Yahoo Settles NCR Patent Dispute

from the but-why? dept

NCR has somehow convinced Yahoo to settle the patent suit NCR filed against them last year. NCR, who has increasingly turned into a litigation happy patent holder, has over the past five years sued (among others) Netscape, Palm, Handspring and Yahoo for various patent infringements - which were all questionable claims. In none of these cases did NCR actually offer a product that was, in any way, similar to what the companies they sued were offering. At least in the Palm/Handspring case the judge dismissed the claim as having no merit. However, it looks like Yahoo didn't want to bother with a full trial, and has agreed to settle and license the patents, rather than fight the battle. Once again, I'm wondering how this encourages innovation rather than stifles it?
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • identicon
    thecaptain, 30 Jul 2003 @ 10:07am

    you keep asking easy questions :)

    " Once again, I'm wondering how this encourages innovation rather than stifles it? "

    That's real easy...it doesn't.

    Unless you count lining lawyers' pockets as innovation. Do you realize that lawyers as a profession have the largest lobbying effort?

    link to this | view in chronology ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.