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What the Mobile Patent Fight Is All About

Posted by timothy on from the want-to-touch-you-here-and-here-and-here dept.

GMGruman writes "Nokia, Apple, and HTC are all suing each other over mobile patents. Google and Microsoft are also in the game. InfoWorld's Paul Krill explains what the fight is all about: control over multitouch, the technology that enables gesture interfaces on iPads, iPhones, and other smartphones. And he explains the chances that the companies will settle their dispute as they jockey for advantage, why Apple has been playing hardball, and why competitors are fighting back just as hard."

3 of 222 comments (clear)

  1. Re:too much cool-aid by Threni · · Score: 0, Troll

    > Who cares if there existed mp3 players before, if the iPod is the only one with a button that still works after a year of use? And who cares if this is actually true, as long as it's shiny enough?

    Ironic, given the failure rate of iPods. What use is a working button if the hard drive fails after a year or so. I've had nothing but trouble with iPods and I will never buy another Apple product (I almost risked getting an iPhone but then the HTC Desire came out which pisses all over the iPhone - a close escape). Apple can't compete on quality or price, so once the marketing lead is over they're forced to rely on legal nonsense like crap patents.

  2. Re:HTC havent actually sued Apple by whisper_jeff · · Score: 0, Troll

    Nokia is suing because it got sick of attempting to extort unreasonable licensing fees from Apple for the patents they were using.

    Fixed that for you.

    I suspect Apple would have paid reasonable licensing fees for those patents but the word on the street is that Nokia asked for more than what Apple felt was reasonable for patent licensing fees when those patents are involved in a standards-related technology. I don't recall the legal term but the short version is that, because those patents are involved in standard technology, Nokia is required to offer the licenses at reasonable rates - in other words, they can't play hardball.

    So, sorry, but I don't think Nokia has asked nicely for anything from Apple.

  3. Re:HTC havent actually sued Apple by whisper_jeff · · Score: 0, Troll

    First they asked nicely. Then they tried to explain that it was a bad patent...

    You know this how? You were involved in the talks between the two companies? Cool! Could you offer more insider insight?

    Yeah. Thought so.