HTC takes on the Evil Empire (again)

akugami

Diamond Member
Feb 14, 2005
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Bloomberg article link

Return of the Jedi: HTC receives some Force training from Master Google. Will now take on the Evil Empire.

Google apparently has sold some patents to HTC. HTC is now using those patents to sue Apple.
 

basslover1

Golden Member
Aug 4, 2004
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I'm not sure if the patent system was designed like this, or it just shows how broken it really is? But, how is it possible that a company can claim it holds patents that protect its IPs that were created a few years ago (assuming here), when the patents were just bought last week?

I'm so confused.
 

makken

Golden Member
Aug 28, 2004
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I'm not sure if the patent system was designed like this, or it just shows how broken it really is? But, how is it possible that a company can claim it holds patents that protect its IPs that were created a few years ago (assuming here), when the patents were just bought last week?

I'm so confused.

The lawyers are laughing all the way to the bank. That's about all you need to know regarding these lawsuits
 

Pliablemoose

Lifer
Oct 11, 1999
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Interesting that Google is using a proxy (HTC) to do this, rather than going directly after Apple and providing "umbrella" coverage for all manufacturers..
 

Mopetar

Diamond Member
Jan 31, 2011
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Interesting that Google is using a proxy (HTC) to do this, rather than going directly after Apple and providing "umbrella" coverage for all manufacturers..

Interesting what would happen if Apple were found to violate at least one of these patents, but only these patents. That would be good for HTC, but would leave the other Android manufacturers in a precarious position. Would HTC sell them back to Google or another company or just hold onto them?
 

WelshBloke

Lifer
Jan 12, 2005
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If HTC, Samsung and Googarola work together thats quite a formidable patent pool. If they can get Apple to realise that the only way they (Apple) can continue to play in the sandpit is if they play nice then its going to be better for everyone (including Apple).
 

Dulanic

Diamond Member
Oct 27, 2000
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If HTC, Samsung and Googarola work together thats quite a formidable patent pool. If they can get Apple to realise that the only way they (Apple) can continue to play in the sandpit is if they play nice then its going to be better for everyone (including Apple).

Exactly which is why I go ha...ha. Apple is so anti agreement, they just want to try to force these phones from even being sold. Apple is the one who forced their hand, now they get to deal with the collective wrath of many companies working together to destroy them.
 

Mopetar

Diamond Member
Jan 31, 2011
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If HTC, Samsung and Googarola work together thats quite a formidable patent pool. If they can get Apple to realise that the only way they (Apple) can continue to play in the sandpit is if they play nice then its going to be better for everyone (including Apple).

At that point, what's to stop Apple joining with Microsoft, Nokia, and RIM to form their own massive patent pool against Android? Everyone is continuing to up the ante and it's getting quite dangerous.

I'm not even sure we'll ever see the end of this. It will eventually become such a mess that by the time it's become untangled everyone will have moved on to the next big thing because smart phones and tablets are old hat.
 

WelshBloke

Lifer
Jan 12, 2005
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At that point, what's to stop Apple joining with Microsoft, Nokia, and RIM to form their own massive patent pool against Android? Everyone is continuing to up the ante and it's getting quite dangerous.

...


Well then no one gets to make any phones until they learn to play nicely together.

Just guessing but I'd think that Nokia or Moto on their own would have enough patents to make it very very difficult for anyone else to make a phone if they wanted to be dicks about it.
 

theeedude

Lifer
Feb 5, 2006
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pretty much this.

I see it as a necessary evil though to ensure innovation.

It does not encourage innovation. It encourages patenting. Actual innovation happens when companies want to develop something great. This patent system discourages new players from developing great devices, because they could spend years doing actual innovation only to be sued out of existence by one of the big boys that doesn't like competition and has broad patents to kill it.
 

Mopetar

Diamond Member
Jan 31, 2011
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Well then no one gets to make any phones until they learn to play nicely together.

Just guessing but I'd think that Nokia or Moto on their own would have enough patents to make it very very difficult for anyone else to make a phone if they wanted to be dicks about it.

As long as there aren't any import bans, everyone would still be making devices. Assuming that the cases get large enough and everyone has declared full-out warfare on everyone else, it would be stuck in court for a long time.

For the most part, they don't. Patents essential to a standard are required to be licensed under FRAND terms in most jurisdictions. This generally shuts down most efforts to use these offensively. This is why we probably haven't seen Apple sue with any of the Nortel patents that they've acquired.

It does not encourage innovation. It encourages patenting. Actual innovation happens when companies want to develop something great. This patent system discourages new players from developing great devices, because they could spend years doing actual innovation only to be sued out of existence by one of the big boys that doesn't like competition and has broad patents to kill it.

The opposite problem is also true, however. If a new company develops something and can't patent it, the large companies with established production capabilities, supplier reputation, brand awareness, etc. can easily steal the design from the little guys and make the device and crowd the smaller, new comers out of the market. This discourages new players from developing great devices, because they could spend years doing actual innovation only to be clobbered out of existence by one of the big boys that wants a slice of the action and has the manufacturing and marketing muscle to kill them.

There are issues with the current system suffering poor implementation, but there's a lot of public misconception about the system as well. Most people just look at a patent for something and assume that it's obvious without really digging into the claims or looking at the implementation details. More often than not, something that appeared simple on the surface, has a lot of complicated implementation details that make it non-obvious, or alternatively, fairly easy for some third party to work around.
 

akugami

Diamond Member
Feb 14, 2005
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TNW article

The gist is that there's going to be a huge battle between HTC and Apple. If HTC loses, it could be a very bad day for Android. So Google is giving a helping hand.
 

Glitchny

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Sep 4, 2002
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As long as there aren't any import bans, everyone would still be making devices. Assuming that the cases get large enough and everyone has declared full-out warfare on everyone else, it would be stuck in court for a long time.

For the most part, they don't. Patents essential to a standard are required to be licensed under FRAND terms in most jurisdictions. This generally shuts down most efforts to use these offensively. This is why we probably haven't seen Apple sue with any of the Nortel patents that they've acquired.

IIRC apple and crew were forced to agree to license the nortel patents and not litigate when that deal went through