A New Patent Problem For Smartphone Makers

It looks like we have at least a momentary interruption in the battle royale between smartphone designers Apple (Nasdaq:AAPL), Google (Nasdaq:GOOG), Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT), Motorola (NYSE:MOT), HTC and LG Electronics. In the midst of the scramble to the top of the consumer electronics mountain, these companies now have to deal with an outsider throwing rocks from the outside. 

A Blast From The Past
NTP, a patent holding company, has filed suit against all of these companies alleging that they violated NTP's patents concerning wireless email technology. (Learn more about the importance of patents, see Patents Are Assets, So Learn How To Value Them.) Patent litigation is nothing new in the technology space, but there is a little different twist in this case. NTP rose to prominence (or infamy, depending upon your point of view) about five years ago when it aggressively pursued a case against Research In Motion (Nasdaq:RIMM) that threatened to shutdown down Blackberries everywhere. Ultimately, NTP obtained a $600 million settlement from RIM - no trivial amount of money. 


For the full piece:
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2010/A-New-Patent-Problem-For-Smartphone-Makers-AAPL-GOOG-MSFT-MOT-RIMM-T-VZ0715.aspx