OSNews > Thread > "RE: Can you say... RFTA" by bannor99

Apple, Google, Microsoft Hit by Patent Infringement Lawsuit

Linked by Thom Holwerda on Fri 26th Dec 2008 20:00 UTC

Large multinational software companies like Apple, Microsoft, and Google, rarely - if ever - initiate patent infringement lawsuits against other software companies, probably because they themselves infringe on lots of patents too. However, they do get sued themselves by smaller companies. Even though the Christian part of the world is all about forgiveness and love and pink ponies during the holidays (or, at least, they ought to be), Apple, Google, and Microsoft have been struck by a patent infringement lawsuit started by Cygnus Systems.

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RE: Can you say... RFTA

by bannor99 on Sat 27th Dec 2008 02:34 UTC in reply to "Can you say..."

Member since:
2005-09-15

...prior art? The article is misleading as it states the patent was filed for in 2001. According to the patent office, "US Patent Issued on March 18, 2008", that is definitely not the case. It normally only takes about 6-12 months for a patent to be issued, and even if longer for some, definitely not 7 years. Looks like a get rich quick scheme to me, targeting the big players that would most likely just pay out some cash in order to squash the negative publicity, true or not.

This isn't Slashdot - please Read The Fine Article instead of trying for FIRST POST.
The MacWorld article has the Patent number at the bottom, which is linked to the relevant page on PatentStorm. The submission date is indicated on the right of the page.

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RE[2]: Can you say... RFTA

by DrillSgt on Sat 27th Dec 2008 04:14 in reply to "RE: Can you say... RFTA"

Member since:
2005-12-02

"This isn't Slashdot - please Read The Fine Article instead of trying for FIRST POST."

I don't try for first post, and this place is obviously not slashdot as the majority here are pretty well informed.

I always actually read the article first, as well I looked up the patent at the actual patent web site. Imagine that. I missed the filing date, and only saw the date it was granted, so excuse me.

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