HTC could be banned from USA

[dannzeman]

HTC has been named in a patent suite bought by unknown Texan company Saxon Innovations. Saxon claims HTC and others are violating 3 of its patents, and has approached the US International Trade Commission (ITC) to ban importation of its devices into the USA. HTC is not alone, and other high profile companies named are Nokia and RIM, and seemingly unrelated companies like Panasonic and AVC Networks.
The patents appear to involve “handheld wireless communication devices”, “smart phones”, “cellular telephones” and “television remote controls” and cover features such as “a keypad monitor with keypad activity based activation” and “a device and method for inter-processor communication using mailboxes owned by processor devices.”
Both patents were initially granted to chip maker AMD, until Saxon bought them in July 2007. Saxon appear to fit the traditional description of a Patent troll, not having any visible products to their name themselves.
Gadgets made by a host of big-name manufacturers, including Nokia and HTC, could be banned from import into the US, if a patent violation investigation being conducted the rules in the claimant’s favour.
Specific devices at risk are Nokia’s N73 and N95 handsets, RIM’s BlackBerry 8100 Pearl and even Palm’s Treo 700p, manufactured by HTC, but its not know how many other devices may be implicated.
Saxon Innovations is seeking an exclusion order, and cease-and-desist orders. An initial hearing into the alleged patent violation will take place during the coming months.
Source:The Register

Oh man this would really suck!

http://wmpoweruser.com/?p=2493

[kyppcgeek]

I hope they counter sue the @#$@#$@# out of the Texas company and then Appeal to the US Patent office to add to the clause that any active patent cases made by a company must 1. have active units in the market and not just written up and 2. that there is ANY reasonable conflicts that would affect thier sales of thier units.

Just my thought. Oh and if they want to be #$# about it then we have money to buy you out.

[Darkflame808]

I have a patent for "a thing that serves a purpose"

I'm suing everybody!

There should be a rule if you patent something and don't follow through on a product. That patent is open to anyone else to develop upon.

Too bad I can't file a patent for "a way to make supplemental income by buying other peoples ideas and suing people for thinking the say way I do." Then I could sue saxon back.

[kyppcgeek]

BTW... if what I read is thier Patent TROLL case then APPLE is going to be on the hook too. Um.. yeah... Texas company.... you just bit at the wrong ankle. This peon company will bite the dust, just like all the rest.

[hooover]

They will settle out of court if the case holds any merit...

[Torx]

eff you saxon, and efff you texas!!!!!!!!

[Geekcop]

This sounds like the same problems RIM ran into a year or two back. There are companies that are called patent holding companies that don't actually produce anything but pull the same kind of c++p that is mentioned above. They hold, or claim to hold, a generalized patent for some product, idea, fleeting thought, etc. In RIM's case, this company (whose name escapes me) claimed to have a patent on the technology upon which RIM based the BB. Mind you, they didn't patent the actual device or even the software, but just the technology. A lot of these types of cases get filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, since that court is known to have a "rocket docket." This means once cases get filed here, they move quickly.
If any of our members are attorneys, they may be able to shed some more light on what seems to be quasi-legal extortion

[w7excursion]

Pretty sneaky of them. Someone should buy them out.

[crazychef]

ummm id didnt think HTC made any of those phones

[dabackwoodboy]

this would suck i think if this was to happen id really leave windows mobile because htc is what made wm any good at least to me