Good time coming IMO POSTED BY Burst_theReal_Bubble ON INVESTORSVILLAGE P Law article - this explains quite a bit about what happened with Apple BURST STILL HAS SOME AMMUNITION LEFT The lawyer for the pioneering tech company says it is preparinq to sue usinq its DVR patents.
What will Burst.com. Inc. do next? In November the santa Rosa. Califumia-based company announced that it had settled its patent claims against Apple Inc. for a measly $10 million. much short of the hoped-for hundreds of millions in damages that many avid Burst followers had hoped it would win. Despite-or because of-its checkered past. Burst has mostly aroused sympathy and respect from tech enthusiasts. Starting in the early 199Os. the company has worked hard to develop and commercialize a better way to stream media over digital lines.
It became a victim of circumstance. suffering from the dot-com bust and the mighty power wielded by Microsoft Corporation at the tum of the cellony. So. giving lip on nying to commercialize its technology itself. it transfurnled itself into a patentholding company that found its calling in suing industry giants. Instead of earning the scorn that is reserved fur most patent trolls among techies. however. Burst won mostly cheerswhen it won a $60 million settlement from Microsoft in 2006.
But then it turned to Apple. and as it turned out, that was the wrong choice.
Burst's lawyer. Spencer Hosie at Hosie McArthur. cites a confidentiality provision of the settlement that precludes him from speaking in detail BuIt Hosie says the main factor that led Burst to take the disappointing settlement was time: The patents that gave Burst the greatest leverage over Apple will expire soon. The judge had already thrown Out 14 of the 34 patent claims. Burst had initially turned to Apple because it thought its patents covered Apple's method of delivering audio from its iTunes platfonn to its iPod. but Hosie now says the company stood a better chance at winning infringement on the company's video delivery method.
But Apple is a relative newcomer to streaming video. shrinking the potential damages drnmatically. Hosie calls the case against Apple a ·showstopper that impeded Burst "from doing business with anybodyy else."
Hosie. who works on contingency. only has a finite capacity to mown litigation. and he says no one would take a licensing overture seriously until the value of the patents was resolved with Apple.
But the settlement with Apple explicitly doesn't cover a recent patent awvarded to Burst CEO Richard Lang on digital video recorder technology. Burst has three other patents pending in DVR. Hosie told IP Law & Business that these patents are now Burst's real ammunition... [The settlement with Apple] clears the decks for us to pursue other companies:' says Hosie.
Burst according to Hosie. wants to license its patented video technology to others. If those entities don't comply. Burst will sue. Burst has composed what Hosie calls a list of14 lier One Targets,· headlined by RealNetworks, Inc., TiVo Inc., and Comcast Corporation. Hosie has sent demand letters to each and has received responses. Our dance, he calls it. Lawsuits have already been prepared and could be filed at any time.
Hosie has paid close attention to TiVo's $74 million judgment against EchoStar Communications Corp. for 'Willfiully infringing~ its patent on DVR technology [see "A Class ofOne.Mpage 36]. The ruling is currently under appeal at the Federal Circuit. Hosie says that Lang applied for his DVR patent nearly a year befure TiVo did. Mlf tllere's anything tllars clear in patent law, it's that who is first is most important, says Hosie. This could really unsettle things. -Eriq Gardner
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