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Legal Issues

Legal Issues

by Mike Masnick

Wed, Oct 14th 2009 2:56pm


Filed Under:
ethernet, innovation, patents

Companies:
3com, acer, apple, asus, dell, fujitsu, gateway, hp, sony, toshiba



Can't Innovate? Litigate! 3Com Goes Patent Lawsuit Ballistic

from the ghosts-of-companies-past dept

Remember back when 3Com was a big innovative company coming up with interesting new products? What happened since then? Well, as we've seen over and over again, once a company runs into trouble continuing to innovate, its last ditch effort to stay in business is to start suing everyone for patent infringement. Step up to the plate, 3Com. The company set up a subsidiary specifically for suing other companies for patent infringement and just sued Acer, Apple, Asus, Dell, Fujitsu, Gateway, HP, Sony, and Toshiba. Oh, and take a guess where this "subsidiary" set up shop? East Texas... of course. All the better to file patent lawsuits apparently...

17 Comments | Leave a Comment..

 
Computers

Computers

by Mike Masnick

Tue, Dec 16th 2008 10:22pm


Filed Under:
contracts, netbooks, subsidies, wireless broadband

Companies:
acer, at&t, radio shack



Subsidized Laptops With Locked In Wireless Broadband Contracts

from the good-or-bad? dept

A few years back, after noting the trend of laptop companies to start building in cellular data modems into their laptops, we wondered when it would reach the stage where mobile operators would subsidize the cost of a laptop, just as they subsidize the cost of mobile phones in many cases. In early 2006, we started to see such subsidized laptops go on sale in Europe, with the mobile operators selling the laptops directly for well below list price, as long as you bought into a long term data plan. The whole idea seemed a bit strange, as mobile operators have long ranted long and hard about how much they hate, hate, hate subsidies, and how they wish they could do away with them. So, why add them to laptops?

However, the idea has now traveled over to the US as well, in a deal between Acer, Radio Shack and AT&T allowing people to buy an Acer netbook for just $100, so long as they agree to a 2 year $60/month contract for an AT&T mobile data plan. It's still a little confusing as to why the mobile operators are agreeing to this, following so many vehement arguments against mobile phone subsidies, but perhaps they're finally realizing that those subsidies aren't such a bad thing when they get people using their services. Still, how long will it be until buyers start complaining about early termination fees for laptops like they do for mobile phones?

24 Comments | Leave a Comment..

 
Legal Issues

Legal Issues

by Mike Masnick

Thu, Nov 1st 2007 10:09pm


Filed Under:
patents, wifi

Companies:
acer, apple, best buy, broadcom, circuit city, dell, intel, lenovo, sony, texas instruments, wi-lan



Wi-LAN Follows New Patent Hoarder Strategy: Sue Everyone All At Once

from the this-is-innovation? dept

Three and a half years ago, I wrote an article about the coming WiFi patent problem, focusing on the Canadian company Wi-LAN who claimed a bunch of patents related to WiFi technology. The company started off by suing Cisco. That lawsuit was eventually settled, but Wi-LAN clearly wasn't done yet. The company has now sued 22 different companies for violating its patents. This strategy seems to be the new strategy of patent holders: sue a ton of high profile companies all at once. It's what Sandisk did for example. Why is it becoming more popular? Because these patent holders are afraid that one of the potential targets might sue them first, seeking a declaratory judgment saying they don't infringe, and do so in a court other than the patent friendly court in Marshall, Texas. Oh yeah, Wi-LAN also notes that it's more economical to sue everyone at once. How nice of them.

Of course, Wi-LAN is hardly the only company that claims patents having to do with WiFi. It's a true patent thicket. If all these patents were actually valid and needed to be licensed no one could afford WiFi and it would be worthless. It's also worth noting that Wi-LAN's target list is somewhat ridiculous as well. It appears to be suing up and down the supply chain from chip suppliers like Broadcom and Intel to computer makers like Apple, Dell, Lenovo and Sony all the way to retailers like Best Buy and Circuit City. Assuming that all are somehow responsible for paying Wi-LAN the company could conceivably get license fees three or four times for the same computer. It's not hard to start adding up the questionable things going on here: (1) broad patents that are claimed to be important for a standard long after that standard has become widespread (2) these patents are one of many, many patents that claim to cover WiFi technology (3) filing the lawsuit against many companies at once (4) filing the lawsuit in east Texas and (5) filing the patents up and down the supply chain. This isn't what the patent system was designed to do and patent attorneys know it.

147 Comments | Leave a Comment..

 
Computers

Computers

by Mike Masnick

Tue, Oct 9th 2007 5:33pm


Filed Under:
computers

Companies:
acer, gateway, packard bell



Acer, Gateway Continue To Roll Up Every Has-Been PC Maker

from the who-else-is-out-there...? dept

Anyone have a circa 1993 copy of Computer Shopper magazine/catalog out there? You might want to open to any random old page and see who Gateway is going to merge with next. Back in August, Acer announced plans to buy Gateway -- and while the announcement included some info about intentions to also roll Packard Bell into the deal, that part of the deal has only just been confirmed. Basically, Acer is giving Gateway the money to buy Packard Bell, which will then be included in the Acer acquisition. Of course, Gateway also bought eMachines a few years back, though that's one company that didn't exist back in the 1993 Computer Shopper era. However, if you do remember Computer Shopper in those days, it was dominated by ads from these companies, along with Dell and Micron. Are there still any other mostly forgotten also-ran PC makers from the early 90's that are available for the new Acer/Gateway/PackardBell to buy?

22 Comments | Leave a Comment..

 
Deals

Deals

by Joseph Weisenthal

Mon, Aug 27th 2007 10:07am


Filed Under:
pcs

Companies:
acer, gateway



Gateway Gone But Cows To Stick Around

from the end-of-the-line dept

At one point, news that Gateway had been acquired by Acer would have been a significant development in the computer industry. But it's a sign of how far the company has fallen that the move isn't expected to have any material impact on the company's competitors. Basically, Acer, based in Taiwan, is looking to expand its footprint in North America and Europe and it was able to pick up the distant #4 in the US computer market for just $710 million. Because margins are low across the industry, every player is in a desperate race to keep volume high. At one point, Gateway tried to break out of its core business with an ill-conceived foray into consumer electronics, but it was eventually forced to return to its roots. However, things might not change much from the perspective of customers. Owing in part to Gateway's recognizable brand (the cow print boxes), Acer plans to continue, if not expand, the Gateway line.

20 Comments | Leave a Comment..

 
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Monday

9:55am: Dear PR People: If Your Exec Has A Comment, Our Comments Are Open (25)
8:44am: What Kind Of Mickey Mouse (And Donald Duck) Lawsuits Are These? (23)
7:30am: Prosecutors Ending Lawsuit Against Lori Drew (13)
6:06am: Dear Rupert: You Don't Succeed By Making Life More Difficult For Users (70)
4:20am: ESPN Writer Suspended From Twitter (59)
2:10am: School Can't Handle Critical Community Message Board; Sends Legal Nastygram (21)

Friday

7:39pm: Liberian Laws Are A Secret Due To Copyright; Even The Gov't Doesn't Have Them (43)
6:56pm: Lily Allen: It's Ok To Sell My Counterfeit CDs, Just Don't Give My Music For Free (97)
6:10pm: EFF Looks To Bust Bogus Podcasting Patent; Needs Prior Art (34)
5:28pm: Google Blocking Set Top Boxes From Showing YouTube Unless They Pay Up? (64)
4:44pm: Entertainment Industry: Yes, Please Keep Negotiating Secret Copyright Treaty To Save Our Asses (43)
4:02pm: If Google's Book Scanning Violates Copyright Law, What About The AP's Book Scanning? (21)
3:05pm: iPhone App Developer Backlash Growing (49)
2:14pm: Norwegian Band Told It Can't Post Its Own Music To The Pirate Bay, Even Though It Wants To (24)
1:08pm: If You Only Share A Tiny Bit Of A File Via BitTorrent, Is It Still Copyright Infringement? (79)
12:00pm: UK Digital Economy Bill As Bad As Expected; Digital Britain Minister Flat Out Lies About ISP Support (25)
10:57am: NPR's Daniel Schorr Blames The Internet For Ft. Hood Shootings (37)
9:49am: No, ACTA Secrecy Is Not 'Normal' -- Nor Is It A 'Distraction' (28)
8:33am: Murdoch's The Times Accused Of Blatant Copying, Just As It Tells The World You Should Pay For News (28)
7:15am: Copyright Extension Moves To Japan (24)
5:46am: Canadian Ebook Store Offers 'Free' Public Domain Ebooks -- Claims Copyright Says You Can Only Make 1 Copy (27)
4:01am: There Are Lots Of Ways To Fund Journalism (14)
1:49am: Winner Takes All, Long Tails And The Fractilization Of Culture (10)

Thursday

10:37pm: The Lobbyists' Ability To Control The Message (29)
8:11pm: In Going Free, London Evening Standard Doubles Circulation While Slashing Costs (27)
6:10pm: Senate Exploring Med School Profs Putting Names On Ghostwritten Journal Articles In Favor Of Drugs (22)
4:52pm: What Does It Say When A Comedy Show Does More Fact Checking Than News Programs? (56)
3:33pm: Nordic Music Week: Optimism Galore And Found Songs (11)
2:10pm: Would Top Sites Really Opt-Out Of Google Based On A Microsoft Bribe? (37)
12:57pm: Intel Lawyers Again Go Too Far In Trademark Bullying (24)
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