John,
The initial discussions were that other manufacturers were subject to this same action but only a few updates were subsequently offered on the status of these cases?
We believe cases like these with patent infringement (troll) claims from Canatelo, Hawk and potentially others, WILL have a huge impact on the future business strategy of every integrator. We further believe that we all should use this forum to share ideas, band together to develop a robust a strategy for dealing with this industry threat.
How big does this problem need to get before most end users refuse to do business with any of us. I realize that some large end users already include some levels of idemnification in some purchase contracts however, it is not a widespread requirement. If this continues however, all video orders big or small, will be requiring a blanket indemnification against everything from the security integrator.
End users look to the integrator for this indemnification, because with rare exceptions, they are not buying from the security camera and VMS manufacturers. I believe we have to shift this responsibility to them. What is next, H.264, IR illumination, integration with access control, biometrics, or more?
If any of these other Canatelo cases against Cisco, Sony or others have been resolved, it would be helpful to us all if we could know which ones? Further, does anyone have a list of which manufacturers have been subject to these Canatelo claims. My speculation is that all of them eventually would be targets unless someone fully invalidates Canatelo's patent claim.
The worst thing that can happen is when a settlement payoff is made. I understand the business decision to do so however, paying a troll only emboldens them.
IPVM is our best and candidly, a great resourse to discuss and stay up to date on these legal issues. I would encourage everyone to actively participate in these discussions. Hopefully we can pool our resources and ideas in addressing this serious industry threat.
John, any regular updates your team could provide on these would be helpful also, to keep it on the front burner.
Thanks!