Nielsen Sues Comscore With Patent It Once Was Sued For Infringing
from the destructive-force-of-patents dept
Why bother competing if you can just get a patent instead? Nielsen, who was once sued for violating a patent ("5675510") for the invention of a "computer use meter and analyzer," has now sued competitor Comscore over the same patent, which it eventually came into possession of after settling the lawsuit by buying the patent from Jupiter Media Metrix. Once again, however, this seems to demonstrate the pointlessness of the patent system. Metering and analyzing internet traffic is something that came about because everyone needed it and lots of people tried to tackle the problem. No one went into that space because there was the availability of a patent. People got into the space because there was a need and a market. And, now, Nielsen seems to want to beat the competition not through competing with better products, but by suing over a questionable patent.
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: analytics, measurement, patents
Companies: comscore, nielsen
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Perhaps so. But I'm not so sure that's why these claimed inventions came about.
In any event, at least some claims shouldn't be too hard to defend against in court. Bbbbbbbilski.
But you're right, patents covering abstract ideas and most software nonsense, if not all, do not promote the useful arts what so ever and it is a wonder how they were permitted in the first place.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
The patent was not even proven valid
NetValue also got sued by MMXI on this patent. No court ever told that the patent was valid.
The story is that, just before buying the patent to the dying MMXI, Nielsen told the court that they admitted they were infriging the patent. This way, the patent became valid.
Smart, isn't it? (I'm sarcastic here).
But it does not mean it is really valid anymore... We'll see.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
You mean, this way the patent became enforced. Not valid. Validity is a different question than infringement is.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
bizarre arguments
Again, you ignore the obvious. Without patents no one would bother to innovate. Otherwise, they would invest all their capital in developing new technologies everyone else would just copy without permission and large would be competitors would elbow them out of the market they created and force them into ruin. Time after time you construct bizarre arguments to fit your desired conclusions.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Only Masnick decides who gets paid for IP
But if its an inventor whose patent is at play why his patent means nothing and is an impediment to the progress of the world so let the SOB drop dead or starve to death, for only those with the money to exploit ideas like inventions deserve to be paid.
Those who pervert justice will inevitably be judged.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]