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It’s only a few lines of code, or a button… pay up

lodsys.com

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Re: It’s only a few lines of code, or a button… pay up

#11

Post by dominikb »

Tyrannosaurs wrote: post #9
dominikb wrote: post #2

It's clear that their goal is to force Apple to acquire their patent portfolio. Clever trolls.

You say that but it's not just Apple that's being talked about - they've pointed out that Google and Microsoft have also licensed the technology and other large companies such as HP have been contacted about the fact that they haven't. This isn't an Apple issue, this is an industry wide issue. Apple owning the patent would make the issue go away for Apple but it might actually make it worse for other app stores (if A…

How would it look if Microsoft and Google stood up to "help" and fight for Apple just because Apple's app ecosystem has unresolved patent issues? Hypocritical as it is, obviously they will stay quiet, they want Apple to be troubled for their benefit.

Re: It’s only a few lines of code, or a button… pay up

#12

Post by sudhirj »

foobarbazetc wrote: post #7
sudhirj wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very true. I find it disturbing that they haven't already issued a statement about this - I would have thought they'd scramble to get out a statement saying that they're aware of the situation and are considering options.

Only in magical HN land do companies "scramble" to address issues like this. The best thing to do is to pretend these companies don't exist and you've never heard of them, their patents, or what they're up to. Once your patent lawyers have had time to study what's going on, then you're ready to do something. It's not "disturbing" at all. It's just common sense.

I'm looking at more from a developer relations standpoint - I would think every developer who's got one of these letters is wondering where Apple is and why they haven't handled it already.

Re: It’s only a few lines of code, or a button… pay up

#13

Post by Tyrannosaurs »

sudhirj wrote: post #5
dominikb wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It will take a year to reconsider. Apple needs to act quickly and aggressively on this to show the public and media that they stand behind the developers. They can't let the App Store become a feared, shady, legal-gibberish ecosystem.

Very true. I find it disturbing that they haven't already issued a statement about this - I would have thought they'd scramble to get out a statement saying that they're aware of the situation and are considering options.

The value of a "we're aware of the situation" is basically nil as it's inconceivable that they're not aware of it (unless you hold them to be utterly incompetent or living in some sort of a bubble).

The law (and lawyers) move slowly so I suspect it's going to be some time before they have anything useful and if you can't say anything useful why say anything at all?

Re: It’s only a few lines of code, or a button… pay up

#14

Post by Tyrannosaurs »

dominikb wrote: post #11
Tyrannosaurs wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You say that but it's not just Apple that's being talked about - they've pointed out that Google and Microsoft have also licensed the technology and other large companies such as HP have been contacted about the fact that they haven't. This isn't an Apple issue, this is an industry wide issue. Apple owning the patent would make the issue go away for Apple but it might actually make it worse for other app stores (if A…

How would it look if Microsoft and Google stood up to "help" and fight for Apple just because Apple's app ecosystem has unresolved patent issues? Hypocritical as it is, obviously they will stay quiet, they want Apple to be troubled for their benefit.

Google and Microsoft should stand up because the same issue applies to them (unless you believe that every Android developer utilising any form of in-app purchase is licensed too).

If the guy is successful with Apple then it's inconceivable that they're not next so a little proactivity is probably the best way forward.

At the very least they should be putting together a strategy,

Re: It’s only a few lines of code, or a button… pay up

#15

Post by Tyrannosaurs »

ZeroGravitas wrote: post #10
Tyrannosaurs wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You say that but it's not just Apple that's being talked about - they've pointed out that Google and Microsoft have also licensed the technology and other large companies such as HP have been contacted about the fact that they haven't. This isn't an Apple issue, this is an industry wide issue. Apple owning the patent would make the issue go away for Apple but it might actually make it worse for other app stores (if A…

Lodsys say that Apple, Microsoft and Google are "licensed", but they don't make clear whether those companies actually paid for a licence, or if they were granted it freely by Lodsys as part of a PR campaign to make them look bad for abandoning their developers.

Lodsys don't care about making Apple look bad.

They're patent trolls, they care about making money. If anything they'd want to avoid upsetting Apple because the minute Apple's legal and financial muscle gets involved things are a lot lot harder if you're Lodsys.

Re: It’s only a few lines of code, or a button… pay up

#16

Post by maqr »

> Oil companies do not drill on land where they don’t have the rights. Movies aren’t released that don’t clear all the music rights. Clothing manufacturers license logos from Disney or the NFL to include them in their product.

It's pretty hard to drill on someone else's land, use someone else's music in a production, or use someone else's logo without realizing it. Software patents are nothing like this.

Software patents would be more akin to it being patented for an oil company to drill with a very hard diamond bit, or a guitarist to hold their guitar a certain way during a solo, or perhaps a clothing manufacturer to wash their jeans for a more rugged look.

Maybe other industries do have patents like these, but I certainly never hear about them.

Re: It’s only a few lines of code, or a button… pay up

#17

Post by extension »

"This ideation, as expressed in the patent, enabled a building block for others to build on and create more value."

And right in the next paragraph...

"Many industries study the IP landscape prior to releasing a product or service and either design around or acquire necessary patent rights if they need them to do their solution."

So we need to hire lawyers to research whether we are inadvertently building on the ideas of others?

The patent trolls are now justifying patents by explaining exactly why they are unjustified.

Re: It’s only a few lines of code, or a button… pay up

#19

Post by adestefan »

maqr wrote: post #16

> Oil companies do not drill on land where they don’t have the rights. Movies aren’t released that don’t clear all the music rights. Clothing manufacturers license logos from Disney or the NFL to include them in their product. It's pretty hard to drill on someone else's land, use someone else's music in a production, or use someone else's logo without realizing it. Software patents are nothing like this. Software pat…

Please don't think that this is only a software issue. There's patent abuse in every industry. The problem is with the implementation of the patent system, not the idea.

Re: It’s only a few lines of code, or a button… pay up

#20

Post by reader5000 »

I like these trolls trying to rationalize their trolling by attempting and failing to sound intellectual. The thing is 99.9% of software patents were obvious at granting and therefore invalid, this being one of them. I highly doubt the creator of this patent invested anywhere near the resources to actually "discover" the patented "invention" that these trolls are seeking to extract through abuse of the legal system. I hope somebody in Congress is paying attention to these hijinks, but I know Congress is too occupied with making bittorrenters felons.
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