Can't Buy 'Em? Sue 'Em For Patent Infringement!
from the welcome-to-modern-business dept
JohnForDummies alerts us to Broadcom's latest patent infringement suit, this time against Emulex. Broadcom is quite aggressive on the patent front, so at first this didn't seem like a big deal. But, this time it's more interesting, because Broadcom just spent about a year trying to do a hostile takeover of Emulex, which failed. Basically, this seems like a sour grapes patent lawsuit. Emulex wouldn't agree to be taken over, so Broadcom decided to throw the patent book at them. Patent lawsuits as revenge? Just like Thomas Jefferson intended...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
Filed Under: acquisitions, patents, spite
Companies: broadcom, emulex
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Somebody sue Mikey already
Anybody ?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Somebody sue Mikey already
Anybody ?"
Sure, I put it next to that juicy hot dog under neath the big box tipped on one side, held up by the stick with the string attached to it.
Go ahead...take it.
Just a little bit closer....
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Somebody sue Mikey already
Woah there... I've got a patent on the "Better Roommate Trap". You can't just put "juicy" in front of "hot dog" and call it innovation.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Somebody sue Mikey already
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Somebody sue Mikey already
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Somebody sue Mikey already
....uh, no, but as a substitute teacher in the high school I attended, she did alert me to the proper use of spacing, capitalization, and comma usage. Don't they practice those basic grammar techniques in Russian? I thought the did.
GOD you're my favorite little gremlin....
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Somebody sue Mikey already
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Somebody sue Mikey already
What's odd about this story is that Broadcom seems EXTREMELY geared up to acquire Emulex, so much so that they offered to buy out the company's shareholders at a 40% premium, and then raising that number AGAIN when the initial takeover was rejected.
I can't help but remember the hoax involving Emulex floating a report that their Prez/CEO was stepping down in order to deflate stock pricing. With that kind of history, might we need a deeper look at this?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Somebody sue Mikey already
Not only that but you dont even have to have one that would win, just one that you could have heard through multiple iterations of appeals so as to sufficiently bankrupt him with legal fees... Which is how the surgically precise baseball bat that is the US patent circus works after all.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Somebody sue Mikey already
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Just Another Tool
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Desperation
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Get them any way you can
What good are patents or copyrights. They are simply pieces of paper SOLD by a government that does not police or protect your rights. It requires a private company to police your public rights. Sounds like bullshit and a paper scam. Money for nothing.
When was the last time the government protected your rights?
Are you done laughing yet??
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Adolescence
@Darkhelmet: You seem to have lots of sometimes witty, usually off topic comments locked and loaded. If your not contributing to the discussion your undermining it. Please think about the board and the overall detriment that it incurs when you start a flame war, or some Beavis and Buthed exchange..
I expect some sort of snippy reply (with lots of snips/quotes) but this is really not intended to offend, just inform you of how your working for the other side when you start, or contribute to a flame war.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Adolescence
This does seem to be one of those typical abuses of patents. Certainly they have appeared a lot in the limited time that I have been reading Techdirt. Is anyone in a position to say whether there are more or less of this kind of cases these days then in times gone by?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Adolescence
I would characterize most of my comments as on topic and angry. Others are silly and an attempt to be funny. I would hope that neither would act as a detriment.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Adolescence
[ link to this | view in chronology ]