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IBM Wants $167 Million From Groupon Over Alleged Patent Infringement (reuters.com)
On Monday, IBM asked a jury to award the company $167 million in a lawsuit against deals site Groupon for using patented technology without authorization. The patents involve e-commerce technology that had already been licensed to Amazon, Facebook, and Alphabet for between $20 million and $50 million per company. "Most big companies have taken licenses to these patents," IBM's lawyer, John Desmarais, said. "Groupon has not. The new kid on the block refuses to take responsibility for using these inventions." Reuters reports: Groupon lawyer J. David Hadden argued that IBM was overreading the scope of its patents and claiming ownership of building blocks of the internet. "A key question for you in this case is whether these patents cover the world wide web," Hadden told jurors. "They do not and that is because IBM did not invent the world wide web."
An IBM executive is expected to testify during the two-week trial about licensing deals with technology companies like Amazon and Google, providing a rare glimpse into IBM's efforts to derive revenue from its large patent portfolio. The Armonk, New York-based company invests heavily in research and development and has secured more U.S. patents than any other company for the past 25 years.
An IBM executive is expected to testify during the two-week trial about licensing deals with technology companies like Amazon and Google, providing a rare glimpse into IBM's efforts to derive revenue from its large patent portfolio. The Armonk, New York-based company invests heavily in research and development and has secured more U.S. patents than any other company for the past 25 years.
Which will prove only that Google and Amazon didn't challenge the stupid patents, not that they are valid.
I'm sure Groupon's counsel will have thought of that though.
Patents are a bad idea.
Multiple people come up with the same ideas.
Nobody should be given exclusive rights to the ideas.
Software patents are even worse than other types of patents.
Time to reform the patent system and ban all patents.
The length of a US patent is 20 years. I think this is just about right where it is supposed to be. I don't like it, but I see that it is necessary.
I also like watching giants duke it out in court for the entire 20 years.
I think there are 2 reforms that need to happen with our patent system here in the states.
1. Use it or lose it. End patent trolling for good.
2. Limited applications. Half the reason we have so many dumbass patents (rounded corners, swipe left ect..) is because we allow giant companies to apply for patents en-mass. Apply for 500 frivolous patents a day. if even one gets approved a quarter, you can unleash the lawyers and recoup the cost of all of the failed applications and rent seek for another 20 years. If you can afford huge upfront cost, or already have the lawyers for doing your legit patents, you gotta keep em busy.
You are being ripped off every second of every day, so that advertisers can help rip you off even more tomorrow.
No source, so take with an appropriately sized grain of salt.
Back in the early days of Sun, IBM came in and said, "You're violating this patent we own. We want you to pay for a license." Sun's engineers sat down, looked at the patent, and went through all the various claims it made, and basically proved that Sun did not violate that patent.
IBM's response: "We have a portfolio of $BIGNUM patents. You can either pay us for a license, or we will find one that you are violating, and sue."
Sun folded.
In the context of computer hardware at the time, IBM was the 200 kg gorilla in the room, and if you didn't have a patent portfolio of your own, you were at their mercy. I don't know if IBM still has the same level of legal clout in this particular area, but I'd not want to be in Groupon's shoes right now. Lawsuit vs patent license... a very tricky situation, especially since IBM could, potentially, drag out dozens of lawsuits over dozens of patents as a form of legal harassment.
IBM is the furthest thing in the world from a patent troll.
Need I remind....
- IBM has had the record of the most patents per year for the past 25 years, in a row
- IBM grants free access to its entire patent portfolio (again, the world's largest - see above) to initiatives like The Linux Foundation and OASIS Standards.
- IBM has used its massive patent warchest to act in the interests of Open Source and Linux many, many, many times over the years.
- IBM allowed Google to purchase some of their patents to aid in their fight against Oracle's ridiculousness that would have killed all open source Java as well as Android
In general... IBM spends a massive amount of money on R&D and for the most part, their patents are real inventions. They then either license those patents on reasonable terms to others, or hold them as defense against other patent trolls, or use them to help open technology movements.