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Fri, Dec 17, 2010

RunwayFinder Still Shuttered... But NOT Silent

Again, FlightPrep Tactics Are Called Into Question

RunwayFinder's Dave Parsons has popped up again, though the site is still shut down, to address a few issues that seem to have gotten lost in the backscatter of an increasingly convoluted story. We were particularly intrigued at Parson's recall of the initial contact from FlightPrep... which corroborates other reports of similar contacts... whereby FlightPrep attempted to cloak their dealings with a confidentiality clause and keep the proceedings from seeing the light of day. If the patent is as clear as they claim and the matter a simple one of a protected Patent/Intellectual Property requiring licensing, one wonders why FlightPrep was so intent in keeping the matter out of the public view (and will be among the questions we direct at their reps shortly) and acting in what appears to be an overtly predatory manner. Yes, the story continues to be somewhat bizarre and FlightPrep seems to be waging a poorly conceived and directed battle to cover their buns...

Herewith, the latest statement from RunwayFinder (in exile)...

It was not my intention to have a blog war over this issue. However, I am only one person who has a more than full-time job outside of RunwayFinder. I can’t keep up with 3 different press organizations, the hundreds of messages, and the FlightPrep spin machine of at least 7 people including a marketing person and 3 attorneys. Responding here is my best way to reach everybody.

First off, thanks again for all of the messages of support. I will try to respond to specific requests, but it will take me a while. Also unexpected was the generous offers of help with legal expenses and patent research from individuals and even some companies. I’be not yet decided how to handle that. My first priority is to get the lawsuit resolved, whereas I think most people would like to see a full-fledged fight against the FlightPrep patent. The patent fight would be very expensive and could take years, probably well beyond what donations would cover. I will leave that for one of the big guys that FlightPrep has already contacted, AOPA, Jeppesen, etc.

To respond to some of the stories in the press, my stance is and has always been that the lawsuit needs to be dropped and not return. I had a verbal agreement from FlightPrep that would have accomplished that, but FlightPrep has not dropped the lawsuit and their follow-up email added additional conditions to the license. I have worked on license agreements in the past between two parties that want to work together, and they can still end up taking months and thousands of dollars in legal fees. The license does not need to be complicated. I have already invited FlightPrep to drop the lawsuit and send me a proposed license.

There is also some mis-information about how FlightPrep initially contacted me. In August, I received a letter from FlightPrep. I can post the letter online when I get my scanner unpacked, but it in no way indicated that RunwayFinder was infringing on their patent. It also made no mention of any lawsuit. The only thing the letter asked for was to enter into a confidentiality agreement. I was advised that this was a tactic used by unfriendly companies to conduct a fishing expedition under a cloak of confidentiality and that I should not respond. Despite that, I wrote an email to Roger Stenbock, one of the owners of FlightPrep and a named plaintiff in the lawsuit. I responded to an email he wrote earlier in the summer fishing for information about RunwayFinder’s revenues. I received no response. I received another letter a few weeks later in September that was almost exactly the same, no mention of infringement or lawsuit and inviting me to enter into a confidentiality agreement. Between September 2010 and the time the lawsuit was filed, I heard nothing. No phone calls. No emails. No letters. My email address is right on the RunwayFinder website. My phone number is listed. I’m not hard to find.

There have also been some comments about the non-profit status of RunwayFinder. I have never claimed that RF is registered as a non-profit. At one point, I had intended to make RunwayFinder my full-time profession, so I registered it as a for-profit company. That does not mean it makes a profit. As anybody knows that owns an ad-supported website, there is very little money in advertising. I was at one time working on adding a premium subscription to RunwayFinder, but abandoned those plans to work on a different, non-aviation start-up instead.

Legal disclaimer: This post does not admit any infringement by RunwayFinder on FlightPrep’s patent.

FMI: www.runwayfinder.com, www.flightprep.com

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