Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), and a host of other big-name players are being sued by a company that's already settled for $612.5 million with Research In Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM).
NTP Inc., founded by the self-proclaimed "inventor of wireless email," says several manufacturers or developers of wireless devices are using its email technology without a license. HTC, LG Electronics, Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), and Motorola are also named in last week's lawsuits.
NTP brought similar, still-to-be-resolved lawsuits against Verizon (Nasdaq: VZ), AT&T (NYSE: T), Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S), and T-Mobile in 2006 and 2007.
The big settlement with Research In Motion in 2006 is enough to indicate NTP should be taken seriously. That one took years to resolve, and litigation with the carriers has been going on for three or four years now.
All this should be very interesting to watch (to me, at least, and a few of my lawyer friends). Based on the RIM case it's unlikely an eventual settlement price would significantly harm most of these giants. None of the companies named last week has responded to media requests yet. Will they all band together and fight, or will one or two decide it's not worth it and settle quickly? Stay tuned.
