When patents attack Android
googleblog.blogspot.com
When patents attack Android
1–10 of 291 posts
Re: When patents attack Android
#2Nice to read a Chief Legal Officer using plain language.
Re: When patents attack Android
#3Drummond is very smart. And he's always been friendly to me. But that's not to be confused with Google being the good guy. They tried to buy these patents and failed.
And they claim that they aren't litigious with patents, and they haven't been yet. But to paint them as the victim is disingenuous -- while they don't use patents offensively, they have many other tools at their disposal that they do use offensively, market share in advertising and search amongst them.
Google is a massive company with massive resources. They happen to be exceptionally smart and know how to use tools outside of litigation to achieve their means -- but that doesn't make them any less a monopoly or anti-competitive company; far from it.
It's impossible to view Drummond's post in a box -- it's not just about how patents hinder innovation -- /everybody knows that/ already. But Google does everything for a reason, they are very strategic. Since Google knows it has better tools to be competitive outside of patents, it is in their interest to eliminate patents as a source of pressure from competitors.
And if you invent something amazing, and you patent it, and then Google decides to copy you -- you may not feel that patents hinder innovation as much as you do right now. But since they are a behemoth with lots of other tools at their disposal, they want to eliminate a favorite weapon of their competitors. Smart, but altruistic it may not be.
Re: When patents attack Android
#4So ... if Google had won the patents, was their plan to just release them into the wild? Or would they be defending them, just as these other companies are doing?
Re: When patents attack Android
#5Drummond is very smart. And he's always been friendly to me. But that's not to be confused with Google being the good guy. They tried to buy these patents and failed. And they claim that they aren't litigious with patents, and they haven't been yet. But to paint them as the victim is disingenuous -- while they don't use patents offensively, they have many other tools at their disposal that they do use offensively, ma…
They're being painted as a victim because they are. Patents are BS and continue to hinder innovation.
They may be anti-competitive in other areas (although I don't know specifics). Can you provide some sources?
Re: When patents attack Android
#6technology is an inherently fiercely competitive landscape--a missed technology cycle can materially adversely impact a businesses operations.
coming out of the 2008-2009 recession, companies are flush with cash, of which shareholders encourage companies to invest in various operations, assets, etc. using these cash stockpiles to buy nortel patents and prevent google from enhancing their dominance / protection against litigation in the android space is a form of competition. it is all a game.
Re: When patents attack Android
#7a tough topic/post to go front-and-center public with. a bit surprised to see it coming from Google. Guess it is the CLO griping.. but the multiple sides of this coin are hard to ignore. Coin being an operative word as much of this calls into question the nature of business and competition
Re: When patents attack Android
#8Good to see Google speak out against the patent trolls that Microsoft and Apple are, shame on them.
Edit for people downvoting: As I say in my comment below, this is one of the definition of a patent troll according to wikipedia[1]:
> Purchases a patent, often from a bankrupt firm, and then sues another company by claiming that one of its products infringes on the purchased patent;
This is what Apple and Microsft did by buying Novel and Nortel patents, making them de facto patent trolls.
1: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patent_troll#Etymology_and_defi...
Re: When patents attack Android
#9Drummond is very smart. And he's always been friendly to me. But that's not to be confused with Google being the good guy. They tried to buy these patents and failed. And they claim that they aren't litigious with patents, and they haven't been yet. But to paint them as the victim is disingenuous -- while they don't use patents offensively, they have many other tools at their disposal that they do use offensively, ma…
if Google had won the patents, they wouldn't attack Apple or Microsoft.. they would've use them just for the defence..
i really hope everything will be ok with android and all this patents troll.. otherwise it ruins AAPL and M$ image.
Re: When patents attack Android
#10Drummond is very smart. And he's always been friendly to me. But that's not to be confused with Google being the good guy. They tried to buy these patents and failed. And they claim that they aren't litigious with patents, and they haven't been yet. But to paint them as the victim is disingenuous -- while they don't use patents offensively, they have many other tools at their disposal that they do use offensively, ma…
They're being painted as a victim because they are. Patents are BS and continue to hinder innovation. They may be anti-competitive in other areas (although I don't know specifics). Can you provide some sources?
They sure touted their PageRank patent.