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Sour Blackberries

More bad news for Blackberry users. Computerworld reports that RIM is on the received end of another patent lawsuit. This time Visto claims that the Blackberry system infringes four Visto patents relating to the accessing and synchronizing of information over a network. Instead of asking for monetary compensation, Visto is asking that the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas shut down the Blackberry network. The lawsuit was filed on the same day as a Texas jury awarded Visto $3.6m in a patent action against another company, Seven Networks.

The IPKat is not happy. While he doesn’t advocate patent infringement, he doesn’t think it’s fair that Blackberry users who purchased the costly equipment in good faith should be faced with the Sword of Damoles hanging over their heads every time someone else decides to take action against RIM.

Dreadful dough

Spotted – a rather unlikely brand extension. Hasbro has launched eau de PLAY-DOH", a Play-Doh scented frangrance, to celebrate the modelling dough’s fiftieth birthday. The Play-Doh pong retails for approximately $19 and is targeted at 'highly-creative people, who seek a whimsical scent reminiscent of their childhood'.

The moderately creative IPKat says ugh! (and yes, he did check it wasn't April 1)