Replies to post #22333 on NeoMedia Technologies, Inc (NEOM)

[marketmaven]

RIMM; Facing US and Europe Blackberry Sales Injunction

The following articles suggest a pattern of criminal activity by this Canadian firm which mocks US patent laws...another Nortel !

RIM Management Lied- Appeals Court Filing by NTP in RESPONSE to RIM's 'Motion to Stay Appeal' -e.g. RIM wouldn't abide the terms of its OWN SETTLEMENT !!

This means that a class action lawsuit can be filed against RIM for its phony "press conference" on the NTP filing- RIM management lied that NTP was the obstacle to settlement.

US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
(NON-ELECTRONIC FILING -03-1615 for Case 01-CV-767) reveals:

* NTP says "(RIM's) present motion appears to be more related to RIM's unswerving efforts to continue willful infringement by delaynig this case with dilatory motions and attempts to prop up RIM's stock price, rather than any realist assessment that the parties reached an agreement."

* NTP RESPONDED to a RIMM initiated "Motion to Stay Appeal" which showed their unwillingness to abide by the terms of their OWN settlement !!!

* NTP called the DC Court to act on "RIM's ceasless campaign to avoid facing the consequences of its adjudged and affirmed ongoing willful infringement of NTP's patents"

* NTP sought to remand the case to the DistrictCourt for enforcement of the judgement;

* "Throughout this litigation, NTP made repeated offers for settlement with RIM. Some offers went without any response from RIM. (After NTP accepted mediation), "RIM was prepared to advance various proposals that no licensor (and successful litigant) like NTP would ever accept. From RIM's perspective, endless multi-year negotiations were ideal because RIM was receiving the benefit of its bargin (protection from imminent injunction) without ever having to actually pay the licensing fee."

* "RIM simply wants it both ways: RIM wants to take a shot at prevailing on forcing unacceptable interpretations of a vague term sheet on NTP and, when that does not work, RIM wants to revive its petitions for refhearing and rehearing en banc. Even RIM's own cited cases note that '[a] party cannot have its cake and eat it too' with such unacceptable, inconsistent actions before an appeals court. Guiness PLC v. Ward, 955 F.2d 875, 898-99 (4th Cir 1992)"

* "RIM's contested assertions of a comprehensive meeting of the minds is simply an effort to abuse the mediation process."



thoughts on workaround
by: david_kernen
06/17/05 08:07 am
Msg: 314005 of 314094


"It seems that NTP, which filed a motion that disputes RIMM's claims made yesterday, is also disappointed with how things have worked out. The question is who do you believe here?

It is now clear that RIMM does not want to pay any sort of ongoing royalty for the patent, while NTP wants that to be a cash cow into the future. So the payment idea I talked about yesterday is certainly the number one reason for the settlement dispute.

No one (other than RIMM and NTP laywers) will see the term sheet, so any talk about it is purely speculation. There is no way an independent observer can really guess at what is on the term sheet, but it would make the most sense for:

1. RIMM to use vague language on the term sheet to draw out the process
2. A patent holder to expect an ongoing revenue stream
3. Delay tactics used in hopes of getting the patent office to review the item faster than normal
4. Withhold any payment until the deal is finalized
5. Use of this issue to estimate the concern of the equity markets


All this leads me to the most logical conclusion for RIMM. They likely have developed a "work around" solution that will remove them from patent over hang and want to draw this issue out as long as possible. They will certainly pay NTP a sum of cash, but what it is may be very far away from $450M.

The key idea is when the new "work around" solution comes out... that is the time that the patent becomes worthless. At that time it is just a manner of paying something close to the original settlement amount.

Will the new models employ the work around solution? Hard to say -- the idea of the upcoming RAZRBerry and other new models might hold the key to that question.


*** idea that just came to me... the CEO noted a few weeks ago that they were looking at acquisition targets, wouldn't it be interesting if RIMM purchased a company that had a work-around solution? I think it would -- would have to do much deeper research on this, but SYNC might be a possible play here.

Vistio and Seven are private companies so no way to benefit there, but SYNC might make sense as acquisition target as they are a competitor / customer.

You can go through my blog to find my write up on SYNC's most recent quarter-- I was on the call and took some detailed notes."

from June 10th



Inpro patent claim may HALT RIMM European Sales

(off Yahoo board, finding source...)
Justice Hugh Laddie granted the company's request to hear the case before the end of the year, citing the "serious effect" the infringement claim could have on BlackBerry sales.

The German claim, filed in December by Inpro Licensing of Luxembourg, might block sales of the device, Research in Motion's lawyers said.

Research in Motion on June 9 said a $450 million settlement with NTP, a U.S. firm that licenses patents it holds, has hit a snag, which may halt sales of the devices in the United States.

"The threat of an injunction causes Research in Motion's customers great concern," David Kitchen, a lawyer for Research in Motion, told the court. "Our customers are likely to consider how to minimize their legal risks by adopting alternative technologies."

Inpro says it holds a European patent relating to the processing of data between wireless devices, like the BlackBerry, and computer servers.

RIM admits European patent trouble
by: johnreynard (32/M)
Long-Term Sentiment: Strong Sell 06/16/05 08:55 pm
Msg: 313974 of 314095

Has RIM had time to hire better lawyers?

Looks like 500,000 T-Mobile blackberries are on the line in addition to RIM's credibility. "The German claim, filed in December by Inpro Licensing of Luxembourg, might block sales of the device, Research in Motion's lawyers said."

This case is gonna drag a lot longer than the the U.S. NTP fiasco since the German courts are unlikly to abide 100% with a British decision since the case was filed in a German court.

How much lost/delayed revenue is represented by 500,000 blackberries?

http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/06/16/business/rim.php




U.K. case on patent speeded up (phony headline!!)

Bloomberg News

FRIDAY, JUNE 17, 2005





RIMM- ThinkEquity Cuts Target to $60...sales call warns of excess inventory in the channel. Wildcard on the Siemens telephone business dump, purchases of the Blackberry dropped off in April as the negotiations (and losses) intensified.

Siemens Hands Over Mobile Phone Business

By Shelley Solheim June 14, 2005

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1828032,00.asp

Under the deal, Siemens will pay BenQ America Corp. $307 million and buy $61 million worth of BenQ shares. In total, Siemens said it would take a pretax charge of 350 million euros ($430 million) to unload its failing phone business.

The deal will let BenQ expand its business from Asia into Europe and Latin America, said officials. Siemens' phone business will remain in Munich, Germany, and BenQ will retain rights to market and sell phones under the Siemens brand for five years. Pending approval, the deal is expected to close by October.

Siemens Sells Mobile Phones Unit to BenQ

June 7, 2005 -eWeek

FRANKFURT/TAIPEI (Reuters)— German engineering giant Siemens is selling its mobile phones unit to much smaller Taiwanese rival BenQ, it said on Tuesday, drawing a line under hundreds of millions of euros of losses. The deal—which will cost Siemens 350 million euros ($431 million) before tax—will enable BenQ to double its annual revenues to $10 billion, the company said, and catapult it out of relative obscurity into the world's top 10 mobile handset vendors.

BenQ will use the Siemens brand name for five years and will take over some high-profile sports sponsorship contracts, including one with star soccer team Real Madrid. It will also take on 6,000 Siemens employees—half of whom are in Germany, where many have job guarantees until 2006 negotiated last year in exchange for longer working hours. The company's headquarters will remain in Munich, Germany.

In return Siemens will acquire a 2.5-percent stake in fast-growing BenQ—Taiwan's top maker of computer equipment and mobile phones—with the issue of 50 million euros worth of new BenQ shares.

The companies did not disclose further financial details, but Siemens executives were due to meet with reporters and analysts' later on Tuesday. The deal is expected to close in the September quarter if approved by BenQ shareholders and competition regulators. "With this partnership we have found a sustainable perspective for our mobile phones business. BenQ and Siemens complement one another ideally," Siemens Chief Executive Klaus Kleinfeld said in a statement.

Siemens investors welcomed the deal, as it brings an end to months of uncertainty over the future of the mobile-phones unit, which has been plagued by quality problems with its more expensive models and price pressure at the low end of the market.



The unit—Siemens' only remaining consumer business in a portfolio that stretches from turbines to trams—brought in 5 billion euros of revenues out of Siemens total of 75 billion in its last fiscal year, but made an operating loss of 152 million euros.



By 1141 GMT Siemens shares were trading 1.6 percent higher at 62.21 euros, leading the gainers on Germany's blue-chip DAX index, which was up 0.7 percent. "It was clear that Siemens could not succeed with the mobile-phones unit. With this solution the issue is off the table. That will bring calm to the company and to the shares," said SES Research analyst Oliver Drebing.

AMBITIOUS BENQ

BenQ expects the merged mobile-phones unit to break even in 2006, Chief Financial Officer Eric Yu told a news conference, without elaborating on how the company planned to achieve this. Yu raised BenQ's forecast for handset sales this year by 50 percent to 15 million units and said the company would introduce new BenQ-Siemens branded handsets in the fourth quarter.

BenQ said the deal would help it become the world's fourth-biggest mobile-phones vendor—ka position occupied by Siemens until last year, since when it has been overtaken by LG Electronics and Sony Ericsson. But BenQ's shares closed down 2.7 percent at T$32.50 as investors said the company would have its work cut out to turn the business around. "They have to rebuild the brand and its commitment," said analyst Aloysius Choong, of International Data Corp., noting that Siemens had somewhat neglected mobile phones while making up its mind what to do with the unit.

But he added: "It will certainly give BenQ more credibility as a handset manufacturer. They're still a relatively unknown name as far as handsets are concerned.

BenQ, which also makes consumer-electronics products such as digital cameras and scanners, will gain immediate access to Siemens' strong market positions in Europe and Latin America as well as to new technology it does not currently have. "I am fully convinced that the acquisition provides many opportunities to strengthen our business in the consumer market and I am sure that our shareholders will share this opinion," BenQ's Chairman and Chief Executive K.Y. Lee, said in a statement.

The ambitious Taiwanese company, which is just three years old, is one of many Asian companies exploiting their manufacturing efficiencies and expertise to take over maturing product lines from U.S. and European companies.



This year so far, China's Lenovo Group has bought IBM's PC-manufacturing business and Taiwan's TPV Technology has bought the monitor-making unit of Dutch electronics giant Philips.

With additional reporting by Doug Young in Shanghai and Ulf Laessing in Frankfurt)

Copyright Reuters 2005

[kokonutguy]

Snowblow5, here's the link on the cease and desist


http://www.techdaily.info/news/news_view.asp?id=17901