The Ongoing Patent Thicket War
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For a good analysis and roundup of the ongoing patent litigation war occurring in the smartphone industry check out this Wired article.
What has for years been a who will-blink-first Mexican stand-off between the tech giants has turned into an all-out gunfight, albeit one conducted by the toughest corporate lawyers money can buy. "Everybody started suing each other a lot more -- not only in telecoms, but in software and a number of other fields -- starting in the mid- to late-90s," says Jim Bessen, a law lecturer at Boston University. "The number of lawsuits filed in the US has tripled since the early-90s." Other than the spat between Apple and Nokia, over the past couple of years several other high-profile companies have become lawyered up.
The current spat of litigation highlights the problems with the current international patent system and the need for significant reform.
The fight between Apple and Nokia is emblematic of a broader malaise sweeping the tech and communications industries as companies use their patents not for innovation, but to hobble their rivals. Some of the world's most forward looking businesses are now litigators as well as innovators.
