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HTC's patents could lead to an ban on the next iPhone & iPad

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Re: HTC's patents could lead to an ban on the next iPhone & iPad

#41

Post by X-Istence »

What I don't understand is how companies can hold patents on something that is so clearly a standard that is required to be used by anyone that wants to connect to an LTE based network. If anything these patents should be licensed under FRAND, and should be licensed by the manufacturer of the modem not by every single device manufacturer that happens to include an LTE enabled modem in their device.

I don't quite understand how someone can own patents on a standard and selectively allow and disallow people from using that standard. Why hasn't this been banned? Why are there no completely open standards for communication between a wireless base-station and a wireless node?

Are there any patents on VHF/UHF communications using FM/AM modulation? Were there any patents that have expired that I am not aware of because I am fairly young compared to the technology (avid HAM radio user ... not nearly as well educated on its history)? Where these same patent battles happening when people were building radio's?

Re: HTC's patents could lead to an ban on the next iPhone & iPad

#42

Post by [deleted] »

X-Istence wrote: post #41

What I don't understand is how companies can hold patents on something that is so clearly a standard that is required to be used by anyone that wants to connect to an LTE based network. If anything these patents should be licensed under FRAND, and should be licensed by the manufacturer of the modem not by every single device manufacturer that happens to include an LTE enabled modem in their device. I don't quite unde…

[deleted]

Re: HTC's patents could lead to an ban on the next iPhone & iPad

#43

Post by kenster07 »

X-Istence wrote: post #41

What I don't understand is how companies can hold patents on something that is so clearly a standard that is required to be used by anyone that wants to connect to an LTE based network. If anything these patents should be licensed under FRAND, and should be licensed by the manufacturer of the modem not by every single device manufacturer that happens to include an LTE enabled modem in their device. I don't quite unde…

I feel exactly the same about smartphone UI.

Re: HTC's patents could lead to an ban on the next iPhone & iPad

#44

Post by ktizo »

icarus127 wrote: post #37
ktizo wrote: post #23

“I don’t care if they bought these patents to sue you or not,” Pender told McKeon. “They are a property right.” Surely he should care if people are purchasing patents purely for litigation. There are not many other items that you can legally purchase for the sole purpose of using the courts to stop someone from doing something that would otherwise be perfectly legal.

But it's not perfectly legal if the patent is valid. The infringement would just be against the original company if said company hadn't been bought. Or are you suggesting that when a company is acquired all it's patents should become null and void?

Fair point, I wasn't really thinking that one through at all. Of course it is still infringement both before and after purchase and the previous owner may have been just as likely to litigate as the previous one.

And I wasn't suggesting that a companies patents should become null and void after purchase, however my logic was still horribly flawed here. I really should avoid the internets when tired.

Although I do think, as I have stated elsewhere, that a right to a monopoly should not be treated the same as any other property asset and should maybe have some limits in transferability and stuff like that.

Re: HTC's patents could lead to an ban on the next iPhone & iPad

#45

Post by fluidcruft »

X-Istence wrote: post #41

What I don't understand is how companies can hold patents on something that is so clearly a standard that is required to be used by anyone that wants to connect to an LTE based network. If anything these patents should be licensed under FRAND, and should be licensed by the manufacturer of the modem not by every single device manufacturer that happens to include an LTE enabled modem in their device. I don't quite unde…

I agree it's weird that the scope of the patents aren't limited to the actual modems and that the modem manufacturers haven't handled the licensing. But, maybe things are too fragmented... the modem chipset doesn't include the antenna or the SIM card. Possibly the patents cover things that are only possible once assembled. Given different antenna designs you couldn't expect the modem manufacturer to provide a blanket license them all. If that makes any sense. Similarly a floppy disk drive manufacturer doesn't provide universal licenses for all possible software that could be stored on a floppy used in the drive.

But your point about UHF/VHF is very interesting and I'd also be interested in learning more. There were at least a few famous big battles over radio (Tesla/Marconi/Edison) and TV (Farnsworth/RCA) but these are inventor vs company (probably more entertaining than bigcorp vs bigcorp). I'm sure the transition to color TV was quite ripe for company vs company battles. There was also the big change in patent law/precident mid last century. In an entrepreneurship course taught by a patent attorney, he described it as patents suddenly having big value while having been nearly worthless previously.

Re: HTC's patents could lead to an ban on the next iPhone & iPad

#46

Post by jlgreco »

sbuk wrote: post #34
StavrosK wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is that Apple was the one who started using patents offensively, as far as I know.

Sorry, but that'd be Nokia and Motorola.

It seems to be:

  Nokia sues Apple
  Apple countersues Nokia
  Nokia sues Apple again
  Apple files ITC complaint against Nokia
  Apple drops some suits
  Apple countersues Nokia again
...and then...

  Apple sues HTC
Where did that last one come from?
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