The apple patent trolls at it again

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Mopetar

Diamond Member
Jan 31, 2011
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Isn't this a fairly common practice is most patent suits? Next week HTC is going to do the same.
 
AstroManLuca

AstroManLuca

Lifer
Jun 24, 2004
15,628
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What a gigantic waste of money. Some judge should gather all of them together and be like "you're all infringing on each others' patents, they all cancel out, go home and quit wasting our time."

No judge would ever allow one of these companies from completely stopping the sale of their competitor's products.
 
Phynaz

Phynaz

Lifer
Mar 13, 2006
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This is how business works, every single day. It's all negotiating tactics.
 
M

Mopetar

Diamond Member
Jan 31, 2011
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The lawyers from both sides are negotiating how much longer they should drag this out. The tactic is that all of them try to get new yachts.
 
B

badb0y

Diamond Member
Feb 22, 2010
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I hate the way Apple is acting but from a business standpoint they are doing what's right for the company.

Realistically they cannot compete with Android as it comes in so many different price points and variations from multiple vendors. For them to compete they would have to license out their iOS and we know that's never going to happen. The other way to compete is to target the support for Android and start going after them. HTC already pays Microsoft a fee and if Apple can make it unprofitable for them to use Android, HTC will drop Android and jump on WP7 or something else. Pretty stingy of Apple to operate but they are doing what is best for them as are the other companies.
 
pcgeek11

pcgeek11

Lifer
Jun 12, 2005
22,283
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The reason is quite simple. If you had a patent on something and You do not defend it then you loose the right to do so later.... That is why all these seemingly pointless lawsuits get filed.
 
D

Doboji

Diamond Member
May 18, 2001
7,912
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Well if they can kill Android they only have to worry about Windows and RIM...
 
akugami

akugami

Diamond Member
Feb 14, 2005
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Oyeve said:
But what are they negotiating and what the hell is the tactic?
Click to expand...

Obviously Apple feels that HTC (and Samsung) are infringing on their patents/trademarks/copyrights/whatever. So from that perspective, each negotiation is slightly different. The common theme would be one company feels the other is infringing. You also need to vigorously defend your patents, trademarks and copyrights or in some cases they fall into the public domain and you lose them.

In essence you waste your competitors time and money. Your competitor now has to spend resources in both time and money to fight your suit. This diverts manpower and money from investing and researching new products. This can seriously drain smaller companies who don't have a huge cash surplus or operating budget. There is also the fear that the courts or the ITC will grant the injunction to block the import and sale of devices.
 
Sho'Nuff

Sho'Nuff

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Jul 12, 2007
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pcgeek11 said:
The reason is quite simple. If you had a patent on something and You do not defend it then you loose the right to do so later.... That is why all these seemingly pointless lawsuits get filed.
Click to expand...

Er . . . no. The U.S. patent act imposes a 6 year limit on damages in patent cases, meaning that the patentee can seek damages arising less than 6 years before the filing of the complaint. There is no absolute requirement for a patentee to bring a case within a certain period of time. If the economics dictated, they could sue an alleged infringer for infrignement by filing a complaint 5 years and 364 days after the expiration of the patent. Damages would be limited to the one day of infringement that occurred before the patent expired.

The equitable defense of laches can be raised in a patent case, but it does not come up too frequently and it is not a guaranteed win (or an absolute defense).
 
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Sho'Nuff

Sho'Nuff

Diamond Member
Jul 12, 2007
6,211
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akugami said:
You also need to vigorously defend your patents, trademarks and copyrights or in some cases they fall into the public domain and you lose them.
Click to expand...

One does not need to vigorously defend his/her patent rights to prevent them from falling into the public domain. At least not in the U.S.
 
akugami

akugami

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Feb 14, 2005
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soxfan said:
One does not need to vigorously defend his/her patent rights to prevent them from falling into the public domain. At least not in the U.S.
Click to expand...

The level of defense is not something I'm familiar with but one does need to defend his or her trademarks in the USA. If one does not defend or only puts minimal effort into defending one's trademarks they can become genericized trademarks then you will lose them.

I will admit that I know very little about patent litigation. I did put in vigorously because it seems in the best interest of corporations or individuals to keep their tradesmarks from becoming genericized. While light usage may not genericize your trademark, heavy usage such as xerox in place of photocopy or google in place of web search will genericize your trademark.

Either way, vigorous or not, one does need to defend one's trademarks. No defense means you will lose them more often than not.
 
tonygeor

tonygeor

Senior member
Dec 27, 2009
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www.blamza.com
apple is such a mega patent troll >.<



Warning for trolling
Possibly this was a joke, but your moderator lacks a sense of humor. If you have an opinion, post enough details that it has substance.

Moderator PM
 
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M

Mopetar

Diamond Member
Jan 31, 2011
8,474
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akugami said:
The level of defense is not something I'm familiar with but one does need to defend his or her trademarks in the USA. If one does not defend or only puts minimal effort into defending one's trademarks they can become genericized trademarks then you will lose them.

I will admit that I know very little about patent litigation. I did put in vigorously because it seems in the best interest of corporations or individuals to keep their tradesmarks from becoming genericized. While light usage may not genericize your trademark, heavy usage such as xerox in place of photocopy or google in place of web search will genericize your trademark.

Either way, vigorous or not, one does need to defend one's trademarks. No defense means you will lose them more often than not.
Click to expand...

In general, there's less stringency in regards to defending your patents. Choosing not to defend them doesn't put them in the public domain. Some patent holders wait until there are a sufficient number of other parties infringing on their patents before pursuing litigation in order to gain more favorable settlements or licensing terms. There is the the laches defense against such behavior, but it is a difficult approach to take and is generally a last ditch effort.
 
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