RCM, do you have an opinion on this [Solomon Technologies: SOLM]situation?
Stuart,
I have a position, not a large one - a "starter" - avg. cost abt 75c, in part because I trust Lawfighter's judgment. I don't know enough about either the technology or patent law to develop enough confidence for a big position, at least yet, but it certainly looks promising. (I've just moved to a new house we've built over the last 2 years - thanks largely to IGEN, RRI and SEPR - and will have more time to dig in further.)
Note the difference between the IGEN case and this one. IGEN v. Roche was a breach of contract case, pretty straightforward and within reach of most lawyers. SOLM v. Toyota is a patent case, in an area of law largely outside my, and most lawyers'. experience.
OTOH, in patent law there is a serious possibility that an infringer can be enjoined from further infringement - in this case, Toyota might be prevented, by government or court action, from importing and selling any more Prius cars. That's a real showstopper, worth a lot to Toyota to head off. That's a greater upside than IGEN's ever was.
Toyota's boss said, in the 3/6 Fortune, that Toyota expects to sell a million Priuses annually by 2012 or so.
In the absence of a clear picture of the merits, I thought this worth a flyer.
The main conversation, still in its early stages, is on Raging Bull:
ragingbull.lycos.com
BTW, my favorite litigation play now is BRST, which has streaming video patents, got a $60M settlement from MSFT last year, and is now pursuing AAPL and others. Potentially this is a huge market, since it appears that most streaming video depends on processes quite like those patented by BRST.
AAPL sued BRST for a declaration of non-infringement - likely a boneheaded move, calling attention to BRST's claims. Those claims are now under settlement discussions, staying the litigation. |
