Absolutely. And the licensing had better be cheap for new entrants to the market.
The important implication of stories like this is not "Giant Company #1 may be hampered by Giant Company #2's intellectual property."
Rather, it's "somewhere, someone who could make the Next Big Thing has just read this and decided not to bother, since making any device with a screen and menus and network access would probably get you sued."
This is exactly the opposite of what intellectual property (at least in the U.S.) is for: "To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts".
I honestly don't know; more prominent lawyers/judges etc could comment on it at least to encourage governments to step in. A lot of time and money is being wasted here.
Comments
Dear Judges of the World,
Please declare all relevant patent holders to modern mobile phone and tablet technology must grant Compulsory Licences.
Regards,
The World
This is getting ridiculous - very few of these patents are really innovative anyway!
References: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compulsory_licensing
Absolutely. And the licensing had better be cheap for new entrants to the market.
The important implication of stories like this is not "Giant Company #1 may be hampered by Giant Company #2's intellectual property."
Rather, it's "somewhere, someone who could make the Next Big Thing has just read this and decided not to bother, since making any device with a screen and menus and network access would probably get you sued."
This is exactly the opposite of what intellectual property (at least in the U.S.) is for: "To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts".
Can they? Judges have to go by existing laws, not invent them.
I honestly don't know; more prominent lawyers/judges etc could comment on it at least to encourage governments to step in. A lot of time and money is being wasted here.