RIM Spends $890,000 Last Year To Lobby For Patent Reforms
$890,000 seems like quite a bit of money until your remember that RIM paid out $612.5 Million to NTP to settle their patent infringement lawsuit in 2006. Josep just sent me an interesting article on CNN money that details the amount RIM has spent to lobby for patent reform. Patent reform has been embraced by some and attacked by the Biotech industry.
The idea is to reform the patent system to discourage frivolous lawsuits. I am no lawyer but patent law changes have large ramifications in many industries. On the other hand the patent system also places obstacles in the way of technology growth. Take Vonage for example. The company had a good idea and was dominating the market. That was until the “patent police” from all of the major phone carriers attacked them on the many patents they hold slowing their growth and hopeful future. Another example is the patent case between IBM and Amazon where IBM claims to have a patent on all online advertising!
As you can see from the money RIM is spending to promote patent reform this is a hot button issue for them. They have been publicly sued multiple times for violating one patent or another. Its obvious to see that these lawsuits are bad for business.
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