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High Stakes Showdown (1/27/99)
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Of course, if you want to talk about the really big bucks, let's discuss Imatec's gargantuan lawsuit against Apple. These are the guys who are suing for $1.1 billion, claiming that Apple infringed on Imatec patents when creating its ColorSync color management technology. It's like a bad dream from which Apple can't awaken: after so much work pulling the company back from the abyss, along comes a lawsuit that might punt them right over the edge. Have you noticed that you don't hear much about this suit from the Mac-centric press? Considering that Apple stands to lose up to $3.3 billion (since Imatec alleges that Apple violated the patents on purpose, treble damages may apply), it's no wonder. Heck, we bet that even the higher-ups at Apple are trying not to think about it. "Maybe if we ignore it, it'll go away..."
Unfortunately, it's not going away. According to a Wired News article, a federal judge has basically told Apple to pull its collective fingers out of its ears and stop singing "La la la, we can't hear you." Apple had requested a trial delay of up to three years, claiming that its legal team needed that long to pull together evidence, but the Powers That Be aren't buying it. Now that a judge has ordered them to quit stalling, we may soon see a courtroom drama with higher stakes than even "Redmond Justice." Sure, Microsoft's trial could potentially lead to sweeping changes across the computer industry, but dammit, we're talking about Apple here.
As things stand, a trial date still hasn't been set. Imatec is still pulling their "pre-wrestling match theatrics" stunts after any progress in the case by issuing new press releases saying how sure they are that they're going to win-- which makes us increasingly suspicious that they're just angling for a fat settlement. We haven't seen Imatec's patents and we know very little about ColorSync, but Imatec's whole demeanor since this thing started just makes them look like they're trying to raise cash via scare tactics. Apple, for their part, continue to claim that Imatec's claims are without merit... but even if that's 100% true, the stakes are high enough to make anybody sweat. Think of it this way: it's easy to stand on one leg for a minute. Is it still as easy when you know that failure means you lose your house, your car, your job, and... your leg? Faced with that scenario, do you take the bet, or give up your car to back out? Personally, we hope Apple fights-- and wins.
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SceneLink (1299)
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And Now For A Word From Our Sponsors |
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 | | The above scene was taken from the 1/27/99 episode: January 27, 1999: Steve Jobs still isn't bringing home an Apple paycheck, but at least he now owns more than one share of stock. Meanwhile, Apple's legal department sweats out the wait before their $1.1 billion showdown with Imatec, and Intel faces still more challenges to their net-trackable Pentium III-- and this time, it's legal...
Other scenes from that episode: 1298: Something to Prove (1/27/99) You can argue that turnaround artist Gil Amelio began Apple's recovery until you're blue in the face-- lord knows, he still thinks so-- but from our perspective, it's plain to see that Steve Jobs was really the one who brought the patient back from its near-death experience... 1300: Legislating Privacy (1/27/99) Who knew that this Pentium III thing would open up such a can of worms? For those just joining us, Intel recently announced that their upcoming Pentium III processor would include a "serial number" that could be read by the computer and sent to web sites for identity verification purposes...
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