Ian;
On the patent infringement question: 1) IIA could get a court order stopping Bell from infringing, in which event Bell would have to stop selling, using and marketing ICD,or 2)Bell could take out a license from IIA, on terms agreeable to IIA, of course, or 3)Both parties could come to some sort of mutually agreeable solution, such as cross licensing each other - each gets to use the other's patents in this area (I don't even know if Bell filed any patent applications), or 4)Bell could buy out the company, IIA, to thereby obtain ownership of the ICM technology.I think that the U.S. patent should issue any day now. It's interesting to note that some, if not most, companies will not deal with any patented technology until the patent issues! When they see the issued patent and the breadth of its coverage then they deal, but not before.I wonder if any of the RBOC's follow this principle? We'll see after the U.S. Patent issues!
Cheers,
Don |
