Apple now offering licensing deals?

[Bateluer]

http://www.nasdaq.com/article/apple...s-to-some-patent-foes--sources-20120306-01221

The consumer-electronics company has put forth proposals to Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. (MMI) and Samsung Electronics Co. (005930.SE, SSNHY) to settle some pending litigation in exchange for royalty payments to license its patents, among other terms, these people said.

Apple, of Cupertino, Calif., has asked for between $5 and $15 per handset for some of its patents in one negotiation, or roughly 1% to 2.5% of net sales per device, another person familiar with the matter said. Motorola, for its part, has been criticized for asking for 2.5% of net sales per device for its wireless patents from Apple.

Ah, good, now companies can pay Apple for the privilege of using rectangles, pictures, the colors black and silver, and what not. If memory serves, they also told Motorola in the courtroom that this same licensing pricing was unfair.

Good start though, thought the genetic junk patents should be tossed entirely, offering licensing deals is a better route than spending hundreds of millions of dollars to keep competitor's products out of customer's hands to restrict their choices.

 

[sciwizam]

Maybe they have come to the realization that thermonuclear war results in MAD..

 

[soccerballtux]

when you can't sue them anymore, offer them licensing "deals" for promises not to sue...

 

[Bateluer]

when you can't sue them anymore, offer them licensing "deals" for promises not to sue...

Sadly, thats often cheaper for both parties. Neither has to waste cash on lawyers and legal systems, and risk an uninformed judge trashing legitimate patents. And they can both toss the costs along to the consumer and not affect their bottle line at all.

 

[Mopetar]

Ah, good, now companies can pay Apple for the privilege of using rectangles, pictures, the colors black and silver, and what not.

I doubt that these deals cover their design patents and trade dress. It's more likely that they cover the various touch patents, etc. that Apple owns. I know that you are against design patents, but you keep bringing them up in inappropriate contexts or misrepresenting them.

If memory serves, they also told Motorola in the courtroom that this same licensing pricing was unfair.

There's a key difference in that the patents that Motorola wanted 2.5% for were part of a standard, and subject to FRAND licensing terms. The patents that Apple has used in their lawsuits, regardless of whether or not they are actually valid, are not part of any standards and are not subject to any such restrictions.

 

[bearxor]

It's my understanding that Apples been offering licensing deals for some time, but the handset makers find it unreasonable.

But really, a cross-patent licensing agreement will be the final thing to come out of all this, it's just going to be a long bumpy road until we get there.

 

[MrX8503]

http://www.nasdaq.com/article/apple...s-to-some-patent-foes--sources-20120306-01221
Ah, good, now companies can pay Apple for the privilege of using rectangles, pictures, the colors black and silver, and what not.

That's not what Apple is suing Moto for.

If memory serves, they also told Motorola in the courtroom that this same licensing pricing was unfair.

Seems like your memory failed you. Moto wanted to charge a licensing fee on FRAND patents. Apple's patents aren't FRAND.

 

[Bateluer]

That's not what Apple is suing Moto for.

Actually, they are suing Moto, Samsung, and HTC for those design patents, among other things. The design patents are the ones that garner all the media attention and the ones that Apple makes the loudest noise about.

Seems like your memory failed you. Moto wanted to charge a licensing fee on FRAND patents. Apple's patents aren't FRAND.

What are the licensing terms for FRAND patents?

 

[theeedude]

Apple, of Cupertino, Calif., has asked for between $5 and $15 per handset for some of its patents in one negotiation, or roughly 1% to 2.5% of net sales per device, another person familiar with the matter said.

That's the problem right there. Companies are not going to give $5 to Apple and still have it sue over some other patents.

 

[theeedude]

That's not what Apple is suing Moto for.



Seems like your memory failed you. Moto wanted to charge a licensing fee on FRAND patents. Apple's patents aren't FRAND.

You do know that F in "FRAND" does not stand for "Free"

 

[MrX8503]

I guess I should have been more clear. Moto is trying to charge a fee that isn't fair and reasonable. What Apple is charging for....well doesn't have to be fair and reasonable.

What Moto is doing is discriminating against Apple. Microsoft is actually filing lawsuits against Moto for similar reasons.

 

[Mopetar]

You do know that F in "FRAND" does not stand for "Free"

But the R does stand for "reasonable". There's also an ND for "non-discriminatory" as well.

 

[soccerballtux]

Sadly, thats often cheaper for both parties. Neither has to waste cash on lawyers and legal systems, and risk an uninformed judge trashing legitimate patents. And they can both toss the costs along to the consumer and not affect their bottle line at all.

Kinda. They can only pass off so much as the market will bear. After that it starts hurting their sales. Microsoft was really smart by charging HTC $5/phone. They can milk that for eternity. If they had gone and done something stupid like charging $15/phone HTC would have paid a lot more to fight them over it.