Wrong. Patents are basically just a recipe for how to make a thing work. You get a patent for the recipe, not the idea. If you create a thing different using the same idea, that is OK, and you can write a new patent.

Patents only gives you the right to protect the economic benefits. It has essentially nothing to do with creativity, strangling ir othervise. Though, to get a patent, you have to show that your application has not been made before, and that it's not an obvious use of old technology in a new setting.

The issue is software and software patents. IMO patents is misplaced on software, but so is copyright as well. There should be a special software patent that only applies to software.

@Specc except where business process or software patents are issued then they are exactly used to stifle competition, they teach nothing, they give nothing back.

rgds

You're either being daft or naïve on purpose here to prove your point. Too bad it's rather transparent.

As uTMY states above, most companies are abusing the patent office to become their enforcers whenever a company becomes too dominant in their area using something they try to skew to be close to their idea. Most patents are now based on either looks (like the rounded rectangle shape of the iPhone or the rounded square icons) and they use that to say that Company X has copied them, they should pay me.

That's not a recipe. That's not even a process. Those are the patentable things that should be enforced? A shape? And that's why you sue?

I would say use common sense, but history keeps repeating on how uncommon that truly is in the real world. But to think that these patents are being used to protect their intellectual property - it's not. The USPTO is being used as a punitive device in the hands of the corporations in a court of law. That's called abuse.

I'm sure you'll have some witty retort where you attempt to identify some flaw in my intelligence and how you're so much better than all that's here, but next time, be a man/woman/bot and have substance in your reply. It's not that hard. I know you can do it.

Oh my so many anti-Nokians here and specc and I get banned for supporting them.

The purpose of,patents is to protect intellectual property. That said abuse happens just like in any well meant endeavour. So stop making extremist arguments.

Extremist arguments? Did you pay attention to anything that happened this entire year? Samsung sues Nokia. Nokia sues Apple. Apple sues Motorola. Motorola sues HTC. Repeat.



Innovation is the victim. Not your petty agenda of who supports whom.

Welcome to the real world. You are wrong about the chicken and the hen here. It is lack of innovation combined with an over saturated market that causes this, not the other way around. In other words, the smartphone industry has matured. Everybody wants to make money selling phones, but they forget that Nokia/Ericsson/Motorola has patented just about everything there is to patent (and rightfully so).

Innovation would be to make something NEW, something DIFFERENT that does NOT infringe existing patent. Innovate or STFU and pay is what the old players are saying at the moment, and they are saying it in court.

I feel as if that's my job to welcome you to the real world. You've been gone for so long... first it was your love for Ericsson, now it's your love for Windows Phone 7/8 and some delusional way that business should be ran.

Erm... sure. Keep thinking like that.

I couldn't say a much worse statement if I tried. Sales being forbidden in certain countries of an entire product because it has rounded square buttons is a very minor part of the OS, yet it worked. That's stifling competition. You're talking about innovation - well, rounded squares have been around since before iOS. Yet, they laid claim to it like they're some claim jumper. Yeah... innovative indeed.

Let's just say it this way. The way you view things is very wrong. I won't waste any time trying to correct you. So just call it this way - we agree to disagree.

I agree with Lumiaman here. You are using extremist argument on a topic you clearly do not understand. Yes, there are a few patent trolls around. And yes, some are abusing their power and so on and so forth. But obviously Apples' fancy for court lately has backfired, and it has backfired more than not. To me this shows that the system, as flawed as you want it to be, still works and it works exactly as it should. Apple is a newcomer compared with Samsung, Nokia and so on, and if you look at who Apple is suing, it is the big ones, not the smaller fish. This is normal, it happens in every single industry whenever a newcomer expands and becomes large. Apple is just making place for itself in the flock, showing its' mussels, making noise, fighting like a juvenile gorilla with the others to find its place. THIS IS NORMAL. This is the real world.

In Europe you will never ever get a patent for a design. Designs are covered by copyright, not patents. There are TONS of products that are forbidden here and there due to copyright infringements. The rounded square is unimportant, it's just a detail in the design. The point is that Samsung use Apples' design, and one main design feature is the "rounded square". Nitpicking? maybe, but for Apple the design is just as important as the underlying technology. And to be honest, why do Samsung always have to copy the others? Why don't they come up with a unique design of their own? Sony does it, Nokia does it, LG does it, Motorola does it, even HTC has unique design features (although they look awfully Nokia-ish lately)

The other aspect of this is, there are no patent/copyright police around. If a burglar enters your house and steal, you call the police and they start investigating on your behalf. If the burglar is found, the police take the case to court and so on. You are just a witness in the case, and you are appointed a lawyer (if you want one). If someone infringes your patent, or uses your design, you have to do everything yourself. There is no police investigating etc etc. You will never get caught in infringing unless someone starts going after you with lawyers.

uh-huh. okay. continue...

@specc

And yet Specc even there you are wrong.

http://oami.europa.eu/ows/rw/pages/R...tyDesign.en.do

It might not have the word "patent" on it but in all essence thats exactly what it is.

rgds