Two weeks ago I spoke to the class how Google is
losing badly in the patent ward. Google’s androids system is open source, it is
missing many key patents, and is infringing on many patents. This is all recipes
for lawsuits and injunctions. This year, April represents many of Google’s
shortcomings in the Patent war, as many infringement cases piled up to one very
bad month for Google. Now, it is more apparent than even that Google way
overpaid for Motorola.
In the beginning of the month, the ITC found Google’s
keyboard to infringe on some aspects of Apple’s keyboard text selection Patents.
There will be a noticeable degradation of Google’s keyboard because of that.
Also, a case of Google vs. Apple for non SEP’s was
slowed down a few months. This is in favor for Apple because Google is
attempting to overturn some previous injunction which will have to hold for
longer.
In another important case Google loss all but one
SEP infringement, for a total of 5 patent infringement. The loss was on the
basis of claim construction, which is a major loss for the Google lawyers.
Foxconn signed a deal with Microsoft to work
together and address Androids infringement issues. This is very significant as
Foxconn produces 40% of the electronics and they have thousands of patents that
can prove to be harmful for Google.
Microsoft signed its 20th licensing deal
with ZTE over some patents that are used on Android. Nokia, Apple, and other third
parties also hold patents on Android.
http://www.fosspatents.com/2013/04/april-was-disastrous-for-google-on.html
http://www.fosspatents.com/2013/04/april-was-disastrous-for-google-on.html
I guess when it comes to patent litigation things are very hot and cold, up and down. Google was bound to come back down a bit.
ReplyDeleteI like how you summarize Google's April. Like Aaron said above, in the patent war, nobody can keep out of it. Similarly, nobody can win or lose all the time. It might take a long time to see who will be the biggest winner at the very last, or everybody loses at the very end. I guess Google's luck will come back soon, and it will find a way to fight back.
ReplyDeleteI've read about this from other people too, and it's interesting to note both wins and losses.
ReplyDelete