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Microsoft won't stop forcing companies to pay for its bogus Android patents

zdnet.com

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Re: Microsoft won't stop forcing companies to pay for its bogus Android patents

#2
I suspect it has a lot to do with the legal deadlock "you'll sue me? I'll sue you!" type situation companies like Microsoft, Apple, Google and Oracle have been so reliant upon.

None of these companies have, to my knowledge, ever used these patents against individuals in the open source community but they sure do love to wield them with each other...

Re: Microsoft won't stop forcing companies to pay for its bogus Android patents

#3
I can't seem to understand if MSFT patents actually apply to the Android OS / AOSP or just to various firmware, middleware and software that OEM's use on their devices regardless of the OS in question.

The AOSP license and 3rd party notifications do not mention Microsoft and the patents listed in Chinese doc are like vague in the usual patent-esque way.

But in any case i don't really see the issue here, if MSFT gets royalties from these patents it would be irresponsible (to their shareholders, and employees) for them to ditch them, none of these patents claims actually seem to be aimed at Google or the AOSP project so it looks like the core Android OS is not really affected by this.

Google owns countless patents and Apple just might be the biggest patent troll in history and none of them seem to receive even remotely the same amount of scrutiny.

Re: Microsoft won't stop forcing companies to pay for its bogus Android patents

#6

I can't seem to understand if MSFT patents actually apply to the Android OS / AOSP or just to various firmware, middleware and software that OEM's use on their devices regardless of the OS in question. The AOSP license and 3rd party notifications do not mention Microsoft and the patents listed in Chinese doc are like vague in the usual patent-esque way. But in any case i don't really see the issue here, if MSFT gets…

Out of curiosity, what do you mean when you say that Apple is the biggest patent troll in history? It's the first time I hear such a claim.

Re: Microsoft won't stop forcing companies to pay for its bogus Android patents

#7

I can't seem to understand if MSFT patents actually apply to the Android OS / AOSP or just to various firmware, middleware and software that OEM's use on their devices regardless of the OS in question. The AOSP license and 3rd party notifications do not mention Microsoft and the patents listed in Chinese doc are like vague in the usual patent-esque way. But in any case i don't really see the issue here, if MSFT gets…

Out of curiosity, what do you mean when you say that Apple is the biggest patent troll in history? It's the first time I hear such a claim.

Apple vs Samsung et al. Issuing patents on silly things like slide to unlock and mag lock even tho those functions existed before Apple has ever used them? Heck I'm surprised they haven't sue every kitchen appliance in Asia for violating their maglock patent....

Heck the first apple iPhone GUI related suit against Samsung was field before the first iPhone was even on the market.

Re: Microsoft won't stop forcing companies to pay for its bogus Android patents

#10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Out of curiosity, what do you mean when you say that Apple is the biggest patent troll in history? It's the first time I hear such a claim.

Apple vs Samsung et al. Issuing patents on silly things like slide to unlock and mag lock even tho those functions existed before Apple has ever used them? Heck I'm surprised they haven't sue every kitchen appliance in Asia for violating their maglock patent.... Heck the first apple iPhone GUI related suit against Samsung was field before the first iPhone was even on the market.

Can you provide an example of slide to unlock before the iPhone? Also, I (personally) feel that maglock for a power cable is very different from maglock for a refrigerator. (A ticket terminal and a vending machine are very different devices covered by different patents even if they both utilize the same basic mechanisms.)
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