Patent war goes nuclear: Microsoft, Apple-owned “Rockstar” sues Google

[MindMover]

Source: ars technica

Canada-based telecom Nortel went bankrupt in 2009 and sold its biggest asset—a portfolio of more than 6,000 patents covering 4G wireless innovations and a range of technologies—at an auction in 2011.

Google bid for the patents, but it didn't get them. Instead, the patents went to a group of competitors—Microsoft, Apple, RIM, Ericsson, and Sony—operating under the name "Rockstar Bidco." The companies together bid the shocking sum of $4.5 billion.

Patent insiders knew that the Nortel portfolio was the patent equivalent of a nuclear stockpile: dangerous in the wrong hands, and a bit scary even if held by a "responsible" party.

This afternoon, that stockpile was finally used for what pretty much everyone suspected it would be used for—launching an all-out patent attack on Google and Android. The smartphone patent wars have been underway for a few years now, and the eight lawsuits filed in federal court today by Rockstar Consortium mean that the conflict just hit DEFCON 1.

Read more: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/10/patent-war-goes-nuclear-microsoft-apple-owned-rockstar-sues-google/#oo

[MyNameGoesHere]

1. Maybe Google can counter sue for

299 792 458.00 Seems they had a good joke on bidding and also declining to join the consortium in the first place. But hey Google is always picked on so give them the patents ok.

[CSStrowbridge]

2. Patent Wars...

Patent wars need to end. You shouldn't be able to patent an idea, only the unique implementation of that idea.

[GliderGuider]

3. There was a joke going around the high-tech community a bunch of years ago

That Microsoft had trademarked the numbers 0 and 1...

[groundloop]

5. Yes, the entire patent process is out of hand

And you're absolutely correct that an idea should be proven to work before a patent is issued. I've been involved in the patent process at my place of employment and it's very disheartening anymore. Groups of lawyers and technical people sit in a meeting scheming up ways to patent this or that just to keep other companies from implementing a technology. It's no longer about protecting inventors, but rather corporations gaining leverage in the marketplace. Instead of the patent process increasing innovation it's having the opposite effect.

[wilt the stilt]

6. there are some legitimate lawsuits

Last edited Fri Nov 1, 2013, 06:15 PM - Edit history (1)

I work with a company and they have invented some really great devices and they are very concerned that their ideas are being stolen. theft does happen.

[groundloop]

8. Oh, no doubt

We have some very innovative patents as well, and in fact I just helped uncover a possible case of infringement this week (I suspect it will end up with the other company licensing the technology from us).

My beef is that lawyers and bean-counters are often gaming the system simply to stifle innovation.

[jmowreader]

7. That's what you're supposed to be able to patent

...but in this day and age, the shortage of patent examiners who know what the hell they're looking at has led to "idea patents."

[wilt the stilt]

4. most lawsuits are between companies

and whenever you hear tort reform it's a bad joke on the average person tort reform means average people can't sue.This is going to be a huge lawsuit.

[onehandle]

9. Time to pay, Google. Time to pay.

This is just the beginning.

The Borg is vulnerable.

[sir pball]

10. This is going to get extraordinarily ugly and we're all going to get shafted.

Google bought Motorola for their massive patent chest, and the other defendants, Samsung in particular, are no slouches either. It's going to be the mother of all patent wars that's going to end with a bunch of expensive cross-licensing (make no mistake, this isn't about "patent infringement", it's about the 19% of other smartphone OS vendors wanting a piece of the 81% Android pie) with the costs passed on to consumers.

And of course if it really goes full-on MAD, Samsung and LG can go straight-up Doctor Strangelove doomsday-device...nice A7 chips and Retina displays ya got there Apple, be a real shame if something happened to them.

Duck and cover!

(disclaimers - typed on a MacBook Pro that's charging an Android phone)

[MindMover]

11. Exactly .... NT