Samsung and Google Sign Global Patent License Agreement

http://global.samsungtomorrow.com/?p=33461

by kjhughes • 12 years ago

62 14 12 years ago

global.samsungtomorrow.com

ldng• 12 years ago

Does anyone know if that also includes Motorola's patents ?

mikegioia• 12 years ago

This is fantastic news and something I really hope every other major tech company starts to do. Maybe they finally realized that the money they hemorrhage to their legal departments can be better served elsewhere.

briandh• 12 years ago

I agree to an extent, but what happens to the smaller tech companies that have few or no patents to cross-license? I fear that if the "patent wars" are ended by cross-licensing agreements between big players, no one influential will be left to push patent reform.

mfisher87• 12 years ago

Fully agree -- no one else has (or rather very few have) the power to get in on this kind of agreement. That will encourage significantly higher barriers to entry, and discourage real systemic patent reform.

Does anyone actually think that Google and Samsung won't enforce the shared patents? They'll have immensely more enforcement power, so why wouldn't they? If anything, software patent wars are going to get worse.

tvon• 12 years ago

I don't see what's particularly good about this, it's just an alliance in a series of legal battles.

msoad• 12 years ago

Apple don't play this game and they have key patents

josteink• 12 years ago

Apple started this war. They are the original billion-dollar patent troll of the mobile industry.

If you're supporting them, you are by proxy supporting and funding patent-trolling and global abuse of software-patents.

Apple are the reason others have to resolve to (bad) means like this. I'd hardly call them out as an example to follow.

belgianguy• 12 years ago

Rockstar Bidco, owned by Apple, Microsoft, Sony, Ericsson and Blackberry.

They use this legal vehicle to create shell companies armed with ex-Nortel patents to attack Android manufacturers and Google itself.

So they (Apple) very much play this game, and this evolution can be seen as a response to the threat that Rockstar Bidco poses.

Software patents are bad all around: given their infantile lifespan they sure have caused a lot of trouble already and their offensive usage will really hamper anyone not protected by a big company.

joliss• 12 years ago

These types of agreements might mean that we move from "software patents held by tech giants" to "software patents held by a cartel of tech giants". That would be worse.

An agreement like this might avoid the next high-profile lawsuit, but instead of fixing the patent system it's tapering over the most visible symptom, creating a patent oligopoly in the process.

Maybe I'm seeing things, but I'm just having Google's ongoing anti-poaching scandal fresh in mind.

justin66• 12 years ago

Nothing systemic has changed. It's just a little harder for Apple to be litigious with Samsung and Google, that's all. There are still plenty of other players in the patent lawsuit business.

polyomino• 12 years ago

Big win for Google. Access to IP in all sorts of markets they've yet to explore.

dba7dba• 12 years ago

Everyone worried about this agreement somehow being used offensively against other companies should chill. Samsung has similar agreement with IBM and Sony, which I believe have been in #1 and #3 spot in US patents granted for last decade or so.

Samsung+Sony cross-license in 2004 http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press_Archive/200412/04-12...

Samsung+IBM cross-license in 2011 http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/33588.wss

Apple broke into top 50 in the ranking starting about 2 - 3 years ago.

pratyushag• 12 years ago

It's unfortunate that patent sharing is not covered by anti-competitive laws.

Samsung and Google Sign Global Patent License Agreement

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