We’ve had serious legal threats five times in the past, from YouTube, Marvel, Rivals, Mediascrape and my personal favorite, Richard Figueroa. None of those threats went to court because all of them were absurd, and we don’t back down under any circumstances (unless we’re in the wrong, which we never were).
But today, based on the calls I’ve received from CNET and the San Jose Mercury News, we’ve actually been sued. Earthcomber, the holder of a very shaky mobile patent, first sued Loopt last week, and yesterday added us in an amended complaint. They didn’t even bother with making nasty threats before they filed the complaint. They just sent it into the court and started making calls to the press.
I called Earthcomber President Jim Brady this morning to verify the lawsuit. At first he wouldn’t answer – all he did was try to explain how he’s been wronged by Loopt. When pressed he did confirm that the lawsuit was filed, but quickly added that he didn’t really mean to press it with us. He wants to go to court with Loopt, but is willing to quickly work something out with us to make this go away, he told me, hinting that he’d like to partner with us. He also said he’s been desperately trying to get me on the phone but hasn’t been able to, so he decided to sue us instead.
The problem with using a lawsuit as a negotiating tactic is that you can’t put the cat back in the bag. The door is open, and it has to play out. In other words, suing someone to get them to return your calls is not exactly a sign of brilliance.
I’m not going to go into a lot of detail on the specifics of the patent claims, other than that they are absurd, since our lawyers have asked me not to. But I will say this – adding TechCrunch to a lawsuit based on the fact that we are a search filter (see image to left) in a product seems a little absurd to me. I’ve asked our attorneys to spend whatever it takes to kill this lawsuit, and to find a way to counter sue this guy into the stone age.
Did Earthcomber also sue iMeem, RockTheVote and NRDC, the other filtered search options? No. Because that doesn’t get them all this free press.
We will not be bullied, and people who file frivolous lawsuits need to be put down. I would rather run TechCrunch into the ground and go out of business than let this guy win.
TechCrunch Lawsuit – Get more Business Documents
Bring it!! Oh how we long for tech drama, too commonly an oxymoron.
oxymoron or redundant?
Oooo snap!
Seems in this case, neither. Arrington shut it down.
grabs popcorn and sit back .
puts earthcomb on the map. i never heard of them. 9 years on the net. this legal system keeps alot of people gainfully employed and or imprisoned. now what could possibly be wrong with that. govt and courts are designed to failure. They do not breed efficiency. Without failure what would we need our govt for. Do you think we would keep government gainfully employed if everyone was doing the right thing? Do you think if govt had a invention that would solve all societal problems they would share it with the people? There is only one wrong and one right. What is wrong is too little wealth in too few hands.
The Honorable
JudgeLocator.com – Keep the Peace
you post stupid ramblings to your stupid sites that all have 1-3 members max(I checked),
At some point will you getting through your fucking skull that spamming comments with your crap sites does not drive members… I would use fuckheadlocator.com to find you and stomp the shit out of you, but it only has one member and because its you that member won’t help me locate…
@ pure envy
http://seesmic....deos/QTr4Qavbu5
StatusLocator.com
Someone ban him already, this guy is a running joke.
@locator spammer dude
get a life already. what you are spamming about is a frikkin ning account with 1 member!!!!!
It’s all about the FREE PRESS. I support Mikey
should i get the beer for you guys?..
can’t wait for the counter…
useless-nothing to be scared but I would be p….. too
OMG. At least he has some balls to sue Techcrunch and not like the rests that just talks loud.
Anyone interested in reading the patent, http://www.goog...ract&zoom=4
Unbelievable.
Sadly the law is (maybe never was) about what’s right but rather it has become an exercise in establishing who’s right (even if you are wrong). Whoever has the most money for attorneys wins in my experience—a sad, sad moral compass.
that’s common law for you.
I always find suing is a great way to form partnerships. It works well in dating, too, I hear…
You’re thinking of restraining orders.
Wow!
Try to get the sue down and then counter-sue them..
lawsuit FTW!
what a great patent
Yeah, he has diagrams and everything! What a visionary this guy is. I mean, nobody had thought of location-based services before 2003. Not even me with my failed proximitee.com, circa ‘98.
One measure of success is how many times you’ve been sued
What a load of crap! Go get ‘em man. This type of junk makes me sick.
So… I shouldn’t sue Google for indexing my blog as a way of getting my foot in the door? But how on earth will I ever get them to notice my new shoes and spunky resume?
Take em down! With that kind of garbage lawsuit stuff they should go under. There are ways for a business to behave and handle things and then there’s that crud.
Their kung fu is clearly inferior.
But uh, don’t _actually_ run TechCrunch into the ground and let it go out of business. That’d make us all sad
awesome. when a product is shit, what do you do? sue. fight back tc.
The USPTO themselves should be sued for such irresponsibility. Broad range patents such as this should cover in depth algorithmic data – There are hundreds of ways to skin a cat. This is disturbing to say the least and should be thrown out of court immediately.
The patent process in the USA is broken and should be abolished along with the IRS.
Only in the US of A do these things happen.
Yeah, it’s so much easier to just do business where Putin can sort things out without protracted legal wrangling.
Go for it, MA. If more people took your approach to legal defense we’d knock out 80% of lawsuits. Thanks for stepping up.
These guys and their lawers are a batch of morons…You have all the support from us – the techcrunch user base.
I’m with Mr. Yeager. You need haters in life. If you’ve got 20 companies hating on you now your goal should be to get to 30 by christmas. Philosophy of the great Kat Williams – Pimp Chronicles part I. and in an unreleated side note weed’s not a drug, sh** just grows that way.
Good point, here’s the clip:
http://www.yout...h?v=eUZ03UEyEMU
You should auction off a signed copy of the lawsuit to benefit Donors Choose…
Great post! While the last sentence may seem like an emotional outburst, it is actually the game theoretically optimal strategy: by threatening mutually assured destruction, you make it highly unprofitable for anyone to sue you in the future.
I’m sure that just THRILLS potential investors of both sides.
As my law professor once said, “if you’re client ever tells you ‘it’s the principal of it’, you’re in for a fight”.
I do hope your comprehension of the rest of his lectures was a bit better.
If only you remember what your language teacher taught you.
umm… might want to reread what you wrote and reassess YOUR language skills.
Damn! Is that all I have to do to get you on the phone with me?
Never mess with a former attorney….
Or a Libertarian.
Incredibly annoying. It is amazing how well a frivolous lawsuit gets your attention though, no matter how frivolous and how little time and $$$ was spent in filing it …
I feel bad for this guy, he doesn’t know what he’s up against. TechCrunch’s media reach is too daunting to go up against. I really don’t think the want this kind of PR and its effects on their reputation.
what a waste of money, resources, time and hair…for both parties.
That’s ludacris…
Those who can’t innovate, litigate!
Sorry – that’s “ludicrous”, not Ludacris the hip-hop performer
Understandably, many are trying to get in contact with you about their products or services.
However, if this guy had been trying numerous times to get you over the phone – and the only way he could get an answer from you was to sue and call the press – he may deserve some consideration.
It would be great if he could respond and give his side of the story.
Understandably, it must be frustrating for Developers to have patents used without compensation
“if this guy had been trying numerous times to get you over the phone – and the only way he could get an answer from you was to sue and call the press – he may deserve some consideration.”
Uh.. yeah. That makes sense. Note to anyone else thinking of trying this tactic: Don’t.
yeah, he gave his side of the story. In the lawsuit.
Can he sue you as the user of an infringing product? I thought that the SCOTUS ruled that you couldn’t double-dip like that.
Earthcomber CEO Jim Brady is ready to be rated and reviewed. Be kind: http://www.pers...e/Jim/Brady/139 By the way, the stuff about him and Steadman is outrageous.
also, my email address is on our about page, he never used it.
Hey Douchebag:
We haven’t forgotten about you. Your conflict of interest file is growing by the day.
Arrington–simply put–is the single most conflicted person I’ve ever investigated. The degree of your unreported conflicts is absolutely fantasitc.
What was unknown to all but a few is now unearthed.
Thought you’d like to know.
also, he’s an asshole.
lol. Now you used this word in anger. I know it.
Michael, come on now. Be careful with those words, this asshole sounds like someone who would counter your comment here with defamation proceedings.
BTW Jim Brady – you are an asshole. Sue me.
made. my. day.
Finally I can sell this box of ‘Don’t F*k with Mike’ t-shirts.
“defamation proceedings”???? ‘Ass’ and ‘hole’ are very legitimate English words. That fucker [another legit English words] deserves to be reamed by your lawyers.
Tell it like it is. Word.
If it’s any comfort, Mike, I’d sue Google before I’d ever sue you.
Pinky-promise!
Agreed. Total douche.
Yeah!!!
I neeeed mor-e of that awsoome glue stuff to sniiiif….
“I would rather run TechCrunch into the ground and go out of business than let this guy win.”
That would be a win for him. But I personally like the attitude, keep it up!
I missed that part of it on the first read – thanks.
Talk about intense. Now this guy’s branded for life as a loser.
i don’t understand why TC is involved in this story?!?!
I’m no legal-eagle, but the complaint looks like it’s just copyright infrigement (and I use the term “just” loosely). Hell of a way to court someone.
Any actual lawyers/legal minded individuals want to break down the brief for us non-smart people?
“He also said he’s been desperately trying to get me on the phone but hasn’t been able to, so he decided to sue us instead.”
I’m sorry but this is my new favorite business tactic. Does anyone have Steve Jobs number? I’ve been meaning to talk to him about these iPhone developer terms…
“I would rather run TechCrunch into the ground and go out of business than let this guy win.”
Go Mike, go..
Got to love absurd patent infringement litigation attempts. I’ve had 2 and would have found them hysterical were it not for the £25k it cost just to tell ‘em that they could blow me.
This represents an opportunity for TC to set a precedent against frivolous lawsuits and patent trolls. Hold your ground and get some backing from the companies you’ve written about who are constantly fighting the trolls.
I have to say this is easily the most boneheaded move I’ve seen in a long time. This guy is going to get crucified by your readers…
You’ve just written the single greatest headline I’ve ever read. Thanks.
Nice. I love it when people threaten you because you always write about it and the other party always ends up looking horrible. This situation is no different. I hope you do countersue and win. Fuck Earthcomber.
Did me maybe think of emailing your? Or hell, TWITTER?! I’m sure there’s some way to get ahold of you other than the phone.
Good lord.
This is bizarre.
How can someone sue you w/o saying specifically what you did wrong?
I didn’t read all that legalese junk – I’m referring to when you talked to this guy on the phone. This is weird.
I wouldn’t sue him to the Stone Age or whatever – just make sure you get your legal fees and perhaps a bit extra back for the hassle. Otherwise you’ll come off looking like a bully – obviously this dude has no clue how to do business – which means it’s bound to close anyways very shortly once this is resolved. You don’t need to do a thing except make sure your brand isn’t messed with.
First, it’s unclear what is the basis for the suit against TC. In Paragraph 9, LOOPT is accused of infringing “by making, selling and/or offering for sale products and/methods”, while Paragraph 11 only asserts that TC “has actively induced and contributed to infringement of” the patent but does not mention direct infringement. So unclear why you assume its because of “search filter to the left”. Did the CEO assert this on the phone?
Second, there appear to be only three independent claims (1, 15 and 16) in the patent, each requiring “creating a user profile preference profile created by the user” and more. Unclear whether the independent claims relate to the search filter referenced above.
Third, the reason some feel the need to sue first and ask questions later is the law regarding declaratory judgements has changed making it easier for a “threatened” party to drag the other party into court to resolve.
I have no comment regarding the validity of patent since requires analysis of the claims, but would like to mention that to all the anti-patent folks that many patent reforms have already occurred the past few years due to decisions by the Supreme Court and actions by Congress and the US Patent Office including changing the standards for obviousness, declaratory actions, will infringement, injuctions, damages and more. On a whole, it is substantially harder to obtain and commercialize a patent compared to just five years ago. Most of the changes were necessary, however, some might have gone to far.
ha ha. you read it…
Well I am not brilliant either – sooo I guess I am going to sue you next week since we plan to go from private beta to (first invite only) public beta soon and I haven’t been able to connect with you (Michael) neither on twitter nor on E-mail ….
.
Maybe I should also include Slashdot / CNet and… the New York Times into my lawsuit, to at least once create one big smoke puff…
Or maybe I just keep developing better products and building a great little company. So hard to decide…
Besides: “I would rather run TechCrunch into the ground and go out of business than let this guy win.” – I love people who have the balls to do business the way it’s supposed to be done. Keep going.
what a joke! i earthcomber will be forgotten in days to come!
techcrunch got nothing to worry!
Mike, if you are pissed that they sued you for free press, then why are you giving them free press by writing this post? Seems like if you actually wanted to stick it to them, you would have told the guy to fuck off and kept it out of the public forum.
Our policy is to publish legal threats to discourage them. Also, they tend to be entertaining for those not involved.
I agree that it’s a good practice to put them online to shut the BS off as early as possible. Yes it gives them press but in the light of them looking like complete idiots.
How’s that working out for you?
Judging from “We’ve had serious legal threats five times in the past…”, my guess is it ain’t working.
Good luck and don’t get too wound up. This guy’s an idiot and he can’t win.
Hey Mike! I read the lawsuit. It has added you in Defendant, which is related to the post you wrote defending loopt, I think it might have pissed of Earth Comber.
How the hell can a blog be sued? I mean where is the freedom ???
I say you should go to the court and tell the Judge straight that it was your opinion just like everyone has their own opinion, and also tell this stupid Jim Brady that you are not going to change your opinion, no matter what. I think the judge will understand.
Regards, Nakodari
Unfortunately people have tried to sue bloggers for comments and for their content. It rarely holds in court though… at least from what I’ve been told. When it comes to a blog the author is basically writing opinion pieces and we have the right to express opinions. This would be like an artist or gallery filing against me for writing a negative art exhibit review that ends up posted on another site. It is just crazy. I would be careful of bashing the guy on a public forum though as far as statements about his character. They can use that in the case.
If he only sued you and not the others then that says something about his “case”…Some people just lack the minimum common sense…
Ahh what a hassle, I can’t figure out how Jim Brady thought this was going to turn out well for Earthcomber? They have been working hard at getting their product out on the market for a while now and I can understand that they are frustrated for not getting enough coverage, however this is bad Karma.
This is just the beginning of mobile LBS and you are such a strong proponent for it, and now they shot themselves right in the foot. This is how they will be remembered, and I doubt you will ever say a kind word about them in the future. Like you said the cat is out of the bag and the damage is done – a phone call could have solved it and I am sure if he sent you and email directly you would have replied.
I love the fact you stand up straight and take them head on – that is the way to do it. The reality is you have to stroke a cheque for your legal counsel and go through all the hassle. I feel for you, even though it is a frivolous lawsuit your still have to pay to defend yourself and that is just a pain in the ass.
Good luck and may the legal bill be minimal.
Cheers – Eric
Michael,
you rock!
Go for it.
Kick his ass.
This guy is a moron.
Only in America, where litigation comes with the morning paper.
haha i couldnt agree more