Over this past week, I had to bang my head several times on the so called scam of ‘IP protection’ and software patents. First, I didn’t even know much about this term except that it had become a buzz word in last 5 years. So, when we were asked about our awareness of patents by TechStars, my immediate reaction was f***. We delved deeper and I contacted old friends who were more knowledgeable. I finally developed some awareness of the pitfalls, why it matters and how it is like digging your own grave. The issue is simple – you have an idea and you build a system. Even if your system is the first implementation of that idea, if some troll had thought about it vaguely 10 years ago and registered a patent on it, you are screwed. Even if he has no clue on how to put the idea into practice leave apart being qualified enough to build it, the law will be on his side. So – you need to know if you are violating some patent registered by someone in some world. I could stop cribbing about it but the issue is very real nuisance esp in the digital age.
Secondly, as I stumbled upon this post by Brad Burnham, I knew I wasn’t being unreasonable.
Thirdly, RX threw some light on the biggest impotency of Nexus and Google Android, one that I had been wondering since the phone was launched – why doesn’t Android have multitouch? I mean come on, iPhones have had it for a couple of years now and a company like Google didn’t provide it? How can a touch phone even imagine of competing with iPhone without multitouch? The answer is – Apple has patented the multi-touch.
Apple’s massive multi-touch patent portfolio is cited as a reason, both now for the Droid and then for the T-Mobile G1. Either Google, while CEO Eric Schmidt was still on the board, agreed not to violate them, or fears litigating them. So, they build in the functionality and let 3rd parties take advantage — and the risk that goes with it — if they so choose.But why then does the Palm Pre have multi-touch gesture support on Sprint in the US? Wouldn’t the same patents apply? Sure. However, patents are like nukes. They can be deadly unless the guy you’re pointing yours at is pointing equally deadly ones back at you. As both TiPb and PreCentral.net have posted for a while — and Palm has explicitly stated — Palm has a heckuva mobile patent arsenal.Apple’s massive multi-touch patent portfolio is cited as a reason, both now for the Droid and then for the T-Mobile G1. Either Google, while CEO Eric Schmidt was still on the board, agreed not to violate them, or fears litigating them. So, they build in the functionality and let 3rd parties take advantage — and the risk that goes with it — if they so choose.
But why then does the Palm Pre have multi-touch gesture support on Sprint in the US? Wouldn’t the same patents apply? Sure. However, patents are like nukes. They can be deadly unless the guy you’re pointing yours at is pointing equally deadly ones back at you. As both TiPb and PreCentral.net have posted for a while — and Palm has explicitly stated — Palm has a heckuva mobile patent arsenal.
Wow, I can still imagine Apple having come up with the technology itself first being able to patent it but in reality when it comes to software, the boundaries are really thin. As Brad said, the patents made sense for Pharmaceutical industry but software! Really?