February 18th, 2008
BlackBerry-Motorola patent infringement fight makes little sense to me
Just within the last few days, BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion and Motorola have sued each other for Patent 
infringement.
Motorola’s big issue seems to be a feeling that in most of its 8xxx series models, RIM’s method of storing contact info in wireless emails, and its ability to recognize incoming phone numbers are tantamount to infringement.
RIM fired back, accusing, by implication, Motorola’s Q email phone of offering thumb keyboards awfully similar to several BlackBerry models.
RIM also says that Motorola’s patent royalty fee structure is “exorbitant.”
I have to tell you that some of the capabilities each company is suing each other about seem rather established, and yes, generic to me.
Hate to use the “t” (as in troll) word, but this really sounds like a neh-neh fight you sometimes see in and around sandboxes.
What do you think?
Russell Shaw is an enterprise computing journalist, analyst and author based in Portland, Oregon. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
