SNAFU OR FUBAR 9/24/04

We are still wrangling with the Great Big Company (hereinafter "GBC") in our sales effort. We've worked on this for over six months now (without compensation), and have been through so many divisions and departments and affiliates, I cannot remember all of them. Unfortunately, a couple of weeks ago, we were asked to compare and contrast our solution to one provided by a company with which the GBC has an existing relationship. Up until now, we have had little or no direct interface with the GBC, as this is maintained by the Crazy Consultant with whom my husband has a relationship, sort of (exactly) like being a consultant to a consultant. Unfortunately, our Crazy Consultant can't communicate effectively, either in writing or verbally, and I believe it's becoming evident that he is likely to give information based more on what suits his purposes at any given moment than on what is true and actual (I think I've mentioned before that he is brain injured and once spent three months in a coma). Recently, a friend on a message board mentioned "SNAFU" and "FUBAR", the military acronyms for "Situation normal, all f****d up," and "F****d up beyond all repair." I think we have moved from a six-year adrenaline soaked SNAFU into an advanced stage of FUBAR. This company that provides the GBC with a solution similar to ours (the one with which we were asked to compare ourselves), has sent us legal letters, demanding that we cease and desist our efforts with the GBC and suggesting that we are tortiously interfering with their business. WHAT? Now, although some might consider this company, which I'll call eJerks for purposes of this blog, a competitor, I don't really, at least as far as the GBC is concerned (there's plenty of room for all of us). They have chosen to pursue the business aspects of my husband's invention, craftily designing around his patents and developing some interesting associated technology, making some hay while the sun shines, while we've chosen to focus on growing the portfolio of intellectual property for purposes of licensing it to others. I'm assuming that they have full knowledge that everything they do will infringe on claims we have in the pipeline that have not yet issued (because I've told them this), and am hopeful that once our next new claims issue (or the next, or the next), they will graciously leave the dark side, come into the light and we'll gladly make an honest licensee out of them. It all takes time. The GBC has so many solution providers, and I honestly believe that although we might, on occasion, take from one another an order here or an order there, eJerks provides something for the GBC that is complementary to what we bring to the party. We've been working closely with two other (larger than eJerks) solution-providers who are retained by the GBC and both of these organizations have been friendly and welcoming and helpful in our sales efforts, excited about executing their parts in our solution. So why in the world would eJerks have such a tizzy and call in the lawyers? All I can think is that we must have struck a nerve (or gotten close to a big order), but it has made this a nightmarish week. The Crazy Consultant has been more problematic than ever, failing to understand the legal implications of the fact that each of us got this letter, not just his little consulting firm, but also my husband and I (MOI???), and he appears to have bailed on us in favor of covering his ass. Now, I'm pretty sure he's been deceiving us relative to the input he's getting from the GBC, but it's not important, because we are now interfacing directly with the GBC, relative to this matter. We're trying to get the GBC to gently entice eJerks to call off their dogs (since they are The Client and eJerks will do whatever they ask), while also preparing to answer the legal letter(s) for myself and my husband, within the demanded time period. More power to you, if you're still reading this. I wish I could just move on and read another blog, but I'm stuck in this one, for better or for worse (waiting for the "for better" part). I'm held hostage in a job I'm beginning to loathe and cannot quit, certain that somehow I'll know when I see the first light on the path out of this, constantly searching for it on the horizon. I had relaxed into the fact that this was one six year long professional SNAFU, but it seems this week to have advanced into being FUBAR, and I remain sure I've found a demanding (24/7) career with no pay, no time off and no benefits, that generates more legal expenses than it does total revenue. I think I have the most convoluted, complex (and hopeless?) exit strategy ever devised. FUBAR.