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Xerox Sues Google, Yahoo Over Search Patents
gnosygnus writes "Xerox Corp has sued Google, Inc. and Yahoo, Inc., accusing them of infringing the document management company's patents related to Internet search. In a lawsuit filed last Friday in the US District Court in Delaware, Xerox said Google's Web-based services, such as Google Maps, YouTube and AdSense advertising software, as well as Web tools including Yahoo Shopping, infringe patents granted as far back as 2001. Xerox seeks compensation for past infringement and asked the court to halt the companies from further using the technology."
Patent law is retarded. You can sit on a patent for 19 years and 11 months. There is no requirement to go after people to keep a patent enforcible. You can patent something and wait for the entire term of the patent for someone to actually invent/commercialize what you have patented, and then sue them at the 11th hour and take as much money from them as the courts will give you.
The exclusion of microsoft is interesting, perhaps MS already has a cross licensing deal with Xerox?
Good times, but how the mighty have fallen these days. I for one miss the idea of a pure research group.
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
You can sit on a patent for 19 years and 11 months. There is no requirement to go after people to keep a patent enforcible.
Citation needed. Where I come from, they have something called equitable estoppel. In this case, you're looking for laches.
Xerox is notable for failing to commercialise or profit from PARC's accomplishments, including the invention of the gui, laser printing, bit-mapped graphics, the mouse, and Ethernet. It is the most monumental example of dropping the ball that I can think of.
after discovery of infringement (maybe a couple years after the event), they could have attempted to come to an agreement with both entities. Negotiation might have broken down and now the patent holder's last recourse is an infringement suit.
Wouldn't be the first time that series of events occurred, especially when multiple patent-lawyer-loaded parties are involved, and it would create a legitimate delay before filing suit.
Be interesting to see what the details actually were, however.