No doubt, these are lucrative patents who work behind the popularity of any smartphone or tablet smiling in the world?s markets. Due to the increasing demand of these hi-tech gadgets, every tech company wants to have a number of valuable patents in its pocket to incorporate those in their future devices for earning huge amounts of pretty bucks. But, these patents are now turning into bone of contention among hi-tech giants including Google, Microsoft, Sony, Apple, Oracle, Nokia, RIM and Samsung etc.
If we look into today?s mobile tech arena, we would found a number of hi-tech giants riveted in billion-dollar legal disputes with their rivals over issues related to patents and intellectual proper rights. Let?s have a brief overview on the ongoing biggest patent war in the US history that has riveted top tech giants to billion dollar legal disputes.
Patent claims and counter claims in so many numbers have been seen first time in the US tech zones. The gurus of mobile industry are surprised on such an amazing number of legal disputes among tech monsters.
The latest one in this concern is the big claim made by the company running most popular search engine on the web- Google(GOOG) that added full on the fire by accusing ?Apple?(AAPL), Microsoft and?Oracle?(ORCL) for using patents as weapons in an organized campaign to ?strangle? Google?s popular Android software.
Google is certainly not the single example suffering from patent?s hysteria; there are also so many patients who are wondering in the courtyards with their irrecoverable patent?s physic conditions like Nokia and Apple.
Joshua Walker of Lex Machina, an online tracking service, that has an efficient eye on increasing rate of legal disputes among companies involved in the business of wireless phones and mobile computing operating, expressed his views;
This is the biggest patent battle in U.S. history, there?s no precedent for this.
Companies have high stakes against their competitors. For example, Oracle has already stated that its claims against Google could be worth $2 billion or more.
Similarly, Samsung has already delayed the sales of its one tablet in Australian markets due to a patent lawsuit filed by Apple against the company accusing that its particular tablet is a clone of Apple?s most popular tablet-iPad.
These legal disputes on patents and intellectual property rights among various tech rivals are in fact the part of the great war going on to beat the competitors by any means. The companies are involved in these disputes either to secure their rights defensively or to eat up the rights of other firms offensively, as per opinion of the most tech analysts.
Alexander Poltorak, an advisor to independent inventors as CEO of General Patent Corp.says;
A patent is nothing but a license to sue or in business, patents are ?weapons of war.?
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Now have a look on numbers and figures? for patents biggest war; 270 U.S. lawsuits have been filed over patents relating to mobile technology, out of 1,900 suits involving patents of all kinds, so far this year according to Lex Machina?s Walker.
Stanford law professor Mark Lemley, an expert on intellectual property disputes expresses his kind opinion;
This is the largest conflagration of patent litigation between competitors that we?ve seen in a long time.
There are various obvious and hidden factors involved behind this cruel war of litigation; the most obvious one is the phenomenal success of Apple?s iPhone and iPad that has made other companies almost mad to come into the tech markets with alike gadgets.
Google kindly allows the manufacturer of smartphones to use its Android OS at a very reasonable cost since Google?s strategy to earn bucks chiefly depends on mobile Internet searches. Google such flexible approach towards its Android OS has made it much easier for new competitors to enter in the mobile phone business.
Poltorak Says;
You have a growing marketplace with many participants vying for a share.
A few companies are stepping into patent war with clear cut objectives and their lawsuits against their rivals are based on solid grounds, Apple is one of the prominent companies in this regard. While others including Google criticize the patent process as an easily planned game in which patent-holders are allowed to claim ownership of common ideas or techniques.
Will Stofega, a mobile industry analyst with the IDC research firm argues;
There?s an argument that the patent system is out of whack.
The patent claims are generally highly technical and absolutely specific if we consider those for study purposes. In one cautious ruling last month, the U.S. International Trade Commission declared that Taiwan?s HTC, the manufacturer of several Android phones, violated on an Apple patent for multimedia technology allowing smartphone users to make a call by touching a phone number that appears in their email.
Similarly, Apple has also claimed both Samsung and HTC have copied their technology by violating an Apple patent that makes the display on a touch screen device appear to ?bounce? when a user scrolls to the end of a list.
Specifically, Apple is much annoyed on Korea?s Samsung for copying their technology, UI and product designs;
That?s allowed Samsung ?to benefit unfairly from Apple?s reputation and success,? Apple said in a lawsuit. Samsung has disputed the allegations and filed its own countersuits.
All lawsuits for patents protection seem to follow the same pattern of securing business and technology by the tech firms to earn maximum profits.
Another interesting example is the crash of Nokia?s dominancy over smartphone market before the arrival of its true rival-Apple?s iPhone that really damaged Nokia?s business badly. So Nokia filed a number of patent and infringement lawsuits against Apple in 2009 to compensate their loss to some extent.
But Apple continued its growth at the magical rate and now Apple has knocked out Nokia by becoming the world?s biggest smartphone vendor according to Canalys, an international market research firm.
On the other hand, Google is the lovely child for many smartphones & tablets manufacturers for its flexible open-source Android OS. Goole argues that the ?increasing popularity of its Android has become the thorn of eyes for many tech companies and it is the only reason behind so many lawsuits against the company by various tech firms.
The number of patents filed by Google is far fewer than its rivals and it is said that Google is a younger company than Apple and Microsoft in patent war. One major reason behind this is Google?s Open-source Android OS while other companies have their proprietary code operating systems.
Experts say a hefty patent portfolio can be a shield against accusations of infringement, because the accused company can threaten a countersuit based on its own holdings ? a tactic some compare to the nuclear-era doctrine of ?mutually assured destruction.?
To build a strong patent hoard around it, Google recently make a bid of $900 million for 6,000 patents belonging to a bankrupt telecommunications company Nortel. But a consortium including Apple, Microsoft and BlackBerry-maker RIM won the Nortel auction by offering huge amount of $4.5 billion.
The size of the winning bid stunned many in the industry. ?The only logical conclusion is that the buyers will have to use the portfolio to extract cash from third parties,? said Eric Goldman, director of the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University. ?That?s the only way the price tag makes sense.?
The Wall Street Journal notes that the Justice Department is analyzing the whole matter to examine whether the winning consortium is going to use Nortel patents for illegally killing of Android OS.
Most of the analysts have strong belief that Google would finally pay compensations to settle the entire matters, at least some Android challenges.
But that may not happen right away, said Jack Gold, who follows the mobile industry at J. Gold Associates. ?And there will likely be a significant amount of turmoil first.?
Via: MercuryNews
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