Tech Giants Pooling Cash To Buy Patents

theodp writes with a link to a Reuters report, based on a WSJ story, that "Verizon, Google, Cisco, and HP are among the companies that have joined a secretive group called the Allied Security Trust. Each of the companies will reportedly put $5 million in escrow to allow AST to snap up intellectual property on their behalf before it falls into the hands of parties that could use it against them. Patents will be resold after AST member companies have granted themselves a nonexclusive license to the underlying technology. According to AST CEO Brian Hinman, a former VP of IP and Licensing at IBM, the arrangement will keep member companies out of antitrust trouble." (The WSJ's story itself is more detailed, but it's subscriber-only.)

Comments

Queue Pat Benatar's "IP's a battlefield"

[erroneus]

To the tune of "Love is a Battlefield"

Re:Offensive or defensive?

[BlackCobra43]

Does it even matter? I personnally wouldn't care if the dumptruck-full-of-cash has a logo on it or not.

Extranationalism for the loss.

[sethstorm]

Some people are proud of their nation, and not of some businesses who try to evade it. This time around, one thing will be clear:

Businesses will no longer be able to penalize a citizen.

Re:Offensive or defensive?

[stjobe]

That's because you, like so many others today, have no principles.