I've already said several times that it's unlikely that these patents can be used to hurt Android. Most of the third party manufacturers are already licensing them so it's unlikely that they can be used offensively. It's more likely that the companies involved did not want to pay licensing costs for 4G technology. For companies like Apple and RIM who make tens of millions (likely hundreds of millions soon) of devices each year using these technologies, the cost certainly adds up over time.
No. The Nortel patents won't be used offensively. They will be used defensively. It's more of a "keep away" strategy so that existing patent claims may be brought on Android OEM's who will then have little in the way of a patent portfolio with which to defend themselves.
So MS sued HTC and won. MS is suing others, over the same patents they licensed to HTC. If Google had obtained the Nortel patents, they could have used it those patents to help defend any Android OEM's from further claims by MS or Apple. As it stands, there's not a whole lot the Android OEM's can do in defense of existing patent claims. HTC tried to defend itself by purchasing S3 (sounded like a great move at the time) but that strategy has since backfired since the announcement that the ITC ruling states that Apple's only infringing products are not iPhones.
The problem is when companies like Apple, Microsoft, and RIM, who are supposed to be competing against each other, are getting in bed together, that creates a strong impression of collusion, exactly the type of behavior anti-trust authorities are created to prevent.
They're splitting the actual patent portfolio. The actual Rockstart consortium originally lost and Apple approached Rockstar at the last minute to pool their resources to buy the patents. Which means that unless some major evidence shows up to counter that, it was a spur of the moment alliance between Apple, and the rest of the Rockstar group. There is also no proof that they are collaborating to deny these patents to any one company or platform.
A strong impression of collusion is not proof positive. I know you keep harping on the collusion theory. But I think you're wrong because from all appearances, MS & some of the other patent winners seem open to licensing their patents. Apple is a different story but that's only one member of the Rockstar consortium. So let's look at some of the winners in the group.
We have MS, who was able to force HTC into licensing their patents prior to winning the Nortel patents. From all appearances, they're just as likely to keep on licensing their patents to anyone who wants them. More likely, MS will set the patent license fees high enough to make Windows Phone 7 as an attractive alternative to Android in terms of base cost for the OS. But there is no proof of collusion. They have their own personal agenda.
Next up, Sony and Ericsson (SE). I'm lumping them together since they've collaborated on their phones in forever. SE used to use Symbian for their smartphones but have since switched over to Android. Even the Sony flagship gaming phone product, the Xperia Play is based on Android. So SE makes use of Google's Android can't be colluding against Android can it?
Then we have RIM. No indication that they're using these patents in a litigious fashion. They've been burned by patents before so it's understandable why they'd want a bigger patent portfolio. But I don't see any evidence they are colluding with anyone to crush Android. They've got their hands full trying to make Blackberry back into the "sexy" corporate product it once was.
Not sure who EMC is I'm sorry to say. No comment here.
Finally we have Apple. Ok. The case can be made that Apple is litigious even though they've been sued as much as they have sued (we're not counting countersuits). In my opinion, this is the only company in the Rockstar group that can be said to be using patents in a purely offensive fashion.
MS's agenda is to make Android from a "free" OS to one that costs as much to license as their WP7. Yes, MS has an agenda but aside from trying to further their own mobile OS, there's not much proof of collusion there. Apple is trying to stunt the growth of Android so their own mobile OS remains relevant. This can help MS because OEM's like HTC will likely turn to WP7 but there's no proof that Apple is in bed with MS to kill Android. Possibility yes, proof no. Sony Ericsson makes specializes in Android devices. Clearly they're colluding against Android. RIM's just trying to make their brand "sexy" again. I'm not saying there isn't some sort of "gentleman's" agreement said behind closed doors, I'm just saying it's unlikely in this case with a major Android OEM in the winning group and Apple and MS having different agendas.
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