Slashdot Mirror
Google Sues Consortium Backed By Apple and Microsoft to Protect Android
A couple months ago, Rockstar, a patent-holding consortium backed by Apple, Microsoft, Sony, Blackberry, and others launched a barrage of infringement suits against Google and the makers of Android devices. Google has now launched a counteroffensive, seeking protection from Rockstar's patent trolling. The complaint (PDF) says, "Rockstar produces no products and practices no patents. Instead, Rockstar employs a staff of engineers in Ontario, Canada, who examine other companies’ successful products to find anything that Rockstar might use to demand and extract licenses to its patents under threat of litigation." Google's filing also accuses Rockstar of interfering with their business practices by contacting other companies and trying to convince them not to use Android. It asks for a declarative judgment of non-infringement.
They didn't have anti-patent troll legislation that was passed recently. Let's see how that law works in Google's favor.
So they tried to buy a company that "produces no products and practices no patents."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nortel_products
Apparently, Rockstar is now selling most of the patents they bought from Nortel for these lawsuits.
It was a scummy business all along. It went like:
Apple and MS: *buying up Nortel's patents*
US DoJ: *stares at them intently*
Apple and MS: "We promise to fairly license these patents to anyone!"
US DoJ: *nods, turns away*
Apple and MS: *passing patents to Rockstar quietly*
Rockstar: "Ha! We're neither MS nor Apple and didn't promise shit, suckers!"
The company that bought the patents was formed just to buy the patents. The theory was that Google bought the patents because they knew they'd be used against them. Check Google's record on patent use, To my knowledge, they haven't used them aggressively, although Motorola had suits in progress before they bought them. The really nasty part about Rockstar is that they promised they wouldn't use the patents for this purpose, and then did.
Sorry, your reading comprehension seems to be suffering. Google bid on the patents. Google never made any effort to purchase the company, Rockstar.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockstar_Consortium
You will note that Rockstar was formed by the members of the consortium for the purpose of patent enforcement. It appears to me that this enforcement has devolved into patent trolling.
"Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
No. Google didn't try to buy Rockstar, which is the consortium that produces no products and practices no patents.
Nortel produced a lot of produts. Google bid on some of Nortel's patents after they went bankrupt. Rockstar is the consortium that outbid Google and bought those patents.
Apple owns 58% of Rockstar. They effectively have sole control.
People appear to be conflating two different consortiums that purchased two different patent portfolios.
Rockstar bought the Nortel patent portfolio. CPTN Holdings bought the Novell patent portfolio. Google was invited to join CPTN, not Rockstar.
Confirmed by Google here.
B&N did not settle. They countersued and exposed the patetents Microsoft were threatening them with. Then Microsoft payed B&N millions of dollars to go away.
Google open-source the technologies they develop to build their products on, not the products themselves.