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Let's just stop the import of all computers and phones over Patent rulings. HTC and Apple should stick to their guns and deny imports of their products. Once
by dpcan 15y ago
Let's just stop the import of all computers and phones over Patent rulings. HTC and Apple should stick to their guns and deny imports of their products.
Once nobody can buy computers or phones in the U.S. anymore THEN, just MAYBE, Congress will decide to fix this Patent mess.
- jrockway 15y agoHey, we'll still be able to buy all the computers and consumer electronics that are made in the US. ... Oh.
- Taft 15y agoConsidering the increasingly vocal outcry of rampant patent abuse, it's also possible that tech giants begin publicly stating their position towards US patent law: it needn't exist (or one of the many alternatives that have been proposed). If the market can metabolize that, patent law reform isn't far away.
- VMG 15y agoCouldn't the tech giants cooperate and introduce a system that benefits the top 10% and exclude the long tail of smaller companies? That could be even worse.
- kwis 15y agoI'd argue that the existing system does just that. The big boys have portfolios of patents that they fling at each other until some sort of cross-licensing deal is reached, whilst smaller players just have to cross their fingers and hope that nobody decides to tax them too extravagantly. I omit the possibility of creating non-infringing products simply because it's virtually impossible to bring any meaningful product to market without infringing on somebody's overly broad patent.
- burgerbrain 15y agoWorse? That is exactly what we have right now!
- VMG 15y agoThey are still suing each other. There could be a system where there is a cartel that only sues the small ones.
- beagle3 15y agoThat's already happening. Google, MS, Apple, IBM, Intel, AMD/ATI, nVidia, AT&T and a few others already have cross-licensing deals essentially between everyone and everyone. It's just that HTC and Samsung are not part of _this_ cartel.
- burgerbrain 15y agoThat is the current system's default mode of operation. What do you think MPEG LA is?
- tsotha 15y agoThat's essentially the situation in hardware. All the big players have portfolios of patents which they swap in cross-licensing deals. As a newcomer you have no chance of breaking into the business since you don't have a portfolio of your own - you'd get sued out of business.
- jxcole 15y agoI would agree except that a bunch of companies just bought some patents for $4.5 billion. If patents become ineffective, the value of that purchase is $0. Very few companies are going to look on this as a positive thing.
- erydo 15y agoThey already purchased those patents, though. It's kind of a sunk cost. They wouldn't be losing $4.5 billion cash if patents became worthless, they'd be losing ammunition for a type of fight that they wouldn't have to deal with anymore. That's like saying, "We can't stop fighting this war, then all our guns would be worthless."
- wanderful 15y agoIt's very much like saying that, which doesn't mean it's not persuasive reasoning. It may not be ultimately rational reasoning, but it appeals to many people. That's why it's called the sunk cost fallacy. :)
- erydo 15y agoYep, I was referring to the fallacy. I know people don't always make rational decisions—and there are many other considerations here besides—but I thought it worth pointing out that it's not quite so obvious that the large companies would be against patent dissolution.
- randallsquared 15y agoThat seems like a very common thing for people to say just after buying 4.5 billion USD worth of weapons.
- wheels 15y agoBad analogy. The war isn't over patents, it's general competition. It's more like the UN pushing you to sign a treaty pledging not to use nukes just after you spent a pile acquiring them. Now if patents were only used defensively (which they're obviously not in this case, since Apple went on the attack) the analogy would then be banning ballistic missiles right after acquiring a ballistic missile defense system, which would be easier to swallow.
- smashing 15y agoWhat Congress considers patent reform and what you, and many on this site, consider patent reform hold to two distinct philosophies.
- Astrohacker 15y agoCongress is part of the problem. Even if they fixed patents, they would just screw something else up. The checks and balances of the US government aren't working. We need a free market of governments, so that if we don't like one, we just switch to a better one. Competition would provide the check and balance, like it does for everything else. This isn't possible at present because it is impractical or impossible for most people to switch governments. But imagine how quickly governments would fix this stuff if the people just left for somewhere better. It would be fixed instantly.
- scarmig 15y agoRemember that government is the monopoly of the application of force. When you have a competitive market in force...
- Astrohacker 15y agoThen governments would be less forceful because people do not like to be forced to do stuff.
- sbov 15y agoI read that to imply that war is application of governmental free markets. You would still need some governing government to ensure that all the free market governments don't eliminate eachother. And now you're back to the same thing.
- Wentz 15y ago...you have the world as it is. You can already move to change governments, only now you have to move farther than you used to. Notice how most of the oppression in the US is from the federal government, not state or municipal ones. We are predisposed to support government as a holdover from our instincts about tribal politics, but tribes never got anywhere near as big as 1/4 billion people. That immense power abuses result should surprise no one.
- kelnos 15y agoYep. On one hand I'm thrilled about this ruling, since it gives HTC some teeth in negotiations on the Android-related patents Apple is suing them over. On the other hand, I just ordered a new MacBook Air (with Intel graphics, which appear to be in violation of this patent), and I'm hoping it gets to the US before any possible import ban goes into effect. Further proof that hurting the customer is really all that these patents do.