Sun vs Kodak : they settled!

News got out in the last 2 hours that Sun and Kodak settled
out-of-court for a one-time payment of $92m that would cover any
disputed patents and Sun "did not admit any wrongdoing in the deal".

Apparently, although it disputes the patents and denies infringment,
Sun doesn't want a protracted legal process, even if it eventually
rules in its favor.

"We are eager to put this punitive litigation behind us, to have
reached a decision in the best interest of our stockholders, customers
and employees, and to focus our future activities on the evolution of
the Internet and Sun's place within it," said Sun's President Jonathan
Schwartz.

It seems that they (Sun) estimate that the climate of fear, doubt and
uncertainty surrounding the case would be more damaging to them than
the cost of the settlement; an economic decision rather than a moral
one.

According to the Register "Many technophiles have charged that Kodak's
claims are far too broad and could spell trouble for the software
industry." Well the extortionists are now free to go after other
companies.

http://money.cnn.com/2004/10/07/tech...un_kodak.reut/

Mike Henley wrote:

News got out in the last 2 hours that Sun and Kodak settled
out-of-court for a one-time payment of $92m that would cover any
disputed patents and Sun "did not admit any wrongdoing in the deal".

Apparently, although it disputes the patents and denies infringment,
Sun doesn't want a protracted legal process, even if it eventually
rules in its favor.

"We are eager to put this punitive litigation behind us, to have
reached a decision in the best interest of our stockholders, customers
and employees, and to focus our future activities on the evolution of
the Internet and Sun's place within it," said Sun's President Jonathan
Schwartz.

It seems that they (Sun) estimate that the climate of fear, doubt and
uncertainty surrounding the case would be more damaging to them than
the cost of the settlement; an economic decision rather than a moral
one.

According to the Register "Many technophiles have charged that Kodak's
claims are far too broad and could spell trouble for the software
industry." Well the extortionists are now free to go after other
companies.

"ThomasH" wrote in message
...
http://money.cnn.com/2004/10/07/tech...un_kodak.reut/

Mike Henley wrote:

News got out in the last 2 hours that Sun and Kodak settled
out-of-court for a one-time payment of $92m that would cover any
disputed patents and Sun "did not admit any wrongdoing in the deal".

Apparently, although it disputes the patents and denies infringment,
Sun doesn't want a protracted legal process, even if it eventually
rules in its favor.

"We are eager to put this punitive litigation behind us, to have
reached a decision in the best interest of our stockholders, customers
and employees, and to focus our future activities on the evolution of
the Internet and Sun's place within it," said Sun's President Jonathan
Schwartz.

It seems that they (Sun) estimate that the climate of fear, doubt and
uncertainty surrounding the case would be more damaging to them than
the cost of the settlement; an economic decision rather than a moral
one.

According to the Register "Many technophiles have charged that Kodak's
claims are far too broad and could spell trouble for the software
industry." Well the extortionists are now free to go after other
companies.

Instead of 92 big ones, Kodak should have asked Sun to borrow it's board of
directors for a couple of years....That might have done Kodak some real
good.......

According to the Register "Many technophiles have charged that Kodak's
claims are far too broad and could spell trouble for the software
industry." Well the extortionists are now free to go after other
companies.

You gotta love those technophile patent law experts . . .

Eric Miller

In article ,
Mike Henley wrote:

It seems that they (Sun) estimate that the climate of fear, doubt and
uncertainty surrounding the case would be more damaging to them than
the cost of the settlement; an economic decision rather than a moral
one.

I think there's another reason, which may be quite sound. Sun could have
appealed, but they might not have won, and even if they had, it may be
better to have this patent *not* overturned. Kodak has demonstrated that
it's happy to use it in a predatory manner, and Sun has competition for Java
(most significantly, Microsoft).

If Sun got decent terms in their OOC settlement with Kodak, they may see it
as an acceptable price to pay to keep the threat of similar litigation
hanging over Microsoft's rival technology, whilst Java, them having settled
with Kodak, is in the clear.

IOW, this could well be about actually *creating* FUD for someone else,
namely Microsoft.

On Thu, 07 Oct 2004 15:33:18 -0700, Mike Henley had this to say:

News got out in the last 2 hours that Sun and Kodak settled out-of-court
for a one-time payment of $92m that would cover any disputed patents and
Sun "did not admit any wrongdoing in the deal".

Apparently, although it disputes the patents and denies infringment, Sun
doesn't want a protracted legal process, even if it eventually rules in
its favor.

"We are eager to put this punitive litigation behind us, to have reached a
decision in the best interest of our stockholders, customers and
employees, and to focus our future activities on the evolution of the
Internet and Sun's place within it," said Sun's President Jonathan
Schwartz.

It seems that they (Sun) estimate that the climate of fear, doubt and
uncertainty surrounding the case would be more damaging to them than the
cost of the settlement; an economic decision rather than a moral one.

According to the Register "Many technophiles have charged that Kodak's
claims are far too broad and could spell trouble for the software
industry." Well the extortionists are now free to go after other
companies.

I wonder what Kodak will do with the money? Develop a new film? Perfect
the DCS 14? Pay a final dividend to the shareholders? Give the fat cat
directors a pay rise?

--
DD™
"And that's all I got to say about that" ~ FG

On Thu, 07 Oct 2004 15:33:18 -0700, Mike Henley had this to say:

News got out in the last 2 hours that Sun and Kodak settled out-of-court
for a one-time payment of $92m that would cover any disputed patents and
Sun "did not admit any wrongdoing in the deal".

Apparently, although it disputes the patents and denies infringment, Sun
doesn't want a protracted legal process, even if it eventually rules in
its favor.

"We are eager to put this punitive litigation behind us, to have reached a
decision in the best interest of our stockholders, customers and
employees, and to focus our future activities on the evolution of the
Internet and Sun's place within it," said Sun's President Jonathan
Schwartz.

It seems that they (Sun) estimate that the climate of fear, doubt and
uncertainty surrounding the case would be more damaging to them than the
cost of the settlement; an economic decision rather than a moral one.

According to the Register "Many technophiles have charged that Kodak's
claims are far too broad and could spell trouble for the software
industry." Well the extortionists are now free to go after other
companies.

I wonder what Kodak will do with the money? Develop a new film? Perfect
the DCS 14? Pay a final dividend to the shareholders? Give the fat cat
directors a pay rise?

--
DD™
"And that's all I got to say about that" ~ FG

William Graham wrote:

"ThomasH" wrote in message
http://money.cnn.com/2004/10/07/tech...un_kodak.reut/

Mike Henley wrote:

News got out in the last 2 hours that Sun and Kodak settled
out-of-court for a one-time payment of $92m that would cover any
disputed patents and Sun "did not admit any wrongdoing in the deal".

Apparently, although it disputes the patents and denies infringment,
Sun doesn't want a protracted legal process, even if it eventually
rules in its favor.

"We are eager to put this punitive litigation behind us, to have
reached a decision in the best interest of our stockholders, customers
and employees, and to focus our future activities on the evolution of
the Internet and Sun's place within it," said Sun's President Jonathan
Schwartz.

It seems that they (Sun) estimate that the climate of fear, doubt and
uncertainty surrounding the case would be more damaging to them than
the cost of the settlement; an economic decision rather than a moral
one.

According to the Register "Many technophiles have charged that Kodak's
claims are far too broad and could spell trouble for the software
industry." Well the extortionists are now free to go after other
companies.

Instead of 92 big ones, Kodak should have asked Sun to borrow it's board of
directors for a couple of years....That might have done Kodak some real
good.......

I think that Michael Benveniste outlined the complexity
of the problem very eloquently in the other discussion
about this topic. It is not so easy to draw the line
between rightful claim and extortion. The problem lies in
the vast number of software patents and practically no
effective evaluation of their novelty component or even
of possibly contradicting or overlapping subjects!


If you admire or glorify Sun management, you are mistaken!
They are in deeep, deee-eeep trouble. Just look at their
stock crawling around $3-4 (down from $100 or so) and some
10-11 quarters of losses, declining market share. Only the
1.5 billion which they got from Microsoft (to settle Java
litigation) makes their balances look better in last quarter.
Their employee Nr 1 (Andy von Bechtolsheim) returned to the
company, maybe the old team Andy/Scott will spark some ideas
now and deliver better strategies!

Thomas

"ThomasH" wrote in message
...
William Graham wrote:

"ThomasH" wrote in message
http://money.cnn.com/2004/10/07/tech...un_kodak.reut/

Mike Henley wrote:

News got out in the last 2 hours that Sun and Kodak settled
out-of-court for a one-time payment of $92m that would cover any
disputed patents and Sun "did not admit any wrongdoing in the deal".

Apparently, although it disputes the patents and denies infringment,
Sun doesn't want a protracted legal process, even if it eventually
rules in its favor.

"We are eager to put this punitive litigation behind us, to have
reached a decision in the best interest of our stockholders,
customers
and employees, and to focus our future activities on the evolution
of
the Internet and Sun's place within it," said Sun's President
Jonathan
Schwartz.

It seems that they (Sun) estimate that the climate of fear, doubt
and
uncertainty surrounding the case would be more damaging to them than
the cost of the settlement; an economic decision rather than a moral
one.

According to the Register "Many technophiles have charged that
Kodak's
claims are far too broad and could spell trouble for the software
industry." Well the extortionists are now free to go after other
companies.

Instead of 92 big ones, Kodak should have asked Sun to borrow it's board
of
directors for a couple of years....That might have done Kodak some real
good.......

I think that Michael Benveniste outlined the complexity
of the problem very eloquently in the other discussion
about this topic. It is not so easy to draw the line
between rightful claim and extortion. The problem lies in
the vast number of software patents and practically no
effective evaluation of their novelty component or even
of possibly contradicting or overlapping subjects!


If you admire or glorify Sun management, you are mistaken!
They are in deeep, deee-eeep trouble. Just look at their
stock crawling around $3-4 (down from $100 or so) and some
10-11 quarters of losses, declining market share. Only the
1.5 billion which they got from Microsoft (to settle Java
litigation) makes their balances look better in last quarter.
Their employee Nr 1 (Andy von Bechtolsheim) returned to the
company, maybe the old team Andy/Scott will spark some ideas
now and deliver better strategies!

Thomas

To tell you the truth, I know little of either the Sun management, or the
Kodak management....I was merely making a joke about the settlement. I know
Kodak had been doing badly during the last 20 years or so, and they are no
longer part of the Dow 30. I think they could use some new management to
steer them in a new direction. If they can get 92 million dollars from Sun,
then perhaps Sun's management could do a better job for Kodak. - Hence, the
joke........

"Eric Miller" wrote in message ...
According to the Register "Many technophiles have charged that Kodak's
claims are far too broad and could spell trouble for the software
industry." Well the extortionists are now free to go after other
companies.

You gotta love those technophile patent law experts . . .

Eric Miller

They don't need to be patent experts... they only need to have enough
basic expertise in their industry to know that it doesn't make sense
for someone to come in the 2000s from an altogether other industry
(Kodak), and claim to have patented broad technologies, in the 1990s,
that they were already familiar with and using in the 1980s and 1970s.