3 ms·
Just because it's the norm doesn't mean it's right. There are plenty of things that companies used to do that are now illegal because they ensure monopolies or
by wccrawford 16y ago
Just because it's the norm doesn't mean it's right. There are plenty of things that companies used to do that are now illegal because they ensure monopolies or otherwise disrupt the economy.
I wouldn't be surprised to see that patent cross-licensing like this turns out to be one of those things in the future.
I have to agree that it would be better to invalidate the patents, but sometimes you have to settle for what you can get.
And hopefully it'll be another step towards patent reform.
- kenjackson 16y agoBut MS plus Nokia isn't near a monopoly in mobile devices. Google plus Apple maybe, but MS/Nokia are currently hanging on for life in this market.
- rbanffy 16y agoAnd that makes me believe Microsoft will do anything to gain share there (or to, at least, extract some revenue from the other players in the space).
- ZeroGravitas 16y agoB&N claim that Microsoft is asserting control over Android via (tangential) patents which, when you add Nokia, gives them control over the Number 1 & 2 smartphone OSes, plus Windows Mobile which is about 2/3rds of the global market. So under this theory either Microsoft is right, and deserves payment for the vital IP it has over Android and therefore controls large segments of the market, or Microsoft is wrong, and has no ownership and control but in that case deserves no money.
- cooldeal 16y ago>B&N claim that Microsoft is asserting control over Android via (tangential) patents which, when you add Nokia, gives them control over the Number 1 & 2 smartphone OSes, plus Windows Mobile which is about 2/3rds of the global market. That doesn't make any sense whatsoever. Apple asserting it's patents against HTC, Samsung and Motorola will give them control over 75% of the US market, so it's now an anti-trust concern? I think that argument is a stretch.