

Is It Time for Apple's Patent War to End? - see_cloudtweaks
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/is-it-time-for-apples-patent-war-to-end-12282011.html?campaign_id=rss_topStories
Apple would be smarter, says Kevin Rivette of 3LP Advisors, to cut tech deals that give it inside looks at rivals' innovative directions
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raganwald
Should Apple stop its patent war? How about Intellectual Ventures? Should
Microsoft stop taxing Android makers?

Some arguments paint with too broad a brush. Where patents are concerned,
especially software patents, the arguments are far too _narrow_. Of course
Apple should end its patent war. Unlucky for Apple, if it ends its patent war
while Microsoft continues to extract tribute, Apple loses. And Microsoft
should end the war. Oops, it loses too.

In the end, everyone who unilaterally stops playing the game loses. So
everyone should end the war. And I don’t mean, “Return to an uneasy oligopoly
where new entrants are forced to pay tribute to the existing patent-hoarding
overlords.” I mean, abolish the patents. beat the swords into ploughshares.

p.s. Exercise for the reader: If technology patents are eliminated and anyone
can do anything, does that mean that everyone will instantly engage in a
copycat race to the bottom, and the only winners will be companies that have a
service that can’t be copied? if so, why aren’t Google and Facebook spending
billions lobbying to end patents? It seems like they would be the big winners
if the price of phones, tablets, and computers fell to nearly zero.

~~~
seqastian
[http://www.macrumors.com/2011/12/28/apples-continued-
patent-...](http://www.macrumors.com/2011/12/28/apples-continued-patent-
offensive-poses-risks-for-shareholders/)

I think they point they are making is 'don't fight .. cash in'

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bradleyland
I wish they had made that the title. The current title borders on absurd.

Is it time for Apple's patent war to end?

Should we feed our children?

Is it time to stop murdering other people?

Baited questions are a lame rhetorical device.

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ggchappell
The author seems to think Apple's "war" is a recent thing. But it has been
going on since 1985, when Apple sued DRI over the look & feel of GEM (anyone
remember that?). Apple has been aggressively suing over look & feel for 26
years. This is firmly entrenched in their corporate culture, and anyone who
thinks they're going to stop any time soon -- regardless of whether they
_ought_ to -- is being a little naive, I think.

~~~
smackfu
It sure seems like they stopped being aggressive in courts for 10+ years.

~~~
ggchappell
Good point.

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lloeki
If you look past the catchy headline and put yourself in Apple's shoes, and
try to understand their point of view as a _design-focused firm_ , you can
come up with a different analysis of the situation:

> _the manufacturers on the losing end need only modify their design to get
> around the imposed restrictions._

And that's precisely the point for Apple.

> _The problem is that many of Apple’s patents focus on look, feel, and
> design, which means they can be worked around, as in the cases mentioned
> above. As a result, Apple could have a hard time securing lasting, sticky
> restrictions that would permanently prevent its competitors’ products from
> being sold in individual markets, let alone worldwide._

And Apple doesn't care because that's _not_ the point.

Despite the Jobs quote saying he wanted to sue Android out of existence, Apple
does not really want to drive Android (nor other competitors) itself into
oblivion, Apple wants people to stop copying their design. They want to force
the copycats to differentiate, if not innovate.

~~~
markokocic
> Despite the Jobs quote saying he wanted to sue Android out of existence,
> Apple does not really want to drive Android (nor other competitors) itself
> into oblivion, Apple wants people to stop copying their design. They want to
> force the copycats to differentiate, if not innovate.

So Apple is suing everyone because they want their competition to
differentiate, innovate, and, in general, become better?

No, Apple is suing them, with or without merit, in order to make it harder for
competition to compete with them, to make their lives harder, and to ensure
own leadership position as long as possible.

In addition, it's not fair to call someone copycat just because it has square
screen on square phone. What they had to do, to put round screen on triangular
device?

~~~
lloeki
Apple is not suing everyone, only a bunch of Android devices, though I never
said Apple's not suing them to make their life harder, only it's always good
to gain some perspective. If anything it could very well be both, that's not
incompatible. But arguing they're trying to ban every single competitor is
ridiculous. Apple does not aim for market share dominance, they aim for
margin, and they make boatloads of profits through margin already.

> _What they had to do, to put round screen on triangular device?_

We're not talking about the general shape, which is obviously constrained (and
would be like saying a Ferrari 456 and a Lada Niva look the same because both
have two doors and four wheels), we're talking about _design_ (which does not
restrict to looks). Still, Nokia Lumia 710 and 800 look nothing like an iPhone
(neither hardware nor software), even with bad eyesight. Same for Palm/HP
devices, or a Nexus One, or HTC Evo or Legend. Squint a little and you can't
make the difference between an iPhone 4 and a Galaxy S2 laying on a table. I'm
not even talking about the Tab 10.1.

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RexRollman
Apple is doing what they have a legal right to do. The real problem, in my
opinion, is that patents were issued for software in the first place.

