent company.
I find the timing quite interesting. The NTP vs. RIM lawsuit concluded in 2006, yet it took NTP four additional years before deciding to sue these companies. Here in 2010 Apple and HTC own the smartphone market with their iPhone and Android products respectively. Could this suit have anything to do with the extreme popularity of those devices?
Surely there is a relationship otherwise, for example, why not sue Apple upon the release of the first iPhone since its email capabilities have virtually remained the same?
Either way, patent holding companies like NTP – companies which purchase patents rather than innovating themselves – which do not produce any types of products but opt to use the courts for profit only end up hurting the technology sector as a whole. As long as there are greedy bastards like NTP running around suing companies on baseless grounds then many corporations will be afraid to take risks for fear of being in the crosshairs of some pointless, faceless, product-less lawsuit machine.
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