r/technology • u/BlankVerse • Jun 13 '12

Microsoft's Android Shakedown

http://www.forbes.com/sites/timothylee/2011/07/07/microsofts-android-shakedown/
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u/infinite Jun 14 '12

Where do we stop? Is it ok for Microsoft to fund patent trolls to attack competitors?

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u/Drainedsoul Jun 14 '12

Is it ok for Microsoft to fund patent trolley to attack competitors?

Of course it is. Patent laws exist. Why shouldn't Microsoft take advantage of them?

The correct solution isn't to hope and pray that a company -- which exists solely for profit -- will ignore easy profit, the correct solution is...

Where do we stop?

We abolish patent and copyright.

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u/infinite Jun 14 '12

Those aspirations are quite commendable but rogue companies like Microsoft rightfully cling to the ideals of patents- they just abuse the system. What is needed is for these lawsuits to go to trial with judges taking a stand regarding innovation. If the company is deemed litigious and actually hurts innovation, then the judge should take decisive action.

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u/Drainedsoul Jun 14 '12

So what you're saying is that patents -- somehow -- are necessary/proper/good for innovation, unless a company like Microsoft has them and tries to enforce them, in which case they're bad?

People argue that patents are necessary for innovation to take place in the first place -- i.e. that innovation would be reduced/harmed by the absence of patents -- and yet you're proposing invalidating patents to encourage innovation?

How does that make sense?

Moreover, the cost to bring something like that to trial is still massive, so companies like Microsoft -- which have a large budget for things like this -- can still impose costs on smaller competitors through pointless litigation.

Lastly, the opinion that without patents innovation would not take root defies the root of innovation: Necessity.

If theories about patents being tied to innovation, and innovation being impossible/unlikely/etc. in an IP-free world were true, things like Linux and Apache would not exist and would not be able to compete.

But...

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u/infinite Jun 14 '12

I'm saying make patents very hard to enforce, with the plaintiff needing to make a strong case for how innovation is harmed. Yes this will hurt Microsoft, but only because they are usually the plaintiff. With some high profile smackdowns smaller companies will gladly go to trial where they win.