European Union moves to end 'anti-competitive' smartphone patent wars - Polidicks

[url]http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/29/us-eu-competition-motorola-idINBREA3S09220140429[/url] [quote]The European Union's antitrust enforcer has told two top smartphone makers to stop filing aggressive patent lawsuits against rivals such as Apple, aiming to end a patent war and open the market to freer competition. The European Commission reprimanded Motorola Mobility on Tuesday for taking such action against Apple, hoping the ruling will halt a rising tide of legal disputes among rivals vying for profit in the global smartphone market. The EU's anti-trust enforcer also said that Samsung Electronics must keep a promise not to seek injunctions against rivals if they sign a licensing agreement. "The so-called smartphone patent wars should not occur at the expense of consumers," said Joaquin Almunia, the European commissioner in charge of anti-trust enforcement. The landmark ruling will help draw a line under a long-running feud between smartphone makers and a slew of legal action against rivals by manufacturers who claimed their designs had been copied. Although no fine will be imposed on Google Inc's Motorola, the Commission ruled that the company had been wrong to seek an injunction against Apple in Germany for copying a 'standard-essential' patent, for which Apple had bought a license.[/quote] [url=http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-14-489_en.htm]EU press release[/url]

Good, maybe now they will have to offer phones at reasonable prices and actually be competitive with each other.

Confuses me how they only reprimanded companies going against Apple.

[QUOTE=Vitalogy;44682299]Confuses me how they only reprimanded companies going against Apple.[/QUOTE] Because for all the crap Apple gets, Samsung and Motorola have been much worse. Samsung got investigated for anti-trust violations by trying to stop competitors licensing patents that are required to make phones, etc.

[QUOTE=Vitalogy;44682299]Confuses me how they only reprimanded companies going against Apple.[/QUOTE] Because Samsung and Motorola (Google) decided to try to use SEP patents in court after what was deemed insufficient effort to licence them in a fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory way. It's illegal and they're just having it come back at them. Motorola didn't get a fine or anything so they got off easy. Regardless of your opinion of the various patent systems and their broken nature, the fact of the matter is that under the current law Apple's patents are very real and they're not obligated to licence them. Samsung and Motorola were for the patents in question. While most people would agree that many of Apple's patents wouldn't exist under an optimal patent system, that has no relevance to the patent systems of reality. There's no basis on which to reprimand them.

I think most people just don't understand the patent system well, for all the jokes about "patenting rounded rectangles", design patents are very real and an old idea (And well enforced, I've seen claims that they wouldn't fly in the EU, where they actually do, etc.) The statue of liberty was partially funded by licensing fees for the design, which was protected by a patent.

[QUOTE=TheDecryptor;44682657]I think most people just don't understand the patent system well, for all the jokes about "patenting rounded rectangles", design patents are very real and an old idea (And well enforced, I've seen claims that they wouldn't fly in the EU, where they actually do, etc.) The statue of liberty was partially funded by licensing fees for the design, which was protected by a patent.[/QUOTE] There's a massive difference between patenting a complex machine like a new design of clock, versus patenting a general shape of a phone that makes one worth holding and making everyone else cough up the cash or get fucked in a multi-billion dollar lawsuit.

[QUOTE=zombini;44682870]There's a massive difference between patenting a complex machine like a new design of clock, versus patenting a general shape of a phone that makes one worth holding and making everyone else cough up the cash or get fucked in a multi-billion dollar lawsuit.[/QUOTE] Yes, that's why we have functional patents (How the clock works) and design patents (How the clock looks) How do you think companies go after people making counterfeit bags and clothing? The designs are patented.

Meanwhile, in the US...we're not doing anything about it.

[QUOTE=Used Car Salesman;44682988]Meanwhile, in the US...we're not doing anything about it.[/QUOTE] I'm pretty sure the House pass an act dealing with this a while ago, but I never heard anything about it ever since.

[QUOTE=Used Car Salesman;44682988]Meanwhile, in the US...we're not doing anything about it.[/QUOTE] Meanwhile in the US, the people responsible for our problems are the people in charge of fixing them, or at least very good friends with them.

[QUOTE=Mr. Someguy;44683180]Meanwhile in the US, the people responsible for our problems are the people in charge of fixing them, or at least very good friends with them.[/QUOTE] Congress is protected from the ramifications of their poor choices, which is why nothing gets done.

I don't see how this will help increase competition. There will still only be a handful of companies making smartphones.

[QUOTE=Pantz Master;44683592]I don't see how this will help increase competition. There will still only be a handful of companies making smartphones.[/QUOTE] Because those companies own patents that are required to build smartphones, and a few didn't want to license them to competitors, by forcing them to, you allow competitors to build phones for cheaper.

[QUOTE=smurfy;44680966][url]http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/29/us-eu-competition-motorola-idINBREA3S09220140429[/url] [url=http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-14-489_en.htm]EU press release[/url][/QUOTE] Finally. This whole patent bullshit is getting out of hand and only serves to block innovation. There is nothing wrong with using patents to prevent competitors from outright copying your product, but when patents are being made extremely vague and start to be used to block competitors from using certain services without buying a license first, shit's fucked up and someone needs to unfuck it. This line of thinking eventually spreads everywhere where money and large companies are involved. Not just the appliance market. Remember when that one casual game developer copyrighted the word "saga"? It's just rich guys in suits trying to see how far they can push their dicks in before people start complaining about it.