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IBM lawsuit

by tenebrisalietum 6y ago

IBM lawsuit

breck 6y ago
Wow, I didn't hear about this. How sad that IBM is now a patent troll.
- gen220 6y ago
  Yeah. Unfortunately it's a nontrivial source of revenue. In 2018 they sued Groupon for $167m and got $83m. Interesting quotes from an article [0] reporting on it include: > In 2017 IBM generated about $1.2 billion in revenue from its licensing activities. > An IBM licensing executive testified that Amazon, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn and Twitter have each paid IBM $20 million to $50 million as part of cross-licensing deals that gave them access to the patent portfolio. > IBM lawyer John Desmarais told jurors the company had no choice but to sue after Groupon refused to take responsibility for using IBM’s foundational technology. > “The verdict is a vindication for IBM’s licensing program,” Desmarais said by phone. It looks like they've been at it for a while, too. They sued Amazon in 2006 [1]. Quotes from that reporting: > IBM alleges that Amazon.com knowingly exploits its intellectual property by infringing on several patents that cover, among other things, the presentation of applications in an interactive service, the storage of data in an interactive network, the presentation of advertising in an interactive service, and the ordering of items from an electronic catalog. While doing some digging, I stumbled across this [2] super interesting scoop on how IBM views and remunerates successful patent-applicant-employees, from 2001. Makes sense to give out bonuses for patents, when they weaponize them this way. Gross. :/ [0]: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ibm-groupon-lawsuit-idUSKBN1KH2CL https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ibm-groupon-lawsuit-idUSK... [1]: https://www.computerworld.com/article/2547652/ibm-sues-amazon-com-over-patents.html https://www.computerworld.com/article/2547652/ibm-sues-amazo... [2]: https://www.eetimes.com/ees-want-a-bigger-piece-of-patent-royalty-pie/ https://www.eetimes.com/ees-want-a-bigger-piece-of-patent-ro...
echelon 6y ago
https://www.forbes.com/sites/washingtonbytes/2020/03/13/airbnbs-woe-now-includes-ibms-patent-infringement-suit/#7dd702a44221 https://www.forbes.com/sites/washingtonbytes/2020/03/13/airb... > Thes patents at issue are used primarily in e-commerce—and some of them date back to the time of dial-up technologies such as Prodigy. Dial-up era!? Patents shouldn't last that long! This is centuries in technology! I think the only valid use for software patents (if there are any at all), is to prevent bigger players from moving into your space. But small companies don't have the time, energy, or money to wage fights in the courtroom. They have pressing existential issues. Companies without products are patent trolls and shouldn't be permitted to have them. If you "invent" yet don't do anything with it, what good are you to society? Ossified and decaying companies like IBM shouldn't be allowed to trample upstarts. It's all so backwards.
- jefftk 6y ago
  US patents last 20 years, which is pretty reasonable. Prodigy ran until 2001, just under 20 years ago.

IBM lawsuit

breck 6y ago

Wow, I didn't hear about this. How sad that IBM is now a patent troll.

gen220 6y ago
Yeah. Unfortunately it's a nontrivial source of revenue. In 2018 they sued Groupon for $167m and got $83m. Interesting quotes from an article [0] reporting on it include: > In 2017 IBM generated about $1.2 billion in revenue from its licensing activities. > An IBM licensing executive testified that Amazon, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn and Twitter have each paid IBM $20 million to $50 million as part of cross-licensing deals that gave them access to the patent portfolio. > IBM lawyer John Desmarais told jurors the company had no choice but to sue after Groupon refused to take responsibility for using IBM’s foundational technology. > “The verdict is a vindication for IBM’s licensing program,” Desmarais said by phone. It looks like they've been at it for a while, too. They sued Amazon in 2006 [1]. Quotes from that reporting: > IBM alleges that Amazon.com knowingly exploits its intellectual property by infringing on several patents that cover, among other things, the presentation of applications in an interactive service, the storage of data in an interactive network, the presentation of advertising in an interactive service, and the ordering of items from an electronic catalog. While doing some digging, I stumbled across this [2] super interesting scoop on how IBM views and remunerates successful patent-applicant-employees, from 2001. Makes sense to give out bonuses for patents, when they weaponize them this way. Gross. :/ [0]: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ibm-groupon-lawsuit-idUSKBN1KH2CL https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ibm-groupon-lawsuit-idUSK... [1]: https://www.computerworld.com/article/2547652/ibm-sues-amazon-com-over-patents.html https://www.computerworld.com/article/2547652/ibm-sues-amazo... [2]: https://www.eetimes.com/ees-want-a-bigger-piece-of-patent-royalty-pie/ https://www.eetimes.com/ees-want-a-bigger-piece-of-patent-ro...

echelon 6y ago

https://www.forbes.com/sites/washingtonbytes/2020/03/13/airbnbs-woe-now-includes-ibms-patent-infringement-suit/#7dd702a44221 https://www.forbes.com/sites/washingtonbytes/2020/03/13/airb... > Thes patents at issue are used primarily in e-commerce—and some of them date back to the time of dial-up technologies such as Prodigy. Dial-up era!? Patents shouldn't last that long! This is centuries in technology! I think the only valid use for software patents (if there are any at all), is to prevent bigger players from moving into your space. But small companies don't have the time, energy, or money to wage fights in the courtroom. They have pressing existential issues. Companies without products are patent trolls and shouldn't be permitted to have them. If you "invent" yet don't do anything with it, what good are you to society? Ossified and decaying companies like IBM shouldn't be allowed to trample upstarts. It's all so backwards.

jefftk 6y ago
US patents last 20 years, which is pretty reasonable. Prodigy ran until 2001, just under 20 years ago.