Can't Buy 'Em? Sue 'Em For Patent Infringement!

from the welcome-to-modern-business dept

Wed, Sep 16th 2009 6:09am — Mike Masnick

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...

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Filed Under: acquisitions, patents, spite
Companies: broadcom, emulex

17 Comments

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angry dude, 16 Sep 2009 @ 6:51am

Somebody sue Mikey already
Need a patent to sue this shitty blog out of existence
Anybody ?
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ikonoclasm (profile), 16 Sep 2009 @ 6:52am

Just Another Tool
Using a patent lawsuit to soften up a company to make it easier to buyout? It's been done before.
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Dark Helmet (profile), 16 Sep 2009 @ 6:55am

Re: Somebody sue Mikey already
"Need a patent to sue this shitty blog out of existence
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....
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Free Capitalist (profile), 16 Sep 2009 @ 6:59am

Re: Re: Somebody sue Mikey already
"that juicy hot dog under neath the big box tipped on one side, held up by the stick with the string attached to it."

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.
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angry dude, 16 Sep 2009 @ 7:08am

Re: Re: Somebody sue Mikey already
Didn't your mom tell you not to play XBox games everyday, you, stupid punk ?
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Mechwarrior, 16 Sep 2009 @ 7:15am

Re: Re: Re: Somebody sue Mikey already
Didnt your mom say that you were a mistake, you damn bastard?
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Dark Helmet (profile), 16 Sep 2009 @ 7:17am

Re: Re: Re: Somebody sue Mikey already
"Didn't your mom tell you not to play XBox games everyday, you, stupid punk ?"

....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....
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Call me Al, 16 Sep 2009 @ 7:20am

Re: Re: Re: Somebody sue Mikey already
I'm sure she has better things to do with her time... probably the Wii Fit.
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captn, trips, 16 Sep 2009 @ 7:24am

Re: Somebody sue Mikey already
He's infringing on hundreds of patents every time he turns on his computer?? Lots of patents exist that could be thrown at Mike.

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.
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Dark Helmet (profile), 16 Sep 2009 @ 7:31am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Somebody sue Mikey already
Wow, that was a pretty good one. But are we seriously going to let this thread deteriorate into a series of Yo Mama jokes?

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?
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Nikki Thomas, 16 Sep 2009 @ 7:32am

Desperation
Sounds like Broadcom is really desperate. -Nikki-
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WammerJammer (profile), 16 Sep 2009 @ 8:21am

Get them any way you can
Still thinking that a patent will or copyright will save you. Ask the Republican Party in the US. They don't observe copyrights.
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??
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Sep 2009 @ 8:33am

Adolescence
@Darkhelmet, Mechwarrior, Call me Al .. This is somewhat serious, you have destroyed any credibility that other contributers might have made with your slash dot foolishness. Seriously.. /. had to implement a system to filter this noise out in order to stay viable. TechDirt has no such system and your making us all look like 14 year old boys with a cause that we couldn't possibly understand.

@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.
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Call me Al, 16 Sep 2009 @ 8:49am

Re: Adolescence
A little touch of silliness is nothing to object about and certainly doesn't "destroy credibility" of the more sensible and well thought out comments. Though I agree we should be restrained and try to stick to the topic by and large.

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?
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Chronno S. Trigger (profile), 16 Sep 2009 @ 8:53am

Re: Somebody sue Mikey already
Mike offers you a way to shut him up, and with today's inflation it's not that much. Check it out, it's under their "Techdirt’s CwF+RtB" section.
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Dark Helmet (profile), 16 Sep 2009 @ 10:09am

Re: Adolescence
Did you happen to notice my attempt to return to the discussion above? Because overall I agree with you, I just really enjoy conversing with Angry Dude.

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.
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Bizaro AC, 16 Sep 2009 @ 5:52pm

Re: Adolescence
AC, nice try - but fail
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