Re: [Patents] Suing uninformed customers

[Hartmut Pilch <phm@a2e.de>]

>   Hopefully laws will be put in place against such things where PCT claims 
> cannot be brought against third party "customers" of those who allegedly 
> infringe rights.  This is a form of business corruption that should be 
> thought of in the same terms as the spreadsheet antics of Enron and other 
> corporate criminals.

I think it's a normal consequence of having a patent system.  Not just 
the producer but everybody in the chain from production to consumption
potentially infringes and must make sure the patent liabilities are 
cleared.  

The customer should have a contract with the manufacturer by which the
latter is held liable for any patent infringement.  Rockwell's customers
apparently did have such contracts.  Usually probably any customer will
have such a contract by default (principle of "exhaustion").

I don't understand why Rockwell's customers don't just wait until 
Solaia and Scavenge (the patent extortionists) take them to court and
then hand their defense over to Rockwell.

Is there any reason of legal procedure why this can't happen?

If so, maybe that is a place where a reform is needed.

-- 
Hartmut Pilch, FFII & Eurolinux Alliance              tel. +49-89-18979927
Protecting Innovation against Patent Inflation       http://swpat.ffii.org/
300,000 votes 2000 firms against software patents    http://noepatents.org/