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But software patents are evil, and Google's mission is to not be evil ... So we'e safe, right? Right?!

• ma2rten 16y ago
  I guess. It would be a pretty stupid move of Google to sue any other company over this, because they would lose a lot of respect from development community.
  • kree10 16y ago
    I'd like to think so, but if a situation presented itself where it was a choice between angering developers and angering shareholders, I wouldn't bet against the shareholders.
    • steveklabnik 16y ago
      Eh, maybe for a different company. Another part that plays into this is that you _have_ to patent something, or someone else will. Google pretty much had to register a patent or face getting pwnt someday.
      • RobertKohr 16y ago
        Yep, I think you hit the nail on the head. You really have to do "defensive patenting" when you are this large or you might face problems when another person patents a key technology your business relies on. I don't think google would ever pursue this patent against another company, because it is doubtful it will stand up in court. As such it probably would win a court trial if another company patented the tech, but it is much cheaper to just patent it yourself, stick the patent in a drawer, and continue taking over the world.
  • angrycoder 16y ago
    Not just the development community as a whole, but how many of their own developers would just walk out the door.