Linked by Thom Holwerda on Thu 22nd Oct 2009 15:17 UTC
Remember when Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone, and proclaimed, to much applause, that they patented the hell out of it? Well, apparently Apple likes to boast about its own patents, but when it comes to dealing with other's they're not so willing. That is, if you believe Nokia: the largest phone manufacturer in the world has sued Apple for patent infringement.
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Member since:
2006-12-20
Oh yeah, well I would definitely agree that there are some massive problems with the patent system as it stands. Even many present-day inventors (Trevor Baylis, James Dyson) say they dislike it, because it favours the large corporations. However, I do support the idea of patents for genuinely good inventions and I just think that the system needs to be fixed to better filter out laughable "inventions" of the 1-click calibre and to make it cheaper and easier for small businesses and individual inventors to file patents in a way that allows them to compete with the big boys.
Having said all of this, just because Nokia is taking someone to court over some patents it doesn't necessarily mean that those patents are stupid. Nokia does spend a lot of money on research and maybe they did come up with some great ideas, on which they deserve a bit of limited-time protection! Also they're not just attacking some small-time guys, they're going after Apple, who could certainly afford to licence patents if everyone else can. Anyway, it's not as if Apple doesn't benefit from IP laws themselves.