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Portable Stereo Creator Gets His Due

Posted by Zonk on from the i-thought-sony-created-the-world dept.

eadint wrote to mention an International Tribune article covering Sony's settlement with the inventor of the portable stereo. From the article: "Pavel invented the device known today as the Walkman. But it took more than 25 years of battling the Sony Corporation and others in courts and patent offices around the world before he finally won the right to say it: Andreas Pavel invented the portable personal stereo player."

3 of 149 comments (clear)

  1. Sad story by c_fel · · Score: 5, Insightful

    In fact it's a sad story, it shows how it could be difficult to actually earn money from our inventions. It's not really motivating for me and many of us since we all are kind of inventors... Personally I don't think I'd have threw away millions of dollars in court like he did. Kudos to him !

    --
    I hate all sigs, mine included.
    1. Re:Sad story by Grym · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Exactly, this story completely undermines the entire argument that the patent system somehow benefits small inventors--it doesn't.

      SURE, this guy won in the end... AFTER 25 YEARS. How many countless other inventors have simply given up? Would this guy have been able to also patent new ideas or defend other contested patents during this time period?

      What's the point in intellectual property if you're realistically only allowed to keep what companies don't want?

      -Grym

  2. Re:Slight correction by malkavian · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What an odd thing to say. The Walkman is a personal portable stereo player. Sony invented nothing there, they merely created a personal stereo, and branded it as a "Walkman".
    The playstation wasn't invented under the same argument, as it was a subset of a 'game console'.. Not sure who came up with that idea (atari was the first I remember).