NVidia Seeks 3dfx Injunction

Marcus writes "Saw on Shugashack that NVidia has just filed a lawsuit against 3dfx seeking an injunction to stop all 3dfx Voodoo3/4/5 boards from shipping. NVidia's statement was 'This innovation is achieved through the annual investment of hundreds of millions of dollars in research and development. We cannot allow the fruits of this investment to be misappropriated.'"

Comments

Patent office will be our doom

[Anonymous Coward]

I looked up the various patents. Each covered some relatively obvious technique for transfering data to an I/O device. Each is something that any I/O device maker would consider implementing. There are likely to be dozens of companies that violate these patents, but NVidia is of course only going after their weaker competitor (at present).

If you ask me, I think our current patent system is stifling innovation, not protecting it. With every niggly obvious idea being patented, it is literally impossible to create a product that doesn't violate dozens of patents. Small companies without big patent portfolios to make deals with can only make due by not attracting the attention of the companies whose patents they are violating.

Would things be better if we just tossed away the idea of patents? Probably not, but where does one draw the line between real innovation and the next obvious step?

I'm sure this discussion has been going round and round many times, but it really ticks me off each time I see a new legal case like this. The companies with the bigger legal budgets will prevail, not those with the better products (note: I'm generalizing here, not trying to make statements about 3dfx/NVidia).