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Denise Howell is a seasoned appellate and intellectual property litigator based in Los Angeles. Denise writes one of the first and most popular law-related blogs, Bag and Baggage, coined the term "blawg" and helped pioneer podcasting for lawyers. Microcontent obsessed since 2001, she is frequently quoted in the media on legal issues involving intellectual property and technology law. "Sound Policy" is Denise's show at IT Conversations, and it's also what she hopes results from the briefs she submits to court. Email Denise at dhowell@gmail.com.

Dennis Kennedy is a computer lawyer and legal technology expert based in St. Louis, Missouri. An award-winning author, a frequent speaker and a widely-read blogger, he has more than 300 publications on legal, technology and Internet topics, many of which are collected in his e-books. Dennis has been described as someone who knows almost every rock song in existence and, more importantly, how they apply to technology and law. Email Dennis at his gmail address.

Tom Mighell is Senior Counsel and Litigation Technology Support Coordinator at Cowles & Thompson in Dallas. He has published the Internet Legal Research Weekly newsletter since 2000 and blogged about the Internet and legal technology at Inter Alia since August of 2002. With Tom's singing, Ernie on guitar and Dennis' encylopedic knowledge of rock music, we may have the beginnings of a good band, if this whole blog thing doesn't work out. Email Tom at tmighell@swbell.net.

Marty Schwimmer left a partnership in the largest trademark practice in the world and founded Schwimmer Mitchell, a full-service IP micro-boutique in Westchester County, New York, where he represents owners of famous and not yet famous trademarks. He founded The Trademark Blog, the first IP law blog and the one with the most pictures. He is the first to come in and the last to leave in his firm. Email Marty at marty@schwimmerlegal.com.

Ernest Svenson practices law with a mid-sized law firm in New Orleans, specializing in business-related lawsuits. Most of his practice takes place in federal court, especially the Eastern District. He is best known for his weblog Ernie the Attorney, which he started as an experiment. Like many experiments it got out of control. Nevertheless, he continues to practice law and, occasionally, to seek enlightenment. Email Ernest at esvenson@gmail.com.
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Between Lawyers provides just-in-time group commentary on the issues raised when technology, culture and the law intersect. We take you behind the firewalls and conference room doors to show you how experienced lawyers deal with these issues and help you prepare for the new challenges we all face. For more, see our introductory post.
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December 9, 2005

Gartner on BlackBerry - The Sky is Falling - or Maybe It Isn't

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Posted by Dennis M. Kennedy

In the kind of story that fuels the general level of suspicion many people have about advice from huge consulting firms, I saw that CNET has an article called "Gartner's advice: Halt BlackBerry deployments" that makes the usual advice you get from lawyers seem clear and concise.

I can't resist quoting:

The research note advises enterprises to "stop or delay all mission-critical BlackBerry deployments and investments in the platform until RIM's legal position is clarified," because "U.S. BlackBerry users would lose messaging services...and international users would lose message service while traveling in the U.S."

However, Gartner expects the two companies to reach a settlement within three weeks because an agreement would be "in both companies' interests."

There is a possibility that RIM could bypass the patent dispute by deploying a workaround, but Gartner said this path could be "highly problematic."

"RIM claims its workaround is legally sound, but its history in the courts does not inspire confidence. Moreover, end-user validation and implementation would take time, resulting in a temporary loss of service," the research note said.

Gartner advises enterprises "not to sign any agreements that could involve them in the RIM-NTP dispute" and "demand that RIM discloses its workaround plans."

If RIM deployments are not mission-critical, Gartner said, enterprises could take no action for the moment but rather "assess the potential impact of operation outages of unknown duration."

I believe that advice covers every possible side of this issue and hedges every bet.

In fairness, I read only the article and not the full research report.

Perhaps this is the best summary of the report:

"If you read it closely, we're telling people to sort of take a break here and wait until this case settles within two to three weeks," Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney told Reuters.

Of course, if you expect the case to settle, as everyone seems to believe these days, why report that the sky is falling?

Comments (2) + TrackBacks (0) | Category: Intellectual Property and Technology Law | Law Practice Management | Legal Technology | Patent


COMMENTS

1. Rob Hyndman on December 9, 2005 12:06 PM writes...

Dennis -

I enjoyed a short rant about this a little while ago chez moi. There really is no explaining the triteness of what passes for news these days. And to think the mainstream media criticizes the banality of blogs ...

http://www.robhyndman.com/2005/12/02/after-blackberry/

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2. Dennis on December 9, 2005 5:09 PM writes...

Rob,

You've had great coverage of the RIM case and related developments recently. I also enjoy your point of view on these issues.

Dennis

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