Visto suing Microsoft over Windows Mobile-related patent infringement

We don't have a lot of information since the news just hit the wires, but apparently Visto, compatriot to NTP (as of, um, yesterday) and patent licensor to Vodafone, Cingular, and Sprint Nextel, is gonna try suing the pants off Microsoft over patent infringement related to PDA, cellphone, and data syncing-related technologies as found in Windows Mobile 5.0, especially with regard to their push email strategy with Exchange Server. Apparently the patents in question were developed almost ten years ago, so if Microsoft really is at fault here they have some serious 'splaining to do. Visto is expected to hold a press conference regarding the lawsuit later today, so we'll keep you updated with the vitals on this one.

[Via Yahoo]

[Jay @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

AWESOME! YES...Take this piece of junk out of its misery once and for all! Sue it to the last penny! May the law be on your side! Without Microjunk, the world will be a much cleaner place!

[Denis @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

Bah, coding in general is becoming a freaking nightmare. You have to have a team of patent experts dig through patents to make sure that your way of accomplishing things is not something patented by some squirt who knows when. Also, don't patents expire sometime?

[Greg @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

This is just stupid. I agree with #2 (haha) This is stupid that we need a team of lawyers to go search around to make sure we didnt code something that breaks some kind of law.


just stupid.

[badonkadonk @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

Yes, patents expire, after 20 years (in the US). If the patents are only a decade old, then they are enforcable until 2015.
This is (IMO) an odd decision though, I would have assumed that NTP would wait until after they had successfully sued RIM (if that ever happens) before going after all the other players (like Good, MS, Visto, Seven, etc) - apparently not. It seems though that this is or may be a different set of patents? need more details...

[Ryan Rife @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

I hope this will be the beginning of the end of NTP & Associates.

[Roopesh Sheth @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

#1 (Jay) - I'm not a MS Fanboy, but you're very wrong about the world being better without MS. Because of Microsoft there is a PC on every desktop in the 20+ buildings in my company. They bring innovation to the marketplace, generally at reasonable prices. Sit back and think where you'd be if MS never existed.

There'd be no dot-com boom. The internet would be a useless concept, there'd be no OS that people are using across the globe.

You may not like MS, you may use Linux now, or Crap OS X. But why do you need those OSs? Because MS made you need a computer to do what you like to do.

[whizack @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

well stated #6.

exchange activesync doesn't actually "PUSH" email like a blackberry, it checks the mailbox on a timer like any other pop/imap email account.

i fail to see where NTP can even begin to stake their claim on patent infringement.

[Ryan @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

Actually Exchange does have a "push" method whereby they send SMS messages to your phone that cause it to sync again.
Software patents are sure causing a lot of problems these days..

[deodas @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

How much you guys, are gonna paying to defend MS strategies, Linux Concepts, Sony poor, freak and ridiculous fashions?

ha? How much? Maybe the world gonna be better if u just shutup your mouth to defend those pieces of shit and just use the software and get the benefits that they offer you.

You all sux.

[Jay @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

#6 and #7: HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAAAAAA

When you finally manage to get your heads out of each others asses and get your facts straight, then by all means come back here and post something.

"Microsoft brought innovation to the marketplace? and sparked the dot-com boom? LOLOLOLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

What do you do for a living dude? Play solitaire?

[Justin @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

#10 is right. Microsoft has used their monopoly to stifle innovative competition and forced the market to accept its sub-par products. Have you guys already forgotten that little Microsoft vs. Department of Justice anti-trust suit?

Microsoft has made some positive contributions to the technology market - they spend billions on research every year. But their negative impact has thus far been much greater. Monopolies aren't good for anyone but the monopolizer.

[PC @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

Jay (#1 and #10), Your last post makes no sense. Windows is the standard business OS because of its host of applications and its ubiquity. It can do far more than play Solitare. And, yes the .com boom was brought about partly by the fact that MS made it possible for millions of people and businesses to have computers everywhere.

I use windows as my main OS because tons of its compatibility, and I like it. It isnt perfect, but no OS is. BTW, #6, MacOS X isnt so crappy any more, its actually pretty good, but it doesnt have all the same applications as Windows. (I am actually writing this from a machine running Tiger)

By the way, which OS do you use, jay?

[Dan @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

Yes... Windows has made it possible for us all to work together. This internets thing is just a passing phase.

[Orneta @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

Betcha this doesn't drag out like the RIM problems.

[Give me a break people @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

Because Microsuck is the 500lb gorilla on most desktops does not mean that if they never existed that the world wouldn't be in the same place with different players.

Need I remind you that Microsuck did not invent windows OS. I'm sure you probably don't even know what company did and it would probably surprise you.

Additionally, Microsuck has stolen or bought almost all of their 'inovative' products related to the desktop. They are the dirtiest player in the business.

[IK @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

#15. LOL. You are funny and wity for using "microsucks" becuase you replaced "soft" with "suck." Amazing. So, do you run a Xerox OS all day long? Hows that working for you?

On the patent suite front: I predict MSFT will either buy out or crush these clowns. Ohhhh, NTP bought a stake in a company that actually makes soemthing (other than lawyers) so they can *gasp* sue someone else. Shocking.

[whizack @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

yes, exchange activesync has an SMS push mechanism, but that is not similar to RIM's push technology which links a PIN to a MSDISN and forwards those messages through a custom access point in the cell network.

if they have patent rights over SMS push, they can sue T-Mobile for offering T-Zones Email forwarding Alerts.

[Mark @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

#16 Ick I mean IK. Around 1984 Apple Computer was the first widely sold computers that offered a GUI interface. Many of their user interface ideas were inspired by the experiments by Xerox Parc laboratory from the 1970's including the mouse. Microsoft followed suit thereafter. This was not Xerox core business never has been likely never will be.

Your prediction will be wrong. M will settle out of court in the long run for an undisclosed amount of money following their recent trend.

[tcc3 @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

Say what you like about MS: they have done more for interoperability, compatibility, and ease of use over a broad segment of the PC population than anyone else.
We used to laugh at "plug and pray" but when was the last time you had to set a jumper on a card?
They took two disparate and warring video development enviroments, distiled their best qualities and created directx. Its now the standard for windows gaming.
Using Windows as a layer of abstraction allows more software to be run on more wildly varying systems. Gone are the days of "I'd really like this software but my AcmeCo hardware isnt supported by this partucular program"

Linux and Apple both have their advantages but theres a reason they arent on the majority of the computers in the world. Remember that the next time you whine there will be no OSX release for the hottest game or the next time you have to code your own video card driver for Linux.

MS has done some things wrong (like any company) but dont marginalize their many contributions to the industry.

[AdamaDBrown @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

"How much you guys, are gonna paying to defend MS strategies, Linux Concepts, Sony poor, freak and ridiculous fashions?"

Blubber! Salmon windows. Weasel nostrils.

See? I can babble incoherently too.

Realistically, most people who bash Microsoft do it because it's considered the cool thing to do, not because they have an actual complaint. Linux is no better--most versions are much worse than Windows in most ways. Mac OS X is pretty good, but I'd like to see how long its zero virus record lasted if it had the marketshare Windows does.

The reality is that if Microsoft had never existed, then the market would probably look exactly the same, with somebody else as the 800 pound gorilla. The market will always shake out to have a dominant OS, because of software compatibility reasons.