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Angry Birds maker Rovio sued over app patents

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Angry Birds maker Rovio sued over app patents

#41

Post by atirip »

astrodust wrote: post #20
sandstrom wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I'm not mistaken Rovio are based in Finland, where software patents don't hold much water.

They're selling a product in the US market, so they're subject to US laws so long as they want to continue doing that.

No they are not. Finnish company is subject to Finnish laws and Finnish laws only. If they produce something in Finland, then only valid Finnish patents are their concern. US Patents are not valid for Rovio in Finland.

Now. If and when their _product_ is sold in US and infringes some US patents then patent owner can block selling that product and this is the only thing they can do. No damages no nothing. In Rovio's case the only thing Llodsys can achieve is to prevent Apple for selling Angry Birds in US. Nothing more.

Re: Angry Birds maker Rovio sued over app patents

#42

Post by sigzero »

atirip wrote: post #41
astrodust wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're selling a product in the US market, so they're subject to US laws so long as they want to continue doing that.

No they are not. Finnish company is subject to Finnish laws and Finnish laws only. If they produce something in Finland, then only valid Finnish patents are their concern. US Patents are not valid for Rovio in Finland. Now. If and when their _product_ is sold in US and infringes some US patents then patent owner can block selling that product and this is the only thing they can do. No damages no nothing. In Rovio's c…

You just reiterated what he said.

Re: Angry Birds maker Rovio sued over app patents

#43

Post by dpcan »

greatreorx wrote: post #35
wccrawford wrote: post #2

So yet another 'You've violated our patents, but we aren't saying which ones' story? I don't say this often, but I'm going to this time: That should be illegal. It's a threat, clear and simple. It's an attempt to force them into action without actually having to have anything concrete. It causes a ton of pain and anguish, and costs a lot of money, even if they never actually sue. It's absolutely ridiculous and should…

The amended complaint clearly shows what patents Lodsys is accusing Rovio of infringing. "On May 22, 2007, U.S. Patent No. 7,222,078 (the "'078 patent") was duly and legally issued for "Methods and Systems for Gathering Information from Units of a Commodity Across a Network." ... Rovio makes, sells, uses, imports, and/or offers to sell infringing applications, including but not limited to Angry Birds for iPhone and A…

This part confused me the most. So, if you infringe on even one claim of all the claims in any patent, you are infringing a patent? We're all screwed.

Re: Angry Birds maker Rovio sued over app patents

#44

Post by orangecat »

wallflower wrote: post #24

Ideally, a consortium of Apple+Microsoft+Nokia+Google+HTC+Samsung would buy out Lodsys to silence it. The price would be in the 9 figures though. However, if only Apple bought out Lodsys, would it go after Google with its new weapons?

Ideally, a consortium of Apple+Microsoft+Nokia+Google+HTC+Samsung would buy out Lodsys to silence it.

That would be very bad. It would provide a strong incentive for future patent trolls to do exactly the same thing.

Re: Angry Birds maker Rovio sued over app patents

#45

Post by ryusage »

macrael wrote: post #36
gte910h wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I so wish we'd get Euro-style loser pays (it's really Judge assigns fees, and one party doesn't pay everything, nor do they let expensive lawyer fees be billed if they're unwarranted, etc). Then companies could be more "Bring it on" when things are totally out there.

I believe it is fairly common in the US for victors to be awarded money to cover their legal fees. The problem is that none of these companies being sued are confidant they would win, and they don't have the money to cover losing.

I think the other part of that problem is that, even if they could be guaranteed to win and have their costs paid, the whole process could take a very long time, and they have to be able to pay all those costs in the meantime.

Re: Angry Birds maker Rovio sued over app patents

#46

Post by sukuriant »

wccrawford wrote: post #37
greatreorx wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The amended complaint clearly shows what patents Lodsys is accusing Rovio of infringing. "On May 22, 2007, U.S. Patent No. 7,222,078 (the "'078 patent") was duly and legally issued for "Methods and Systems for Gathering Information from Units of a Commodity Across a Network." ... Rovio makes, sells, uses, imports, and/or offers to sell infringing applications, including but not limited to Angry Birds for iPhone and A…

There are 2, actually. Rovio makes, sells, uses, imports, and/or offers to sell infringing applications, including but not limited to Angry Birds for iPhone andAngry Birds for Android, which infringe at least claim 27 of the „565 patent under 35 U.S.C. § 271. U.S. Patent No. 7,620,565 - 27. A tangible computer readable medium having stored thereon, computer executable instructions that, if executed by a computing dev…

IANAL.

The second one looks more like some sort of ad-hoc network that's generated and used for transactions of some sort. I could imagine a bit-coin app that creates an ad-hoc network between two phones and transfers funds in the ad-hoc network. That's my read of the patent. Am I way off here? And, does Angry Birds really violate that? We very much need a lawyer here to expound upon this.

Re: Angry Birds maker Rovio sued over app patents

#47

Post by wccrawford »

sukuriant wrote: post #46
wccrawford wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are 2, actually. Rovio makes, sells, uses, imports, and/or offers to sell infringing applications, including but not limited to Angry Birds for iPhone andAngry Birds for Android, which infringe at least claim 27 of the „565 patent under 35 U.S.C. § 271. U.S. Patent No. 7,620,565 - 27. A tangible computer readable medium having stored thereon, computer executable instructions that, if executed by a computing dev…

IANAL. The second one looks more like some sort of ad-hoc network that's generated and used for transactions of some sort. I could imagine a bit-coin app that creates an ad-hoc network between two phones and transfers funds in the ad-hoc network. That's my read of the patent. Am I way off here? And, does Angry Birds really violate that? We very much need a lawyer here to expound upon this.

OMG. I just realized it's probably the feedback in the Android Market. That's why the second part talks about sales. It's not even part of their app!

Re: Angry Birds maker Rovio sued over app patents

#48

Post by 18pfsmt »

18pfsmt wrote: post #38
[deleted] wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[deleted]

Lodsys will probably ask for an injunction of some sort, restricting further sales of the alleged infringing products. Take-Two and Electronic Arts, which are large publicly traded companies, are fellow defendants. The defendants have 3 options: 1) discredit the IP claim Lodsys is making on the technology 2) prove they are not infringing 3) pay the fees Lodsys is asking. I would suspect Rovio to follow the lead of th…

I have now learned why we need to address people directly, as in "name:" Same thing for IRC logs. Ugh, deleted comments just confuse people.

Re: Angry Birds maker Rovio sued over app patents

#49

Post by talmand »

sireat wrote: post #23
talmand wrote: post #7

For a while now I have considered getting into development for mobile devices. With all the stupid lawsuits lately I think I'm close to deciding not to bother. At the least not release anything I do for public consumption.

While the lawsuits are stupid, that is not a reason to avoid development. Do not let the bad guys win.

Well, I would probably develop just for the experience but I'm not sure about releasing unless it was something quite interesting.

Re: Angry Birds maker Rovio sued over app patents

#50

Post by dmooney1 »

orangecat wrote: post #44
wallflower wrote: post #24

Ideally, a consortium of Apple+Microsoft+Nokia+Google+HTC+Samsung would buy out Lodsys to silence it. The price would be in the 9 figures though. However, if only Apple bought out Lodsys, would it go after Google with its new weapons?

Ideally, a consortium of Apple+Microsoft+Nokia+Google+HTC+Samsung would buy out Lodsys to silence it. That would be very bad. It would provide a strong incentive for future patent trolls to do exactly the same thing.

So maybe get these companies to spend nine figures founding a non-profit to systematically challenge the patent trolls' portfolio.
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