It seems only yesterday that the industry was in an uproar over data security at the MFP thanks in large part to that CBS News story. The industry banded to together, and with the help of BTA, alleviated a lot of fears and concerns some of which were valid and some of which were exaggerated. Now office technology dealers have another thing to worry about and an issue that Robert Goldberg, general counsel of BTA, says is “having a profound effect upon our industry.”
According to a recent e-mail from Mr. Goldberg, end users throughout the country are receiving correspondence from attorneys alleging that the end user is violating various patents by scanning documents and having it sent automatically to an e-mail account. The attorneys are seeking license fees based upon employee count.
What then happens is the end user contacts their dealer asking for their assistance, and the dealer then contacts the manufacturer regarding the claim. As Goldberg notes, “most Dealer contracts contain indemnification clauses regarding patent infringement. BTA has prepared three options for the Dealer to supply the End User for the purpose of responding to the claim. Generally the advice is to ignore the letter, deny infringement, or legally challenge the validity of the patent.”
He does acknowledge that in limited instances litigation has been filed against an end user. In one instance a countersuit was filed and the initial suit was promptly dismissed.
“Congress has introduced legislation prohibiting the use of the patent laws for this purpose, but passage is questionable in light of the bickering that is taking place,” reports Goldberg.
In the meantime, BTA is suggesting as they did with data security, to sponsor an industry summit to address the issue. I’ll keep you informed as I hear more about this latest development.
New content this week includes:
- The Widening Divide Between Full Service and Traditional Leasing Lessors
- The Small to Midsize Business Opportunity for A4 and Additional Solutions
- Expanding Relationships to Include Service-Based Offerings
- Supplementing the Decline in MFP Sales with Managed Services
- Art Post’s on the Art of the Copier Demo
- What’s Hot & What’s Not?
- January News Bytes
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