What If Android Lost the Patent War?

adeelarshad82 writes "The patent system is certainly complex, especially when it comes to smartphones. The Financial Times estimates that as many as 250,000 patents are at stake in a smartphone. Industry titans like Microsoft, Nokia, and Apple have tens of thousands of patents each, but Google's portfolio is reportedly on the low end — 'under 1,000.' Taking advantage of the opportunity, Apple has its patent strategy aimed squarely at the number one rival to its iOS mobile operating system, Android, which is now embedded in 40 percent of all U.S. smartphones compared to Apple's 26.6 percent. Apple's lawyers have been aggressively suing Android manufacturers HTC and Samsung for various technologies, from the 'look and feel' to how it connects to broadband networks. A recently published article takes a deep dive into the lawsuits' possible outcomes and their effect on end users."

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Re:250,000?

[ZombieBraintrust]

http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/oeip/taf/h_counts.htm [uspto.gov] More patents were granted this year than in the first 100 years of usa history. Most of them useless. Many of them duplicates of other patents. Some of them on DNA found in nature.

Re:Software Patents...

[rmstar]

Patents also promote investing in research & development.

No, they don't. There's plenty of evidence out there refuting your claim.

I doubt Microsoft and other companies would be spending billions in research if everything they discovered or came up with was immediately available to everyone else.

There are many barriers to entry aside from patents. Actually getting something done is one, for example.

Re:Pick your sources wisely, PCMag

[jbernardo]

Is Florian Mueller the king of Slashdot? It seems so since he gets mentioned more than any other single person.

Florian Mueller is the current more vocal MS shill in the war against google. Is is doing the same role as Enderle does, only Enderle is by now completely discredited, and some still quote Mueller as if he knew what he is talking about. As usual, your best source is Groklaw, they've discredited many of Mueller's ravings already.

Re:Why should we care?

[0123456]

So? Why should the rest of the world care? I'm seriously asking. How will the rest of the world be affected by a decision given in one country, that's the host of a fairly atypical, malformed and out-of-control patent system?

Because the US government spends a considerable amount of time and effort trying to push their concept of 'Intellectual Property' on the rest of the world.