Look here. IP licensing is the tradition in this industry. All big telecom vendors pay each other yearly amounts for IP rights. Normally they simply bulk them t

Look here. IP licensing is the tradition in this industry. All big telecom vendors pay each other yearly amounts for IP rights. Normally they simply bulk them together and see who got most. Now and then a court case flares up (it's a negotiation tactic). In this case, what has happened is simply an escalation between two biggest competitors where no one wants to back down, and Apple "got lucky" in this particular court's interpretation. Apple is not a bully among nice guys. Everyone has been suing. Nokia, Microsoft, Motorola, etc. Everyone is gathering patents like crazy. And remember, Android device vendors are already paying large amounts to Microsoft. Yes, it's not the signs of a healthy industry, as most software patents are silly and things will get sillier as this progresses. Most are being patented simply because they can, to add a number to the total as ammo for next licensing discussion.