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Tue, Dec 28, 2010

RunwayFinder Establishes Legal Defense Fund To Fight Off FlightPrep Suit

FlightPrep Assault On Online Flight Planners Continues To Draw Negative Response From GA

Someday, someone is going to write down a list of some of the most foolish decisions in the history of General Aviation... and if/when that list is compiled, ANN will not be too surprised to see the FlightPrep patent suits among the leaders. Industry and community response to the threats of legal action over alleged IP infringement of the FlightPrep patent has been swift and fairly uniform... and flyers pretty much do not like it. One of the first (but not only) victims of the FlightPrep legal assault was RunwayFinder.com... who shut down the site after a lawsuit was filed -- along with suggestions that this free-access site may have been costing FlightPrep as much as $3.2 million in lost business... a number reached via some very questionable math.

RunwayFinder Founder Dave Parsons announced a few days ago that the was not prepared to fold his tent quietly, even though RunwayFinder is hardly a good-paying gig. Now, and at the urging and request of a number of comments to his blog, Parsons has established a legal defense fund to fight the FlightPrep patent assault.

Parsons stated that, "I’ve thought through a few options on how to handle donations for defending RunwayFinder against the FlightPrep lawsuit. Considering the time and complication of setting up an independent trust, I’ve decided to keep the donation process simple for now. I pledge to you that every penny will go toward patent research, attorneys fees, court fees, and other costs directly related to defending RunwayFinder. I will forward any funds remaining to the next company that FlightPrep goes after. If the issue dies out, I will pass the money to another general aviation defense fund project. This seems like the fairest way to make use of your donations. I appreciate any amount you can give."

A simple Paypal donation button on the left hand side of the RF blog page is the means by which persons may contribute to the defense fund.

Parsons also had a few comments on the state of the patent war and some of the reading that has struck him, of late. "On a side note, there was an interesting article posted recently on TechCrunch regarding a company called 'Where' that just received a broad patent for an implementation of geo-fencing, a concept used by many mobile apps. There are some humorous comments on the article including examples of patents for having a cat chasing a laser pointer and a 5-year-old kid receiving a patent for swinging on a swing. The patent owner, Where, also posted a comment saying they would not be using the patent in a predatory manner, using it only for defense in the event another company files an infringement suit. The whole thing turned into a PR win for them. That’s how you do it."

In the meantime, the negative response of the industry continues to grow... there are well over 800 cyber-signatures on a "BoycottFlightPrep" site and the net is still abuzz with folks that seem to think that FlightPrep has screwed the pooch. More recently, however; there has been growing concern about the steps that FlightPrep has taken to distance itself from negative comments and press. Critical comments on the FlightPrep FaceBook page have been scrubbed and some of the refutations published on the FlightPrep blog are questionable and worded in a fairly circuitous manner. Further; at least one aviation news organization has been the victim of a number of significant threats over its coverage of this matter (yes... ANN), and there are some bizarre details emerging in that story.

MORE (much) to come... 

FMI: www.RunwayFinder.com, www.boycottflightprep.com, www.flightprep.com

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