Patents are continuing to cause people to scratch their heads and say, “that’s patentable?” MetroPCS, a regional cellular Verizon MVNO. With their unlimited pricing, and all-you-can-eat rate plan within their regional markets, they somehow secured a patent on such - now competing regional carriers Cricket and Leap want to offer the same service, and say they are suffering damage and irreparable injury. Are they serious?
MetroPCS “has caused and will continue to cause Leap and Cricket substantial damage and irreparable harm by virtue of its past and continuing infringement of the ‘497 patent. Leap and Cricket will suffer further damage and irreparable injury unless and until is enjoined by this court from continuing such infringement,� Leap stated.
MetroPCS denied any wrongdoing, accusing Leap of stealing the original idea of an unlimited local calling service when MetroPCS was in talks with Leap’s former parent company Qualcomm Inc. for network infrastructure in the mid-1990s. MetroPCS also accused Leap of having ulterior motives when Leap initiated merger talks with MetroPCS in late 2005 and early 2006.
“Leap again misappropriated MetroPCS’ business plans and applied those misappropriated ideas to its own advantage in its Cricket wireless services,� MetroPCS told the court. “Once again, since MetroPCS does not directly compete with Leap, it did not know that Leap had misappropriated its information.
Source: Welcome to RCRNews.com
