BlackBerry Sues Twitter For Patent Infringement (reuters.com) 49
BlackBerry has set its sights on Twitter in a new patent infringement lawsuit, accusing the social media company of illegally using technology in its mobile messaging apps that had been developed by the former smartphone maker. Reuters reports: The lawsuit said Twitter wrongly sought to compensate for being a "relative latecomer" to mobile messaging by co-opting Blackberry's inventions for such services as the main Twitter application and Twitter Ads, infringing six of the company's patents. Twitter "succeeded in diverting consumers away from BlackBerry's products and services" and toward its own by misappropriating features that made BlackBerry "a critical and commercial success in the first place," the complaint said.
The lawsuit resembles patent infringement cases that BlackBerry filed there last March and April against Facebook and Snap. Last August, U.S. District Judge George Wu allowed BlackBerry to pursue most of its infringement claims in those lawsuits, which according to court records remain pending. Wu may be assigned the case against San Francisco-based Twitter because federal courts often assign cases deemed "related" to a single judge. The Facebook and Snap lawsuits were deemed related.
The lawsuit resembles patent infringement cases that BlackBerry filed there last March and April against Facebook and Snap. Last August, U.S. District Judge George Wu allowed BlackBerry to pursue most of its infringement claims in those lawsuits, which according to court records remain pending. Wu may be assigned the case against San Francisco-based Twitter because federal courts often assign cases deemed "related" to a single judge. The Facebook and Snap lawsuits were deemed related.
Sad world (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Sad world (Score:4, Informative)
Patent, not copyright.
And Blackberry does not meet the typical definition of troll -- Blackberry was a practicing entity that was there first and patented some of the methods they were using, but they were then out-innovated by more software-heavy companies like Apple and Google...
Twitter is not something Blackberry would have developed, because BB saw itself as a phone maker, at least until very recently.
Anyways, they're not a "troll" per se, but in their desperate condition BB needs to maximize revenue from every source possible, so they turn to licensing their patent portfolio.
"Troll" implies Blackberry is at fault, But in fact --- it is OUR patent system at fault: if companies like Blackberry are being allowed to hold patents on software system or feature designs that are broad or so obvious that its something any skilled developer would come up with when faced with a challenge, rather than only patentable substantial developments that significantly add to the state of the art.
Re: (Score:2)
On the other hand, if people are stepping on patent landmines, it should actually invalidate the patent. After all, how non-obvious could it be if people keep stumbling over it?
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
at this point blackberry is a patent troll quite typically. as this is a quite typical path to being a patent troll - maximizing revenue from every source possible is kinda the usual reason, when the method is riskily suing big money victims.
it was a really hubris company that got into a market by sidestepping standards and providing a service that was doable with standard networks just a few years after and really they didn't have anything really special about it even. their thing was hacking their push em
Re: (Score:2)
Are the patents legitimate or did they sneak BS through the PTO?
They have so many of them, and only a couple of their claims were invalidated or dismissed as
patent-ineligible in the court cases with Snapchat/Facebook despite Snap/FB's arguments to dismiss many more of them : so its kind of a tough argument to say so many patents "sneaked" by the patent examiners.
Snapchat v Blackberry - Ruling on Snapchat's motion to dismiss pursuant to frcp 12(B)(6) [24] [courthousenews.com]:
Re: (Score:2)
At one time, they were a practicing patent holder. Now they are a troll.
No excuses unless you also believe that pick pockets are blameless because it's not their fault pockets are made so easy to pick. Bank robbers are also blameless. Banks shouldn't be so easy to rob. Serial killers are blameless, people shouldn't be so easy to kill...
Re: (Score:2)
At one time, they were a practicing patent holder. Now they are a troll.
BB are still a practicing patent holder. They have products such as Blackberry Connect and
BlackBerry Spark Communications Services -- that provides APIs for developers to build instant messaging and collaboration applications, etc.
Part of the whole point of patent exclusivity is to provide protection for the fact that once people saw and interacted with BB's software, "once people knew of the product", the operation and aspects of f
Re: (Score:2)
At one time, Blackberry's tech was the only game in town, but these days, apps like Twitter are just a combination of common technologies that happen to be available on mobile phones now. Nobody needed (or wanted) to study how Blackberry did it to implement the newer services. Just because both are interfaces to make your vehicle go, the gas pedal and the buggy whip have little in common.
For the most part, Blackberry itself ditched their old tech and replaced it with common and widely available G3/G4 and A
Re: (Score:2)
these days, apps like Twitter are just a combination of common technologies that happen to be available on mobile phones now
That does Not mean those companies are in the clear -- the technologies putting them in the clear would ONLY happen if BB had exhausted their patent rights by licensing those "common technologies" to Apple/Google Android/etc for use on their phones ---- since use is unlicensed, BB have the option to pursue anyone who uses those technologies instead. The "common" technologies avail
Re: (Score:2)
You're stretching desperately, much like Blackberry is. RIM did not invent G3, G4, TCP/IP or the concept of delivering a message over those technologies. They don't even use the technologies they invented anymore.
They invented a now obsolete method of delivering messages to a small device that fits in your pocket, but you can't patent a CONCEPT, only a particular way of reducing it to practice. In this case, a way that is long obsolete.
Re: (Score:1)
Those who can, do.
Those who can't, litigate.
Blackberry owned the smartphone market, and then they whiffed on creating new products that mattered. They decided that their enterprise lock-in and retread devices would keep them going.
Then Apple and Google came along.
Now they are just another Android OEM with a bunch of lawyers.
Re: (Score:2)
Having briefly experienced the Blackberry UI during that critical period when Apple was first releasing the iPhone there's little doubt why Blackberry's market share collapsed. Simply put, the interface was awful compared to the simpler and more intuitive iOS interface. It's really that simple. We can debate all day which one of the companies was more innovative, what really counted was that the iPhone was easier to use, and it won the market based simply on that fact. RIM/Blackberry had no idea how to resp
My phone invention (Score:1)
A systematic system to systemize systems systematically.
Taking input a and storing as b and reproducing as returned output C. Whether by manual input, human interface or automatic machine, creates a system that dynamically adapts to both increased and decreased levels of input and output. Stores in a variety of ways capable of being sorted by lateral patterns and numeric lists.
ofcourse! (Score:2, Troll)
"Twitter "succeeded in diverting consumers away from BlackBerry's products and services""
Yes, because every time when i use twitter, i keep thinking - man, this sure looks & feels a lot like my blackberry.
When i think blackberry, i think of a stupid enterprise phone of yesteryear used for exchange mail, not twitter.
No good product, no sales - patent troll (Score:1)
Darl? Is that you? (Score:2)
Sue Sue Sue (Score:3)
When you can't innovate, litigate!
I think you actually mean... (Score:2)
you know just like Atari or THQ or so many more it hurts.
âoeillegally using technologyâ... (Score:1)
Repeat after me:
Software patents are morally and ethically wrong.
Anyone enforcing them should be ousted from the industry.
Actual patents in question? (Score:2)
Does anyone have the actual filing?