Lawsuits

It’s difficult to assess the real significance of the complaint 3M have made against Envisionware in the US. Filed back in June it seems to have raised little interest, and even less concern amongst US librarians which probably reflects their greater understanding of US Patent law. Like most legal documents I find it a bit difficult to understand and it contains many references to other patents and documents that will take some time for lawyers to interpret and, because this is America, someone will lose. Let’s hope it’s not libraries.

Exactly what 3M are complaining about seems to centre around two products being sold by Envisionware as part of their RFID offer to libraries. These are respectively their Library PDA and One-Stop Kiosk. Both appear to offer functionality remarkably similar to others being offered in the UK and Europe.

Not being a lawyer I can only offer a layman’s view of the case, and not being versed in legalese I choose to focus on the outcomes that 3M are seeking rather than the means by which they pursue them. That seems very clear – to stop Envisionware from selling two products offering similar functionality to their own. The justification for doing so seems to be contained in para 13 of the complaint where it states that:

“In the mid-1990s 3M began a multi-year, multi-million dollar research and development project to improve library systems technology. One part of 3M’s effort centered on creating pioneering functions that enhance self-service library systems, such as 3M’s SelfCheck™ Systems. The other part focused on the development of Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) technology for the library environment. Together, 3M’s efforts resulted in the technology and intellectual property at issue in this lawsuit.”

A statement that is breathtaking in its scope. It is worthe remembering that self-service in libraries has been around (even in the UK) since at least 1981  and RFID in libraries is claimed to have begun in Singapore in 1999 by Logitrack.

What matters to libraries though is not so much the accuracy of the claims that 3M make in their complaint but the possible consequences of their success. Whilst we have received several assurances from 3M about the continued free use of SIP – the 3M protocol driving most of the world’s self-service systems - on the UK Library RFID list over the last 24 hours we are still no wiser about their attitude to other RFID suppliers offering shelf-check, store and forward and fines and fees payments (the three specific areas of complaint in the action).

If 3M successfully claim their right to exclsuively offer such functionality – based on the claims made in para 13 – it would seem to be “Game Over” for the US Library RFID market. What then happens elsewhere is still unclear.

No date has yet been set for the hearing. Buyers of RFID systems are advised to read the complaint for themselves.

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