“Hours after being appointed chief executive of Research In Motion Ltd., Thorsten Heins is already facing a major legal challenge,” Jameson Berkow reports for The Financial Post.
“Wi-Lan Inc., Canada’s largest intellectual property enforcement firm and Ottawa’s most valuable public company, filed a lawsuit against RIM claiming infringement of two patents,” Berkow reports. “The company wants the Waterloo, Ont.-based BlackBerry maker, which executed the largest management shakeup in its 27-year history late Sunday evening, to pay for a license to use Wi-Lan’s technology as well as an undisclosed amount in damages.”
“The two United States patents — 5,515,369 and 6,232,969 — were each issued more than one decade ago and were originally granted to other companies, suggesting Wi-Lan purchased them at some point in the last several years as it amassed a war chest currently totaling more than 3,000 patents related to various technologies,” Berkow reports. “As many as 60 BlackBerry devices infringe the ’369 patent, Wi-Lan alleged in a complaint filed in the Southern Florida U.S. District Court after markets closed Friday, which relates to Bluetooth data transmission. The ’969 patent relates to the ‘sym’ button found on more recent RIM smartphones such as the Torch, Bold and Curve.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Happy first day on the job, Mr. CEO Whatshisname!
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Kewo62” for the heads up.]
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Even with my qualifications no amount of $$$$$$$$$$$$$ would get me to take that role. One last thing. BOOM!
End this thing now, just sign over the company. Stick Wi-Lan with RIM’s Folly.
“Thorsten Heins”, sounds like Thurston Howell III, snooty survivor of the Minnow. Funny, 2 shipwrecks…
I think it would be fair to say Rim is not having a particularly good week.