Leap, Metro PCS Fight Over Flat Rates
Aug 23, 2006, 2:08 PM by (staff)
Leap Wireless, parent of Cricket, has filed suit against Metro PCS in a Texas court. Leap alleges that Metro PCS is violating its patent by offering flat rate mobile service. Leap filed for a patent in January 2001 and was approved in November 2004 for a wireless service with flat rate pricing and coverage and capacity limited to specific metro areas. Metro PCS is fighting the suit claiming that Leap stole the idea from then while Metro PCS was in talks with Qualcomm, then Leap's parent company, in the 1990s. Metro PCS also argues that it does not compete directly with the Cricket service in any market.
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Comments
Why Can't...
They both just have flat rates? I mean T-Mobile, cingular, Verizon, Sprint and so forth all have whenever minutes, nights and weekends, Family Plans? Why should this be any different, regardless of a patent?
It's a fight to see who first coined the flat unlimited rate. I think it's an attempt to have exclusicity (i dont know a better made up word for it) to the flat rates. It's one rate unlimited...but it's kids fighting over "I said that first, you're ju...
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And I guess they will follow suit with TMobile, cingular, verizon, Sprint, etc. as they all offer unlimited/flat rate minute plans as well.
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What's Leap trying to gain?
It seems a bit odd to me that Leap would be going after a company that doesn't compete directly with them in any market...I could see them going after smaller/rural carriers that compete directly with them, but Metro? This would be like, say, Cablevision suing Comcast over infringement of a patent related to cable TV; it just doesn't make sense.
IMO, "business method" patents are a bad idea by their very nature, especially when the patent the obvious (as seems to be the case here.)
IMO, "business method" patents are a bad idea by their very nature, especially when the patent the obvious (as seems to be the case here.)
we might as well
give Golden Corral(if you have one of those) the rights to all-you-can-eat. 🙄 This is retarded.
I hate Cricket
Yeah, we had a Golden Corral here. You beat me to it, I was going to make some comment about Sizzler getting a piece of the action.
And yes, this is retarded, but then again we already knew our copyright and patent laws are insane. Or maybe it'...
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And yes, this is retarded, but then again we already knew our copyright and patent laws are insane. Or maybe it'...
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