Slashdot Mirror
Lodsys Now Suing EA, Atari, Rovio and More
An anonymous reader writes "Patent troll Lodsys has now amended its original complaint against iOS and Android developers to include some big name defendants of infringing upon its patent that allegedly relates to in-app purchasing. The new defendants include EA, Atari, Rovio and more."
For the love of god, amend your patent lawsuit requirements.
Wouldn't the fact that everyone is infringing on the patent have something to say about "being obvious to someone skilled in the field.."?
Shh.
These are federal suits.
The problem isn't Texas laws, it's the judges in the Federal Courthouse of the Eastern District of Texas and their interpretation of Federal laws.
The only thing "Texans" have to do with it are they make up the jury for the cases that do go to trial, and (by definition, unless they commute from another state) the Judges who serve there are currently Texans, even though many of them may not have lived in Texas prior to accepting their current appointment.
This courthouse needs to look at what the rest of the country is doing and have rules and practices similar enough to the rest of the country that it stops becomeing a magnet for such lawsuits.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
Let me just say this: Lolololololol.
That is all.
"None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license." --John Milton
This will not end well for you (hopefully)
There are many things which are not "being obvious to someone skilled in the field" but which are easy and cheap to duplicate once the original invention has been made and published.
The "obvious" test pretty much requires you get a bunch of people who had approximately the same knowledge as the experts at the time of the invention itself but no knowledge of the invention then see what they come up with. If a significant number come up with something similar to the invention, then in lay terms, it's obvious. In legal terms, well, I am not a lawyer so don't ask me for a legal opinion.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
You can't fire federal judges without cause, it's unconstitutional.
"The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services a Compensation, which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office." - The Constitution Of The United States, Article III, Section 1.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
Is it just me or are these lawsuits just getting more and more ridiculous? What will it take before patent laws are thrown out the window and replaced with something sane?
I'm waiting to see companies go bankrupt and lives be destroyed over this idiocy. I expect people won't actually wake up until some distraught small business owner goes postal and slaughters a bunch of people.
You can't fire them as long as they "hold their Offices during good Behaviour" - basically don't do anything that's against the law. Interpreting the constitution in a way not to your liking doesn't qualify.
On the other hand, impeaching a sitting judge, or a President for that matter, is a matter of politics not law. If Congress passed a clearly unconstitutional law saying "thou shalt not wear white after Labor Day" and a judge did so, the House could impeach him and the Senate could convict, and the judge would be removed from office. Don't laugh, it almost happened to President Andrew Johnson, although it wasn't over clothing. There is no appeal of an impeachment conviction.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
So either EA loses, or a patent troll loses. I think we can all agree that this is a win-win situation.
...of going after the low-hanging fruit.
If you really want to damage America, start by taking out patent troll companies like Lodsys, that is all.
And right after Microsoft's new game console comes out, Lodsys sues all the game developers.
Is that the way it works?
I hate to say this, but I'm not a big fan of playing a game that I have to pay more cash to get items.
So while I hate patent trolls, I'm not going to cry a river for the companies that think they should get more money for stuff that they would of put in the game in the first place.
_ _ _ Go for the eyes Boo! GO FOR THE EYES!
The problem with the patent law in the Federal Court of Eastern Texas cannot just solved with a democratic vote, because the law is not entirely democratic, but depends previous legal precedents in that jurisdiction. Even if there is legal reform, the reform does not overturn previous legal precedents retroactively. One must understand that federal civil litigation is quite different from criminal procedure. Intellectual property law depends as much on property law and common law for the judges interpretation. It does not really matter what judges say in NYC, San Francisco or Chicago, since they are in different federal jurisdictions. Only the Supreme Court of The USA can overturn such cases on valid appeals. Even if congress passes a new patent law, it only solves things going forward in time, not necessarily retroactively.
Lodsys though seems very well funded financially, and I would not be surprised if there was some indirect connection to Microsoft. It seems too common for coincidence that Microsoft's competitors fall prey to messy lawsuits, whether it be Apple, Linux distribution companies or IT companies. Not that I have hard evidence, but that has been MS's MO back in the 90's when Apple was staggering around without Steve Job's leadership.
Nonetheless, Apple does not want to stand by and watch their iOS market's being damaged, and Google and other mobile systems might be subject to litigation. However, I have not heard of any suits against Microsoft and their allied developers. Only time will tell.
I remember arcade games that used to put up a message "Insert coin to continue" and then a countdown timer would start. That must have been back in the 80s.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
A patent troll suing EA? This is like a cage death match between Hanson and The Spice Girls. Who wins? Humanity!
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
Do they know what they just got themselves into? Seriously, EA alone has enough lawyers to keep them in an infinite loop in the courts for the next couple of years. All EA has to do is keep their lawyers in court until Lodsys goes bankrupt and we'll be done with this mess. Then again, EA could go the easy route and just use their lawyers to smash them like a bug.
Wow, I can't believe that I want EA to win here.