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RIM Mobile E-Mail Patent Assertion - FPF Position Statement Version 1.9
Position Statement
regarding the
RIM Mobile E-Mail Patent Assertion
Free Protocols Foundation
Version 1.9
July 31, 2001
Copyright and Permission
==========================
Copyright (c)2001 Free Protocols Foundation.
Permission is granted to make and distribute
verbatim copies of this document provided the
copyright notice and this permission notice are
preserved on all copies.
1 Introduction
====================
The Free Protocols Foundation (FPF) is a
non-profit organization and independent public
forum dedicated to the support of patent-free
protocols and software. The FPF views software
and protocol patents as being generally
detrimental to the industry and the consumer, and
part of the FPF mandate is to oppose exceptionally
harmful patents when they appear. For more
information see the FPF website at
http://www.freeprotocols.org.
Research in Motion (RIM) has recently made a
patent assertion which we regard as an egregious
example of patent law abuse, and exceedingly
harmful in its potential effects. The following
is a statement of the FPF position regarding this
patent, and our intended actions to oppose it.
2 Research in Motion (RIM) and BlackBerry
===============================================
Research in Motion (RIM) is a Canadian wireless
technology company based in Waterloo, Ontaria,
Canda.
Among other things RIM manufactures and licenses
BlackBerry, a popular wireless handheld e-mail
device. BlackBerry is a closed, single-vendor
e-mail system, based on a set of proprietary
protocols. For details see the BlackBerry website
at http://www.blackberry.net.
3 RIM's Patent Assertion
================================
In April 2001 RIM was granted U.S. Patent #
6,219,694, entitled System and method for pushing
information from a host system to a mobile data
communication device having a shared electronic
address. The complete text of the patent is
available at the FPF website; to view the patent
in PDF format visit
http://www.freeprotocols.org/usPatents/06219694.pdf.
The patent describes a method of directing e-mail
to wireless devices, while maintaining mailbox
synchronization with a desktop e-mail system. The
described method is a basic element of the
functioning of various existing mobile e-mail
systems, including the BlackBerry system.
RIM has been quick to cash in on this patent.
Less than a month after the patent was granted,
RIM announced that it is suing Glenayre
Electronics, Inc. for infringement against the
patent. To view an article describing this patent
assertion, visit
http://www.totaltele.com/view.asp?ArticleID=40057&pub=tt&categoryid=625.
The same article is also available on the FPF
website at http://www.freeprotocols.org/rimBBPatent/extNews2.html.
4 FPF Position on the RIM Patent Assertion
=====================================================
The Free Protocols Foundation views the RIM patent
assertion as an extreme example of patent-law
abuse. This is because:
- The patent is based on methods and processes
which were previously known and implemented,
and there is ample prior art to demonstrate
this. RIM's claim that these processes are
novel is therefore false.
- The patent covers an aspect of mobile e-mail
that is so fundamental that if it goes
unchallenged, it will have the effect of
hobbling the wireless and mobile e-mail
industry.
The patent is particularly noxious because of the
very large scope of its claims. Note that mobile
e-mail is not simply another generic product or
service - it is an extremely large-scale
interconnected system, whose functioning is of
profound importance to business and society. It
is inappropriate and dangerous for any one company
to have exclusive control over something of such
enormous scope and significance.
Yet this patent purports to provide RIM with
precisely this control. RIM's patent claim is so
broad and general that if it remains unchallenged,
it will restrict a major class of mobile e-mail
services to a single closed system under the
exclusive control of RIM, to the severe detriment
of the mobile e-mail industry and society at
large.
5 Actions and Remedies
==============================
The Free Protocols Foundation intends to
participate in fighting strenously against this
patent by means of the following activities:
- By assisting in demonstrating the invalidity
of the patent
- By supporting legal challenges against the
patent
- By endorsing and publicizing Operation
WhiteBerry, a patent-free alternative to
BlackBerry
- By pressuring RIM to drop their current
patent assertion, and to renounce any future
assertion on the basis of this patent
- Should these measures fail to persuade RIM
to drop their patent assertion, by
encouraging a consumer boycott of the
BlackBerry system
5.1 Demonstrate Patent Invalidity
---------------------------------------
Those whose interests are being injured by the
patent will certainly wish to challenge it. A key
element of this challenge will be to demonstrate
that the patent is invalid on the basis of prior
art. We believe that ample prior art exists which
will show clearly that the patent is based on
ideas which have been previously known, subjected
to public discussion, and implemented.
The basic requirement is to identify and make
public the appropriate prior art. The Free
Protocols Foundation is assisting in this effort
by providing a public forum for discussion and
commentary, and by acting as a central clearing
house for information relating to the patent.
For this purpose the FPF has established and is
hosting the public mailing list
RIM-6219694@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Any company,
organization or individual may participate in this
effort by submitting commentary or information to
this mailing list. To join this mailing list,
visit
http://www.freeprotocols.org/joinFreeProtocolMailingList/main.html.
The following is a list of known development
activities, each of which predates the RIM patent,
and in which the same processes as represented in
the patent claims were put into practical
implementation. The documentation and discussion
records relating to these activities are therefore
extremely likely to yield appropriate examples of
prior art:
- Various combinations and integrations of
IMAP modes, including the concepts of
disconnectedness and synchronization. While
the claims represented in the RIM patent are
not a formal part of the IMAP specification,
many of the same methods and processes are
clearly alluded to in the specification.
Furthermore, many of those same methods and
processes were discussed and implemented by
the IMAP protocol designers during the
protocol development process. Such
discussions took place on a number of IETF
and other mailing lists.
- Various combinations and integrations of
FetchMail, ProcMail, dotForward, mail robots
and mail header rewritings. These components
have been linked together by many Unix users
to produce practical implementations of the
same claims as represented in the patent.
- The Limited Size Messaging (LSM) development
work published and demonstrated at the CDPD
Forum in 1995.
- The Lightweight & Efficient Application
Protocols (LEAP) development work published
as RFC 2188 in 1997, and RFC 2524 in 1999;
also the relevant mailing lists.
- The development and commercial marketing of
Mobile Messaging products such as the
RadioMail wireless messaging service by
RadioMail Corporation (initially led by
Geoffrey Goodfellow), dating back to the
early 1990s.
- Proprietary mail synchronization
capabilities of commercial systems such as
Mail on the Run! and numerous others.
The role of the Free Protocols Foundation consists
primarily of the assistance and facilitation role
described above. We invite and encourage other
interested parties to identify specific examples
of prior art by researching the archival records
relating to the above activities. We especially
request and encourage the original participants in
those activities to step forward and assert their
prior implementations of the RIM patent claims.
5.2 Support Legal Challenges
----------------------------------
In general, the Free Protocols Foundation supports
legal challenges to software patents by providing
its technical expertise regarding patent issues to
companies who may be challenging patents in the
courts.
In the present case, the FPF is ready to lend its
support to Glenayre or any other company that
mounts a legal challenge/defense against the RIM
patent. Any company or organization wishing to
avail itself of this assistance should contact the
FPF directly at info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
(However this should not be construed as a general
endorsement by the FPF of Glenayre or any other
company. Indeed, we note that when it comes to
patents Glenayre is no angel either, and has
previously filed its own patent infringment suit
against RIM. An article describing the Glenayre
patent assertion is available at
http://www.garywill.com/waterloo/ctt9908.htm; the
same article is also available on the FPF website
at
http://www.freeprotocols.org/rimBBPatent/extNews1.html.)
5.3 Operation WhiteBerry
------------------------------
The same mobile e-mail functionality as BlackBerry
can be implemented in the form of a completely
open system, based on existing technologies and
protocols. This open equivalent to BlackBerry is
called the WhiteBerry mobile messaging solution.
The WhiteBerry solution is based on a set of
patent-free mobile messaging protocols called the
LEAP protocols. Under the WhiteBerry solution,
mobile messaging functionality is provided by a
multi-vendor series of products and services, and
the necessary industry-wide interoperability is
guaranteed by the openness and integrity of the
underlying protocols. For more information on the
LEAP protocols see the LEAP Forum website at
http://www.LeapForum.org.
A complete description of the WhiteBerry solution
is provided in a white paper entitled Operation
WhiteBerry. Operation WhiteBerry was written
prior to, and is independent of, the emergence of
the RIM patent issue. It was first published and
remains available on the LEAP Forum website at
http://www.LeapForum.org/operationWhiteberry/index.html.
One of the general strategies by which the FPF
opposes patented software is by supporting
patent-free alternatives. Since Operation
WhiteBerry describes an open, patent-free
alternative to the patented BlackBerry system, it
is directly aligned with this strategy. This paper
is also fully consistent with FPF goals, and with
the FPF Policies & Procedures described at
http://www.freeprotocols.org/freeProtocolProcess/main.html.
We therefore endorse this paper fully, and are
pleased to re-publish it on our own website at
http://www.freeprotocols.org/operationWhiteberry/index.html.
We encourage anyone who wishes to avoid the RIM
patent issue to read this paper and participate in
the WhiteBerry implementation.
The WhiteBerry solution is radically
different from the BlackBerry system. WhiteBerry
is not a single static messaging solution; rather,
it is a highly mutable meta-solution. That is, any
particular WhiteBerry implementation is created by
integrating together an appropriate set of
components, so as to achieve the particular
functionality desired by the systems integrator or
the end user.
The components that go into any given WhiteBerry
implementation may be drawn from a large family of
components which includes the EMSD protocol
engines, FetchMail, ProcMail, mail forwarders, and
various others. Each of these components is
independent, freely available, useful in its own
right, and entirely unrelated to the RIM patent.
Because of this inherently component-based nature,
the WhiteBerry solution is exceedingly resistant
to the RIM patent claim, and indeed to patent
infringement claims in general. By making all the
necessary components freely and publicly
available, WhiteBerry provides systems integrators
and end users with a variety of methods and
strategies to circumvent or nullify invalid patent
assertions.
5.4 Apply Pressure to RIM
-------------------------------
Patent # 6,219,694 is a blatant attempt by RIM to
lay exclusive claim to the entire mobile e-mail
industry. The patent is fundamentally invalid,
and cannot withstand technical scrutiny or legal
challenge. The lawsuit against Glenayre, and the
effort that the industry must now undertake to
overturn the patent, are a huge waste of time and
energy. In the meantime RIM's patent assertion can
only be detrimental to the mobile e-mail industry,
by inhibiting free and fair competition, and by
depriving the end-user of the benefits thereof.
It is in everyone's interest for RIM to cease and
desist in this patent assertion. We therefore urge
RIM to do the right thing: abandon their current
attempt to assert this patent, and renounce all
future attempts.
5.5 Boycott RIM's BlackBerry System
-----------------------------------------
If other measures fail to have the desired effect,
and if RIM's continued prosecution of its patent
assertion begins to cause damage to the mobile
e-mail industry, then the FPF intends to organize
and encourage a consumer boycott of RIM's
BlackBerry product.
6 Making Contributions to the Free Protocols Foundation
==============================================================
The Free Protocols Foundation is a U.S. tax-exempt
non-profit organization, and any contributions
made to the FPF are tax deductible in accordance
with Internal Revenue Service regulations. Any
organization or individual wishing to support the
goals of the FPF is requested to make an
appropriate donation. Monetary contributions may
be mailed to the FPF at:
Free Protocols Foundation
17005 SE 31st Place
Bellevue, WA 98008
If you wish your contribution to be used solely
for the purpose of opposing the RIM patent, please
mark your contribution with the annotation
RIM-6219694.
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