Plus signs don’t come cheap these days, Everex Systems Inc of Fremont California has just paid out $2.5m for using three of them: anyone that has logged off from a data communications session using a modem may have seen +++ appearing on the screen just before the carrier was dropped – this short string of characters, topped and tailed by a pause, is the standard way off getting the modem to drop its connection: unfortunately, from Everex’ point of view, Hayes Microcomputer Products Inc holds the copyright; in January, a US jury found that Everex and co-defendants Ventel Systems Inc and OmniTel Inc had willfully infringed the patent and awarded damages to Hayes totaling $3.5m, a sum the judge promptly doubled – the three appealed, but now Everex has abandoned the courts in favour of an amicable settlement, paying Hayes the agreed fee and signing a licence agreement so that it can use the characters.
