Saturday, December 10, 2011

Apple is outsourcing patent trolling.

(Dec 10, 11. VBeat). In a clever deal that effectively gives Apple immunity from attack by the troll, Apple agreed to some cross-licensing deals that gave Digitude the ammunition for a heavy attack against Apple’s rivals. Digitude recently filed suit against RIM, HTC, LG, Motorola, Samsung, Sony, Amazon, and Nokia. It did so at the International Trade Commission, a body that can quickly bock the import of products deemed to infringe on patents. Moreover, it included four patents in its claim, two of which were owned by Apple earlier this year, before they were transferred to Digitude.
Finally, the industry is waking up to the fact that patents are not about protecting inventions. Rather, they function as a business asset for improving company's competitive position. It doesn't matter who is using the asset, as long as its purpose is preserved.

tags: patents, business, model, innovation, apple, deontic, intellectual, property

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