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:2005-09-27
Member since:2005-06-29
Member since:2008-06-02
Member since:2009-02-07
Sure, it's their property and who ever want's to use it can license it. Nokia has around 45000 patent and add around 1000 more every year (hardware patent). Newcomers like RIM and Huawei has agreements with Nokia and NSN (Huawei).
Nokia ownership of IPR of 3 main stadards:
GSM 45%
UMTS (also known as WCDMA) 30%
CDMA2000 13%
Member since:
2005-07-12
In general, I think patents are total and complete BS, and many times people are trolling.
But in this case, Nokia did invest billions in R&D, and has legitimately licensed their patents to other handset manufacturers, and it appears these patents are actually tied to physical devices. It's not like it's patents on "clicking" or bubble-sort, or something ridiculous like that.
And the fact that Apple was shouting about their own patents ... well, what comes around goes around.
And if every other player in this market has licensed the Nokia patents, Apple should to.
But all that said, the entire patent system needs a complete overhaul, if not obliterated entirely.