What someone needs to do is get a business process patent on "Patent Trolling".
[deleted]
Patent troll Lodsys now after apps with 'More Apps' links
31–40 of 75 posts
Re: Patent troll Lodsys now after apps with 'More Apps' links
#32[deleted]
Re: Patent troll Lodsys now after apps with 'More Apps' links
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
My understanding is that Microsoft hates software patents (at least when BillG was CEO), has only registered them out of necessity, has historically only sued relatively few other companies, and only done so with either real patents (non-obvious, read beyond the patent title) or as a retaliation of being sued itself. I’m sure there are a few exceptions here as there are always.
They aren't suing every Android OEM out of necessity. Microsoft has converted to patent troll in lieu of innovating in the mobile space.
By the very definition of "patent troll", Microsoft is not a patent troll.
Re: Patent troll Lodsys now after apps with 'More Apps' links
#34Earlier quoted context omitted.
My understanding is that Microsoft hates software patents (at least when BillG was CEO), has only registered them out of necessity, has historically only sued relatively few other companies, and only done so with either real patents (non-obvious, read beyond the patent title) or as a retaliation of being sued itself. I’m sure there are a few exceptions here as there are always.
They aren't suing every Android OEM out of necessity. Microsoft has converted to patent troll in lieu of innovating in the mobile space.
That's not exactly true- they are innovating, but they're also a patent troll. There's no reason why they can't be both.
Re: Patent troll Lodsys now after apps with 'More Apps' links
#35Earlier quoted context omitted.
They aren't suing every Android OEM out of necessity. Microsoft has converted to patent troll in lieu of innovating in the mobile space.
That's not exactly true- they are innovating, but they're also a patent troll. There's no reason why they can't be both.
You can't be a patent troll if you're actually making a product. The entire "business model" of a patent troll is to make money off of lawsuits, not from actually selling things.
Re: Patent troll Lodsys now after apps with 'More Apps' links
#36The only difference between Lodsys and large software/hardware companies like Microsoft and Oracle is the size of their litigation targets. I'm beyond convinced that the entire software patent systems needs to be abolished.
I wonder what would happen if government became a result oriented organization. If the point of patents is to increase innovation, shouldn't you be able to measure innovation? And if you can't measure the impact of patents on innovation, what evidence is their to justify monopolizing ideas? If you can't measure and observe, then what's the evidence? I would say there is none, it's entirely subjective. Unconditional support for actions regardless of consequence is a bit religious to me, and there used to be separation of church and state.. but I guess that can't really be measured, can it?
Re: Patent troll Lodsys now after apps with 'More Apps' links
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
They aren't suing every Android OEM out of necessity. Microsoft has converted to patent troll in lieu of innovating in the mobile space.
That's not exactly true- they are innovating, but they're also a patent troll. There's no reason why they can't be both.
They're using their patents to crush their competitors. It's not patent trolling, it's anti-competitive behavior.
Re: Patent troll Lodsys now after apps with 'More Apps' links
#38My question is, if you just provide an external "Buy Me" or "More Apps" link to the App Store you would have no idea who or how many people actually use that link, and of those who use the link you would have no idea what they did once they got to the store. They could buy someone else's app, they could browse some more, they could leave a comment.
So how does that qualify as a "survey" in Lodsys's eyes?
Re: Patent troll Lodsys now after apps with 'More Apps' links
#39[deleted]
A collection of your own patents is no defense against a non-practicing entity like Lodsys. They don't make any products, so there's nothing in any portfolio that can threaten their business and force them to deal.
A bunch of smaller businesses could definitely create a spin-off entity that bought patent rights and 'exploited' them. But it could never use those patents to target a troll. It could target other tech companies, but then you wouldn't be beating anyone, you'd be joining them.
Short of that, small developers could create some sort of shared legal fund to make fighting these entities less individually-burdensome. But for any individual developer, it's probably going to be cheaper to just hope you don't fall into a net and pay when you do, than to pay every year toward a very expensive patent litigation fund.
These cases can easily cost millions to tens of millions of dollars. A consortium of a thousand companies could each contribute a thousand dollars a year for a decade and wind up broke after a single lawsuit. Where's the up-side for the developer, compared to just keeping their head down and hoping for the best, paying out a few thousand dollars when they get ensnared?
Not to mention that having a large consortium out there would draw the Trolls like a beacon, ensuring that any net they cast hooked the funds of every developer in the consortium.
And, ultimately, any good patent lawyer working for such a consortium would still just advise paying the troll most times. So the practical effect would likely just be to streamline the settlement process.
Small developers would, quite frankly, get far better bang for their buck directing any such consortium moneys into a patent-reform lobby.
Re: Patent troll Lodsys now after apps with 'More Apps' links
#40[deleted]
Won't work. One of the fundamental principles is that A patent is a sword, not a shield. Owning a patent doesn't shield you from litigation, it simply allows you to litigate against others.
The "patent arsenal" idea is that if you have a trove of patents, you can respond to competitors by cross-licensing. The competitor won't sue you if they don't want to be sued in turn, a kind of mutual non-agression pact.
This doesn't work against a patent troll, who is not in business and cannot be sued on the basis of any patent. I apologize in advance if this simile is offensive, but I think patents are a little like nuclear weapons. They are very effective as a deterrent against other fully functioning countries attacking you, because they know that even if they "win" the war, they will lose.
But what is their value against terrorists? Nothing, because the terrorists do not have anything you can attack with a nuclear weapon. Worse, if you put a nuclear weapon in the hands of a criminal mastermind, you face extortion on a massive scale (see the movie "Thunderball").