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Microsoft sues Motorola over Android patent infringements
- spot 16y agoDidn't MS pledge not to use their patents offensively? EDIT: http://www.microsoft.com/interop/principles/osspatentpledge.mspx http://www.microsoft.com/interop/principles/osspatentpledge....
- rbanffy 16y agoDid anyone trust their word? Seriously, Ballmer must do something for his bonus. Since selling desirable products is not their forte, patent trolling seems a nice business model. Expect more of this. Oh, and, BTW, Motorola was selling some WinMo 6 devices, at least here in Brazil.
- radley 16y agoThey'll only sue you if you try to make money of it: "If You engage in the commercial distribution or importation of software derived from an open source project or if You make or use such software outside the scope of creating such software code, You do not benefit from this promise for such distribution or for these other activities... Software is deemed to be commercially distributed within the meaning of this promise when the distributor derives revenues in connection with the distribution, such as from subscriptions, updates, or user-based connection fees or from services that are contractually required for a customer to obtain the current version and/or updates of the software product in question."
- spot 16y agoOh so the pledge was always worthless. You are right.
- bad_user 16y agoOpen-source means non-commercial now?
- kenjackson 16y agoThe never said that open source means non-commercial. They said that above and beyond being open source this promise only applies to these situations.
- rbanffy 16y ago> Software is deemed to be commercially distributed But doesn't the software come free with the phones?
- talvisota 16y agoThat's not too accurately summarized. In the linked text they promise to not sue individuals participating noncommercial open source development related to certain covered techologies, which are protocols, languages, file formats and standards. A huge amount of stuff, both technologies and contexts, is left outside the pledge. Thanks for linking, though; I never bothered to familiarize myself with this before.
- tzs 16y agoWhich specific Covered Specifications do you think are involved in this suit? The pledge you cite (which is legally binding, BTW) is for people implementing specific specifications that Microsoft has listed under specific circumstances.
- rbanffy 16y agoIf only they launched a WinMo 7 device... http://www.goodgearguide.com.au/article/362876/patent_protection_key_windows_phone_license/ http://www.goodgearguide.com.au/article/362876/patent_protec...
- bad_user 16y agoOh, if only these companies would sue them back. Maybe they'll sue Nokia.
- rbanffy 16y agoThat's why they won't dare to sue Google. When they do, it's time to dump all your MSFT stock (if you still hold any) because they have nothing left to lose.
- some1else 16y agoNice. Sell WinMo7 or get sued :-/
- praptak 16y agoSo much for the "Microsoft doesn't have a history of patent lawsuit trolling. [...] At the end of the day MS is a developer centric company, they pride themselves on the ability to make things, and patents are an annoying side show to that." argument found here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1745932 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1745932
- city41 16y agoPatents are a big deal at Microsoft. They are highly encouraged. Employees who succeed in securing a patent receive a plaque that is proudly displayed in their office as well as a nice bonus.
- spot 16y agoThat's true at just about every company, even Google. The question is are the patents used for offense or defense.
- bobbyi 16y agoIt's actually a cube rather than a plaque. Some people have pyramids on their desk built from patent cubes.
- stumm 16y agoThe cube is for filing a patent. You get the plaque when it is awarded.
- borism 16y agothat has nothing to do with patent trolling though
- city41 16y agoYou've got to have patents before you can patent troll.
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- DeusExMachina 16y agoOur action today merely seeks to ensure respect for our intellectual property rights infringed by Android devices; and judging by the recent actions by Apple and Oracle, we are not alone in this respect. Well, it does not make it right.
- twymer 16y agoWhat I don't understand is why this is strictly against Motorola. What does the Droid line do that others do not to warrant this?
- ahi 16y agoI gather from the other thread that Motorola used to run WinMo. When your customers don't want to buy your shit, sue them so they have to.
- king_jester 16y agoMotorola still ships WinMo devices, but the only market that still needs them is industry. In NYC, traffic cops carry them, and I know that several food delivery companies use them. Between this patent suit and the late to the party Windows Phone 7, I hope Microsoft finally dies in the mobile phone space.
- rbanffy 16y agoThey want Motorola to build WinMo 7 phones. They sue because, if they didn't, nobody would bother to build them. It's Extortion 101. You beat up one store-owner of the street so you don't have to beat up all of them. Nobody wants to be the second to be beaten up. You probably can't beat up all of them and that would serve no purpose. I am surprised phone manufacturers - since they cross-license tech all the time - don't create a common defense fund for taking down there lawsuits.
- protomyth 16y agoMicrosoft already got an agreement with HTC, looks like Motorola is next.
- patrickaljord 16y agoDon't think so, if they decided to sue it's because Motorola refused such agreement and because they believe they have a pretty strong case against MS patents.
- runjake 16y agoFoot, meet gun.
- seymourz 16y agoShameless Microsoft. They don't have the ability to compete in the market. They just want to stop other ones' innovation.
- GHFigs 16y agoIt is absolutely imperative that we all formulate our opinions in ignorance of the patents themselves. Pay no attention to the following words and numbers. Common Name Space for Long and Short File Names: 5,579,517 Common Name Space for Long and Short File Names: 5,758,352 Monitoring Entropic Conditions of a Flash Memory Device as an Indicator for Invoking Erasure Operations: 6,621,746 Radio Interface Layer in a Cell Phone with a Set of APIs Having a Hardware-Independent Proxy Layer and a Hardware-Specific Driver Layer: 6,826,762 Method and System for Managing Changes to a Contact Database: 6,909,910 Flexible Architecture for Notifying Applications of State Changes: 7,644,376 Context Sensitive Menu System/Menu Behavior: 5,664,133 Method and System for Supporting Off-line Mode of Operation and Synchronization Using Resource State Information: 6,578,054 Generating Meeting Requests and Group Scheduling from a Mobile Device: 6,370,566
- dminor 16y agoWith the exception of 6,826,762 these are pretty laughable.
- rbanffy 16y ago6,826,762 is pretty laughable too. But patents are complicated animals - we have to pay attention to the specific claims they make. I am sure they are equally laughable.
- tzs 16y agoHow did you read and understand 9 patents in under an hour? That is a feat that would be quite impressive for a seasoned patent attorney familiar with the technology covered by the patents.
- peterbessman 16y agoMaybe this is a dumb question, but why are they targetting motorola? Don't these patents apply to, well, every smartphone in existence? It can't be a matter of stupidity, so I wonder what made them decide to go after Motorola, and not Nokia, Apple, HTC, Palm, and everyone else who makes a phone with a "Contact Database."
- raganwald 16y agoWhat I like about these lawsuits is the possibility that the big players will start aggressively campaigning for patent reform. As long as they all entered into cosy cross-licensing deals with each other, they were running an oligopoly that erected a barrier to entry against upstarts. But now that they're starting to sue each other, the oligopoly's ranks have split and patents are going to bring everything to a stand-still.
- dctoedt 16y ago> What I like about these lawsuits is the possibility that the big players will start aggressively campaigning for patent reform. I wouldn't count on it -- if anything, they'll think, "hmm, we could be next, we'd better start getting patents of our own." Then once they have patents, someone in management will ask, "hey, we have these expensive patents, why don't we deploy them against the competition." That's especially true if some exec wants to get credit (and bonuses) for a license royalty stream or a damages award.
- dhimes 16y agoDamn. You ruined my day.
- rbanffy 16y agoWasn't it today I read something here on HN about Microsoft and EFF campaigning against software patents?
- konad 16y agoA few years ago people were suing each other after getting patents for stuff that already existed by having "via the internet" tagged on the end. Now were in the new age, where all those patents that ended "via the internet" now have "on a mobile telephone" instead. Collecting email on your phone is patented ? Get Fucked Microsoft, shove it up your arse
- houseabsolute 16y agoYou might benefit from rereading this article. http://www.danshapiro.com/blog/2010/09/how-to-read-a-patent-in-60-second/ http://www.danshapiro.com/blog/2010/09/how-to-read-a-patent-...
- konad 16y agomy rage is not abated
- houseabsolute 16y agoI guess you are a Motorola shareholder or something? If not, is this likely to harm you in any way?
- orangecat 16y agoIf not, is this likely to harm you in any way? If it contributes to Android going away and leaving us to "choose" between Apple and Microsoft controlling our computing experience, then yes.
- houseabsolute 16y agoThat is extraordinarily unlikely. I can't think of more than one or two big products that have ever been totally shut down as a result of patent infringement. It simply is not done.
- forgotAgain 16y agoCouple of possible reasons why its (just) Motorola: 1) they only need one to create FUD. 2) others may have patents that MS infringes on. 3) they are sending a message to other companies who have made MS phones in the past.
- forgottenpaswrd 16y agoMicrosoft way of life. Ballmer said that the same way they "solved" the netbook problem, they will solve the phone problem. In both cases the solution does not involve technical ability to compete.
- raminf 16y agoGodfather walks into the Grocer's and demands they buy their deli meats from him. Grocer says "No thanks, I'm getting my meat free from those other guys. My customers are happy too." Godfather says, "Yes, but not buying from me might expose you to harm in the future." Grocer says, "It's OK, I'm not worried. Besides, who would want to hurt me?" Godfather comes back the next week and shoots him in the kneecap. "See, I warned you someone might come in and hurt you." s/Godfather/Microsoft/g s/Grocer/Motorola/g s/Deli Meat/Android/g Wonder how much fight the next, um, Grocery store will put up.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- berntb 16y agoIsn't there a business niche here, for buying self defense patents? Slogan: "Send $X and the name of the company -- and we'll return a list of patents (and prices to buy them) which that company violate." Edit: Grammar fix.