Tag Archives: patents
The patent system is destroying innovation
The year 2012 will go down in history as the Year of the Patent Wars. Since January, there have been so many patent lawsuits in the mobile phone market alone that it is nearly impossible to follow who is suing whom anymore. A synopsis of some of the most high-profile patent lawsuits this year goes something like this: Apple vs. HTC, Apple vs. Samsung, Apple vs. Motorola, Google vs. Oracle… among several others. The common denominator in many of the most recent cases has been Apple. As a matter of fact, a July 2012 article in Bloomberg reported that Apple is at the center of 60% of major mobile patent lawsuits today. In most of those cases, Apple is the one suing another company.
Check out this interesting twist, though. This past Wednesday, Apple announced the next generation of their mobile devices, including the iPhone 5. Although the iPhone 5 leaves much to be desired, Apple finally decided to include 4G LTE capability in their new device. The inclusion of LTE was expected by many; since the new iPad came out with LTE connectivity back in March, it would be natural for Apple to include LTE in their next iPhone. Smartphone manufacturers such as Samsung and HTC also expected the iPhone to pack LTE radios, and they both anticipated to file lawsuits against Apple if they did. When the iPhone 5 debuted on Wednesday, they both announced they will be doing exactly that. HTC was the first vendor to introduce an LTE smartphone, and Samsung’s devices are wildly popular around the world as well. Both manufacturers own hundreds of LTE-related patents, and they seem determined to identify one or more that Apple is infringing upon. Their ultimate goal is to completely block the sale of the iPhone 5 in the U.S. and in Europe.
