5 ms·

This is probably a good precedent. If my product has 15 lines of infringing code out of 2 million, then you shouldn't be entitled to my entire profit margin. Th

This is probably a good precedent. If my product has 15 lines of infringing code out of 2 million, then you shouldn't be entitled to my entire profit margin. There should be some basic test by the courts to determine what percentage is liable. This means less of a payout and ideally lower incentives for patent trolls to litigate and more of a "fair" compensation instead of a winner-takes-all model that seems to be the default.

AstroJetson 10y ago
Exactly, I agree this is a good precedent. I think that manufactured goods are much more complex and that it needs to be accounted for.
- yoz-y 10y ago
  Although I agree with the idea I also think that this could potentially make litigation even more lengthy. It would also be possible for companies to hedge the risk and simply copy the hard, but minimal part.
  - AstroJetson 10y ago
    It could, but it's also now fraught with having juries that don't know the product lines to be able to decide damages. How to get them to think a corner or 15 lines of code is worth 100's of millions is a pretty interesting task. I bet there are law firms who read the SCOTUS blog and are on the path of trying to hire techno-law-splainers to make that work for them.
lightedman 10y ago
"If my product has 15 lines of infringing code out of 2 million, then you shouldn't be entitled to my entire profit margin." If out of 2M lines of code you have 15 infringing lines, unless those lines are to something very specific and not general like say a simple random number generator anyone using that language would write the exact same way, you shouldn't have to pay jack and it shouldn't be considered infringing in the first place.
- r00fus 10y ago
  LOC is a bad analogy as it's often easy to determine coupling. It'd be more like saying my car had tail/headlights like a Mercedes - how much of my sales/revenue is because it looks like a Merc?
  - drzaiusapelord 10y ago
    Trademarks and trade dress are completely separate issues from software patents. I can code something 100% unique with an apple logo and looks exactly like an ipad. I violate no software patents.
- nobleach 10y ago
  If I'm not mistaken, the case wasn't about lines of code. To be sure, iOS is written in ObjC and Samsung's OS is written in Dalvik. There are probably NO lines of overlap. Now boot each phone next to each other... Samsung certainly did snag a few UI ideas.
noonespecial 10y ago
Absolutely. The sooner the "if not for me, then all because of me" fallacy is officially put down the better.

AstroJetson 10y ago

Exactly, I agree this is a good precedent. I think that manufactured goods are much more complex and that it needs to be accounted for.

yoz-y 10y ago
Although I agree with the idea I also think that this could potentially make litigation even more lengthy. It would also be possible for companies to hedge the risk and simply copy the hard, but minimal part.
- AstroJetson 10y ago
  It could, but it's also now fraught with having juries that don't know the product lines to be able to decide damages. How to get them to think a corner or 15 lines of code is worth 100's of millions is a pretty interesting task. I bet there are law firms who read the SCOTUS blog and are on the path of trying to hire techno-law-splainers to make that work for them.

lightedman 10y ago

"If my product has 15 lines of infringing code out of 2 million, then you shouldn't be entitled to my entire profit margin." If out of 2M lines of code you have 15 infringing lines, unless those lines are to something very specific and not general like say a simple random number generator anyone using that language would write the exact same way, you shouldn't have to pay jack and it shouldn't be considered infringing in the first place.

r00fus 10y ago
LOC is a bad analogy as it's often easy to determine coupling. It'd be more like saying my car had tail/headlights like a Mercedes - how much of my sales/revenue is because it looks like a Merc?
- drzaiusapelord 10y ago
  Trademarks and trade dress are completely separate issues from software patents. I can code something 100% unique with an apple logo and looks exactly like an ipad. I violate no software patents.
nobleach 10y ago
If I'm not mistaken, the case wasn't about lines of code. To be sure, iOS is written in ObjC and Samsung's OS is written in Dalvik. There are probably NO lines of overlap. Now boot each phone next to each other... Samsung certainly did snag a few UI ideas.

noonespecial 10y ago

Absolutely. The sooner the "if not for me, then all because of me" fallacy is officially put down the better.