This is just one more blind bloggers opinion on the lawsuit that FS filed against GW Micro recently.
Yesterday GW Micro released a statement stating that they felt that Freedom Scientific's patent infringement lawsuit was over reaching and that they feel they'll prevail in court. Well this may well be so, I really don't know since I'm not a lawyer nor have I seen the documents filed in court by FS. I have read through the patent details of the placemarker patent as FS filed for it. I honestly don't understand how someone can patent a place marker feature as place markers have been around probably as long as history itself. I honestly do not know who will win this lawsuit but I do know as users of access technology, we the blind users will loose in the end. Competition makes both FS and GW Micro stronger. When competition is stifled by lawsuits, we all loose. FS might win monetarily if they win their case but that gain could be short lived if many of their customers feel slighted and make the switch to the competitions product. Like I said, I'm not a lawyer. I'm just a user of access technology. I'm a user of both Jaws and Window Eyes. I favor jaws in my daily use of a screen reader but have found that Window Eyes does have better support of websites in some cases. I currently don't have plans to use Window Eyes on a daily basis as some have done solely due to the fact they can't stand dealing with FS anymore. My question to FS is this, do you really feel your case is strong enough to be worth the potential bad PR you are getting as a result of the lawsuit?
This is truly a sad time for all access technology users. I do hope this lawsuit is resolved quickly as the longer it draws out, the more time that goes by where neither company is innovating.
Here is the press release from GW Micro:
Fort Wayne, Indiana, August 15, 2008 -- GW Micro, Inc., a Fort Wayne, Indiana-based company dedicated to providing high quality adaptive technology solutions for blind and visually impaired individuals, announced today that it has received notice of a patent infringement lawsuit brought by Freedom Scientific, Inc., the self-described "world leader in technology-based solutions for people with visual impairments." The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court, Middle District of Florida, alleging infringement of U.S. Patent No. 6,993,707 for a "Document Placemarker." GW Micro has reviewed the claim and believes it is overreaching and not consistent with what Freedom Scientific told the Patent Office when obtaining its patent. GW Micro intends to defend itself vigorously and expects to prevail in court.
"As many of our users know, our screen reader -- Window-Eyes -- has had the capability of returning to a specific line within a webpage since version 3.1, which was released over nine years ago, well before Freedom Scientific's alleged invention," said Dan Weirich, GW Micro's Corporate President. Weirich went on to note that, "The implication in a recent Freedom Scientific press release that GW Micro is 'benefiting from Freedom Scientific's investment at no charge' is simply not accurate nor in line with GW Micro's tradition of success and fair play." Finally, Weirich concluded, "We will aggressively defend both our legal position and our place in the assistive technology community."
Daniel R. Weirich
GW Micro, Inc.
725 Airport North Office Park
Fort Wayne, IN 46825
ph 260-489-3671
www.gwmicro.com
--
Rick
2 comments:
Great demonstration of stupidity, in my opinion. And I never thought that there were users yearning to move from JFW to W.E. Seems like FS is missing on something or GW Micro is promising a huge perspective for those whom might be interested on Window Eyes. By the way, I'm part of these people.
Just like you, I hope we don't come to lose with this stupid game. I'm pretty upset about this.
Best,
Edu Camargo.
I too think it's a huge waste of time and effort. But hey what do I know.
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