Apple And Google Finally End Patent Nuclear War: Settle All (Direct) Disputes

from the about-freaking-time dept

Apple and Google have been fighting a long patent battle, often by proxy, over smartphones. It's long been known that Steve Jobs -- a guy who once said: "Picasso had a saying: 'Good artists copy, great artists steal.' We have always been shameless about stealing great ideas" -- was absolutely furious that Android smart phones looked so much like the iPhone. That resulted in a series of patent battles that have wasted hundreds of millions of dollars in legal fees for lots of different companies. That money could have gone towards greater innovation and competing in the marketplace, but instead it went to lawyers.

In a surprise late Friday announcement, the two companies now claim they've settled all patent lawsuits directly between the two and will work together on patent reform (hmm...). They also note that "the agreement does not include a cross license." That last point is important, because it actually means that Apple's other lawsuits against Android device makers, such as Samsung, will continue.

This isn't a complete end to the smartphone patent wars, but it's at least a first step -- and hopefully a recognition on Apple's part that just suing everyone for patent infringement isn't, perhaps, the smartest strategy.

Filed Under: nuclear war, patents, smartphones
Companies: apple, google, motorola, samsung

Microsoft And Motorola Go All In With Patent Nuclear War

from the war-games dept

For years we've pointed out that among big tech companies, patents represent more of a nuclear stockpiling strategy, where they build up a bunch, and if anyone else sues them they can sue back. In theory, this should prevent a lot of patent lawsuits, but patent nuclear wars do break out every so often. These days, it seems like the whole smartphone patent thicket is leading to quite a few nuclear blowups: We've seen patent suits and countersuits involving HTC and Apple as well as Nokia and Apple. Apparently we can now add Motorola and Microsoft to the list. We had already covered how Microsoft had sued Motorola for its use of Android. Things escalated when Microsoft sued Motorola again arguing that the royalties Motorola was charging for certain patents licensed, for use in the Xbox, were inflated.

In response, Motorola quickly spun around and countersued Microsoft, claiming that Microsoft infringed on 16 of its patents. The countersuit took all of one day to go out, suggesting Motorola certainly had it ready. In the end of course, the lawyers will make plenty of money and products we all buy will be more expensive. Just the way the patent system was supposed to work, right?

Filed Under: nuclear war, patents, smartphones
Companies: microsoft, motorola

And Here Comes The Patent Nuclear War: TomTom Sues Microsoft Back For Infringement

from the mutually-assured-destruction dept

For years, people in the software industry have noticed that patents have become the nuclear stockpiling of the tech industry. Lots of companies feel the need to stock up on as many patents as possible, not for any good reason -- but to have something to scare people off from suing, knowing that they'll get sued right back. This is especially true today, since almost no tech product can be seen as not violating a whole bevy of patents from others. But, of course, when you're dealing with a nuclear stockpiling for deterrence purposes, eventually, nuclear war breaks out. That seems to be happening with the patent lawsuit between Microsoft and TomTom. While there's been speculation that TomTom really can't settle, apparently it can launch the nuclear war. It's now countersued Microsoft, claiming that the company violates a bunch of its patents. And, once again, the only folks who win are the patent attorneys.

Filed Under: nuclear war, patents
Companies: microsoft, tomtom

Motorola: Since We're Not Innovating, We'll Litigate Over Patents

from the suing-RIM dept

We recently noted the challenges facing Motorola, as it's been unable to continue to innovate in a way that customers desire in the handset business. Unfortunately, it looks like Motorola is choosing the all-too-common strategy among those who fail in the marketplace: they start suing for patent infringement. Motorola has now decided that since it hasn't been able to beat RIM's Blackberry in the marketplace, it's simply going to sue the company for patent infringement instead. Of course, as in any good patent nuclear war, RIM has fired back with its own patent infringement countersuit, meaning that both companies will be tied up with lawyers and judges, throwing away money that could have gone towards actually innovating and actually competing in the marketplace.

Filed Under: blackberry, innovation, nuclear war, patents
Companies: motorola, rim

Fallout From Alcatel-Lucent's Patent Nuclear War With Microsoft Continues

from the be-careful-who-you-launch-against dept

Part of the conventional wisdom in having tech companies apply for lots of patents is that they're helpful as a "defensive" mechanism against other companies filing patent lawsuits against you. It's the nuclear stockpiling argument that suggests (without much proof) that the more patents everyone holds, the less likely actual patent litigation will result. That doesn't seem to be happening, though, as we see more and more patent "nuclear wars" happening. For example, Alcatel-Lucent went after Microsoft on a questionable patent concerning MP3 technology. While Alcatel-Lucent initially won that battle to the tune of $1.5 billion, everything's gone down hill since then. First, Microsoft hit back at Alcatel-Lucent, dredging up a bunch of patents it claimed the company was violating. Then, a judge overturned the $1.5 billion ruling. Now, Microsoft's patent attack on Alcatel-Lucent has succeeded, as a judge at the US International Trade Commission (yes, Microsoft is also using the popular loophole in patent law here) has determined that Alcatel-Lucent has infringed, suggesting that its products be barred from the US. While this seems like a silly ruling, it does show how if you're going to play the game of accusing companies of patent infringement, you might get burned yourself.

Filed Under: nuclear war, patents
Companies: alcatel-lucent, microsoft