The National Association of REALTORS® thought it would be a good idea to make you all aware of a risk management issue that has come to our attention.
NAR has received many reports about and inquiries from members who have received demand letters from a patent owner that purports to own the patent for the process of sending a document via email from a printing or scanning device. The letters demand the companies to pay $900-$1,200 per employee for the ability to scan documents to email.
We know that members in at least six states have been targeted so far (IA, IL, IN, OH, VA, NY). It’s possible (and perhaps probable) that members in other states have also received these license fee demand letters as well because the patent owner seems to be targeting small- to medium-sized businesses that may find it more economically efficient to pay the license fee than to risk litigation.
To assist members who may receive a demand from this patent owner, NAR’s Legal Affairs department produced a brief, informational podcast of this issue which is available at: http://www.realtor.org/audio/legal-podcast-patent-infringement-letters. Please feel free to share this link with others if you find the information useful.
