Comments on: Sprint Finds Cash in Patent Filings

By: AllenHarkleroad

AllenHarkleroad — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 19:49:12 +0000

Sprint overcharged my small (US) company for over $50,000.00. We caught them doing it and now they refuse to refund the over-payments. You can read the full story at (link)

I also wrote an open letter to Dan Hesse the Chairman and CEO of Sprint Nextel. It is a good read so please consider reading the letter.

(link)

By: » WiMax Patent Pool, Looking a bit Shallow Sidecut Reports

» WiMax Patent Pool, Looking a bit Shallow Sidecut Reports — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 16:37:19 +0000

[...] course, Sprint is not shy when it comes to filing patent lawsuits, so at least the WiMax pool party will have someone around [...]

By: Buffalo Can’t Roam But Still Charges Ahead - GigaOM

Buffalo Can’t Roam But Still Charges Ahead - GigaOM — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 07:02:05 +0000

[...] Patent lawsuits always seem to be one of two things: Little more than a slight annoyance, or a business-ending death blow. Rarely does the tech world see companies who resemble Timex watches in their ability to take a [...]

By: » Verizon’s lucrative new profit center: VoIP lawsuits

» Verizon’s lucrative new profit center: VoIP lawsuits — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 22:00:54 +0000

[...] patents have become a lucrative source of income for the second-largest phone company in the U.S. After squeezing out $120 million from Vonage, the company has been filing patent infringement lawsuits against all [...]

By: Verizon’s VoIP Patent Game Continues - GigaOM

Verizon’s VoIP Patent Game Continues - GigaOM — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 20:31:49 +0000

By: Dave

Dave — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 22:01:31 +0000

I don’t understand why Sprint (with Verizon lurking in the shadows as well) is suing these three providers. Level3, Global Crossing, Qwest, XO and many other much larger providers use the exact same technology. Is Sprint just being a bully and picking on the little guy?

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 18:36:40 +0000

Toronto, thanks for writing that so I don’t have too.

By: toronto

toronto — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 15:17:59 +0000

@tc1uscg

Either you must work for sprint or are on their legal team.

Comparing patents that sprint never developed into any useful products to car designs that everybody can see is stretching reality a bit, dont you think?

Secondly, assuming that voip companies "copied" sprint's patents implies either they had direct access from sprint to whatever engineering solutions the patents covered or they went through the patent information system to see what they could use. As far as I am aware, they might have developed these solutions independently but because sprints patent application predated their development, their hands are tied.

The are of IP is a controversial one, think of "patenting one click buying", and many people are in agreement that it should be overhauled, especially from the open source community.

Moves like these, like that of microsoft and SCO, signify a company that is in the throes of death.

By: Steve G.

Steve G. — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 13:53:22 +0000

It seems a little odd that Sprint wouldn't at least attempt to send a few letters first to try to reach a licensing deal.

The reason for going after the smaller companies first is to build up a list of companies that license their patents and then work their way upstream to the bigger companies. There are two driving thoughts behind this strategy: (1) the more companies that are licensed, the more likely other companies may fall into line (check out how the Lemelson bar code reader patents were licensed out) and (2) the smaller companies are less likely to have the financial resources (figure $3-5 million at a minimum) to challenge any of the patents (plus, if the same patents which have already been upheld as valid by a court are being asserted, it's less likely that they would be overturned short of finding new references to invalidate them).

Standard disclaimer: This is not legal advice (though I'm a patent attorney), reading this won't make you smarter or better looking, and objects in mirror are closer than they appear.

By: tc1uscg

tc1uscg — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 10:10:03 +0000

Hmmm, so what. These people can’t just use something that doesn’t belong to’em. As far as Sprint seeing them as a cash cow? Get real. Should they just sit back and let it slide? No. As far as getting ride of a competitor? Since when did Sprint sell VoIP? They provide back bone services for other VoIP providers but they are not in that mind set. If they are.. please point me to where I can sign up. Do you think that if some little backyard automobile maker started making cars using Fords, Toyotas and/or KIA’s ideas, they would be allowed to do so. What planet are you from again?

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 03:05:04 +0000

Hmmm, why don’t any of these big telcos sue the other big telcos who have VoIP? Oh yeah, because they had enough money to file their own patents too.

It’s easy to gang up on the little guys and push them out of business, but these big telcos won’t go after each other.