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Apple and Google's Motorola unit agree to settle smartphone patent litigation

67 points by jbraithwaite 12y ago

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leorocky 12y ago
According to the article this settlement is limited to the Motorola unit that is being sold to Lenovo and does not include any cross patent license. The title makes it seem like Job's "Thermonuclear War" was finally at an end, and that doesn't seem to be the case at all. The title ought to qualify it with "Google's Motorola" or something.
- dang 12y ago
  Thanks for pointing that out. We changed the title.
- nutjob2 12y ago
  The article doesn't actually say that, it differentiates between the handset business that was sold and the remainder Motorola Mobility unit which holds the patents: "Google acquired Motorola Mobility in 2012 for $12.5 billion, and this year announced was selling Motorola Mobility's handset business to Lenovo, while keeping the vast majority of the patents."
- Alterlife 12y ago
  I'm sorry if I missed it... What does that mean though? Does it mean that Lenovo will be acquiring a litigation free company, or just that Apple wants a time-out with Google, and the game will continue once Lenovo is holding the ball?
  - mikhailt 12y ago
    It simply means that Google and Apple has agreed to stop all current lawsuits against each other (Google still owns the patents that Apple filed lawsuits on) at the moment. These lawsuits can restart any time. Apple and Google promises to work together on certain patent reform areas. IMO, that's most likely related to IP trolls, those two companies are in the top three list of companies constantly getting sued by IP trolls. Lenovo is not involved here.
- yuhong 12y ago
  I was wishing that Tim Cook would actually do it. I wonder why not?
guelo 12y ago
Where's the actual joint statement from the companies?
deleted 12y ago
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- spullara 12y ago
  This would be really great for consumers but then we wouldn't have as much competition driving it all forward.
- wyager 12y ago
  I'm glad they're at each other's throats. It's driving cell phone development at an insane rate.
  - arebop 12y ago
    It's competition that is driving cell phone development, not a profusion of many thousands of government-granted monopolies over aspects of each phone.
    - wyager 12y ago
      Of course. But it would be even worse if they had the patents and weren't at each other's throats.
- bluthru 12y ago
  I just wish everyone would concentrate on OpenStreetMap. Self-driving cars are going to need open data.
nutjob2 12y ago
If you thinking this is a "kumbaya" moment, think again. They've merely determined that the best they can do is litigate each other into a stalemate, or that they don't have a enough of a competitive overlap to warrant a war. This might be more of an "oligopoly" moment. You have to wonder though: what would Steve Jobs have done?
- wutbrodo 12y ago
  > If you thinking this is a "kumbaya" moment, think again. They've merely determined that the best they can do is litigate each other into a stalemate, or that they don't have a enough of a competitive overlap to warrant a war. This might be more of an "oligopoly" moment. I don't think anyone thinks that mutually assured destruction as applied to patent lawsuits are based on a desire for world peace or anything like that. Patent stalemates always work this way because it's (unfortunately) the best way to work around the broken system[1]. Jobs was just a lunatic and this is a reversion to a more normal state of affairs for non-patent-troll companies. [1]other than sticking to a pledge to not use patents offensively, but that's something of a prisoner's dilemma that a lot of companies understandably can't resist, Apple included.
deleted 12y ago
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bruceb 12y ago
In other news a few dozen attorneys cancelled their yacht orders.

67 points by jbraithwaite 12y ago

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

According to the article this settlement is limited to the Motorola unit that is being sold to Lenovo and does not include any cross patent license. The title makes it seem like Job's "Thermonuclear War" was finally at an end, and that doesn't seem to be the case at all. The title ought to qualify it with "Google's Motorola" or something.

dang 12y ago
Thanks for pointing that out. We changed the title.
nutjob2 12y ago
The article doesn't actually say that, it differentiates between the handset business that was sold and the remainder Motorola Mobility unit which holds the patents: "Google acquired Motorola Mobility in 2012 for $12.5 billion, and this year announced was selling Motorola Mobility's handset business to Lenovo, while keeping the vast majority of the patents."
Alterlife 12y ago
I'm sorry if I missed it... What does that mean though? Does it mean that Lenovo will be acquiring a litigation free company, or just that Apple wants a time-out with Google, and the game will continue once Lenovo is holding the ball?
- mikhailt 12y ago
  It simply means that Google and Apple has agreed to stop all current lawsuits against each other (Google still owns the patents that Apple filed lawsuits on) at the moment. These lawsuits can restart any time. Apple and Google promises to work together on certain patent reform areas. IMO, that's most likely related to IP trolls, those two companies are in the top three list of companies constantly getting sued by IP trolls. Lenovo is not involved here.
yuhong 12y ago
I was wishing that Tim Cook would actually do it. I wonder why not?

guelo 12y ago

Where's the actual joint statement from the companies?

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

spullara 12y ago
This would be really great for consumers but then we wouldn't have as much competition driving it all forward.
wyager 12y ago
I'm glad they're at each other's throats. It's driving cell phone development at an insane rate.
- arebop 12y ago
  It's competition that is driving cell phone development, not a profusion of many thousands of government-granted monopolies over aspects of each phone.
  - wyager 12y ago
    Of course. But it would be even worse if they had the patents and weren't at each other's throats.
bluthru 12y ago
I just wish everyone would concentrate on OpenStreetMap. Self-driving cars are going to need open data.

nutjob2 12y ago

If you thinking this is a "kumbaya" moment, think again. They've merely determined that the best they can do is litigate each other into a stalemate, or that they don't have a enough of a competitive overlap to warrant a war. This might be more of an "oligopoly" moment. You have to wonder though: what would Steve Jobs have done?

wutbrodo 12y ago
> If you thinking this is a "kumbaya" moment, think again. They've merely determined that the best they can do is litigate each other into a stalemate, or that they don't have a enough of a competitive overlap to warrant a war. This might be more of an "oligopoly" moment. I don't think anyone thinks that mutually assured destruction as applied to patent lawsuits are based on a desire for world peace or anything like that. Patent stalemates always work this way because it's (unfortunately) the best way to work around the broken system[1]. Jobs was just a lunatic and this is a reversion to a more normal state of affairs for non-patent-troll companies. [1]other than sticking to a pledge to not use patents offensively, but that's something of a prisoner's dilemma that a lot of companies understandably can't resist, Apple included.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

bruceb 12y ago

In other news a few dozen attorneys cancelled their yacht orders.