bassethound
21-09-11, 10:11
Fighting Apple on its own terms
The consequences of Apple's patent trollage against its former chum, Samsung, is now turning nasty and could result in Jobs' Mob being forced to get a taste of its own medicine and see the iPhone 5 banned in the EU.
One of the concepts of patent wars is that you basically use a patent to screw cash out of people. Apple appears to have changed the rules by using them to shut down competition. Its lawyers have done rather well in the EU and gotten the iPad's number one rival off the shelves. Now Samsung has decided that it will fight back using the same rules of engagement that Apple uses. It is going to waive its patents about and demand that products are pulled from the shelves.
In this case, its patents are a bit less subjective than the look and feel of a product. Samsung has been given some of Motorola's wireless patents. The patents are normally so generic that outfits like Motorola see them as a minor source of income. Using them to shut down rivals is a bit, well evil.
That was before Apple started demanding the Galaxy Tab was pulled from the shelves. Now Samsung, which has been fairly straight so far on its legal tactics, has decided that it will fight just as dirty. While we have known for about a week that Samsung was considering legal action to ban Apple's upcoming iPhone 5 in Korea was planned, it seems that the outfit is aiming at the EU too.
The Maeil Business Newspaper said that Samsung may seek an injunction against Apple's new iPhone in Europe. Samsung is not saying anything on the record yet. At the moment, it is all at threat stage and sabre rattling. Even so, there is a good chance that Samsung can take the iPhone 5 off the shelves of the Apple stores. If that happens, then Apple will really have to look at its strategy of using the patent system to silence the competition.
Others in the industry will use this as a cautionary tale. Patent trollage is only useful for getting money out of people, it should not be used to protect your product from rivals.
The consequences of Apple's patent trollage against its former chum, Samsung, is now turning nasty and could result in Jobs' Mob being forced to get a taste of its own medicine and see the iPhone 5 banned in the EU.
One of the concepts of patent wars is that you basically use a patent to screw cash out of people. Apple appears to have changed the rules by using them to shut down competition. Its lawyers have done rather well in the EU and gotten the iPad's number one rival off the shelves. Now Samsung has decided that it will fight back using the same rules of engagement that Apple uses. It is going to waive its patents about and demand that products are pulled from the shelves.
In this case, its patents are a bit less subjective than the look and feel of a product. Samsung has been given some of Motorola's wireless patents. The patents are normally so generic that outfits like Motorola see them as a minor source of income. Using them to shut down rivals is a bit, well evil.
That was before Apple started demanding the Galaxy Tab was pulled from the shelves. Now Samsung, which has been fairly straight so far on its legal tactics, has decided that it will fight just as dirty. While we have known for about a week that Samsung was considering legal action to ban Apple's upcoming iPhone 5 in Korea was planned, it seems that the outfit is aiming at the EU too.
The Maeil Business Newspaper said that Samsung may seek an injunction against Apple's new iPhone in Europe. Samsung is not saying anything on the record yet. At the moment, it is all at threat stage and sabre rattling. Even so, there is a good chance that Samsung can take the iPhone 5 off the shelves of the Apple stores. If that happens, then Apple will really have to look at its strategy of using the patent system to silence the competition.
Others in the industry will use this as a cautionary tale. Patent trollage is only useful for getting money out of people, it should not be used to protect your product from rivals.