

Hipmunk Raises Money And Is Immediately Threatened By Patent Troll (July 2012) - dsr12
https://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20120709/02383719619/hipmunk-raises-money-is-immediately-threatened-patent-troll.shtml

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daledavies
Every time I read an article like this I feel enraged, as I'm sure many other
people do too.

I'm a UK resident currently working on a suite of business apps, when I
eventually am able to launch the company and (hopefully) make some money what
can I do to avoid being a victim of patent trolls?

Seems actively seeking to avoid violating patents could get me into more
trouble than doing nothing!

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joonix
Just keep doing what you're doing, in the UK, try not to open yourself up to
US jurisdiction if you don't have to. Keep assets out of there.

If you really are infringing and concerned, I'd see about proactively getting
favorable licenses while you're tiny, in case you get big.

If you aren't infringing and it's a bunch of crap, like the Hipmunk case, I'd
do what they did. Seek a declaratory judgment and call their bluff. After all,
the troll might not even have money to fund a real battle. If their lawyers
are working on contingency (they often are), they won't waste their money
pursuing something with no real shot.

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pwg
And the patent has already expired:

Patent number 5,345,551 was filed on November 9, 1992. That makes it a 17
years from issue date patent.

It issued on September 6, 1994. September 6, 1994 + 17 years is September 6,
2011. The patent expired over one year ago. It is dead, one can no longer by
sued for doing anything it claims.

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jimktrains2
According to <http://www.uspto.gov/patents/process/status/> it is a patent
case, which I interpret to mean it's still in force. (After the captcha,
select patent number and enter 5345551, note the lack of commas)(IANAL and
could be wrong.) (Sorry, I can't link directly to the page, it's a crappy
application).

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pwg
That look-up just reports that the application became a patent. That status
there does not determine its expiration date. Barring something exceptional it
died over a year ago.

~~~
jimktrains2
I know it gets updated if the owner doesn't pay the renewal fees, so I figured
it would show when it wasn't in force any more ::shrug::

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swalsh
What defines a data source? It would seem, even if they did have multiple
windows they all come from one web server, thus one data source.

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goatforce5
Well there was no point suing them when they didn't have money.

