4 ms·

the number of patents that apple has on things that, to me, seem generic enough to generate good competition and innovation is astounding. and depressing.

• isleyaardvark 15y ago
  Serious question: how many times has Apple used a generic patent against their competition? It doesn't seem to happen often, which gives me the impression they're mainly defensive patents.
  • winsbe01 15y ago
    that is a good question. I'm sure a lot of them are defensive patents, but then you have the whole "App Store" name debacle between Amazon and Apple, and then I start to wonder...
    • sjs 15y ago
      Start to wonder about what? Please finish that thought. Unlike with patents if you don't defend a trademark you will lose it. Trademarks and patents are different and I'm curious as to why you're relating them here.
      • winsbe01 15y ago
        you're right, I'm sorry, I'm confusing the two. I'm just not too fond of the whole owning-something-intangible concept, i.e. patents on processes or trademarks on words. in my distaste for them, I guess I mixed them up. but yes, a trademark is representative of a brand, and it's important for companies to control their brand image, especially companies who are constantly under surveillance by the media like Apple.
        • sjs 15y ago
          Understandable. I don't have anything nice to say about software patents either.
  • naner 15y ago
    Recently they've sued HTC, Motorola, Samsung, and Amazon for iPhone-related stuff.