The most frequent plaintiff in the dataset [is] Apple. Apple has a uniquely aggressive litigation history when compared to the rest of the market leaders and Apple's stance may have effected a more general increase in litigation within the market. First, Apple has filed more lawsuits than other market share leaders. Second, Apple began asserting its design patents related to its smartphone in 2011 and prior to these lawsuits, design patent suits were vary rare in the market. Finally, patent infringement litigation saw a substantial increase after Apple's broad patent litigation was filed in 2011. Apple's aggressive litigation posture may be spurring litigation throughout the market and may be motivating competitors to acquire additional patents in order help them strengthen their defensive position.Another study agreed that Apple has an aggressive approach. Apple has famously sued Samsung, Motorola, HTC, and other competitors around the world.
According to Mitchell Hall in PC Magazine:
This whole patent war is one that Apple, and Steve Jobs in particular, started, upending a long-standing "gentleman's agreement" between U.S. mobile phone companies; all had competing patents but were generally happy to license them to each otherThere is some truth to this. Nokia, once the largest manufacturer, licensed its numerous patents to competitors as part of its day-to-day business. Apple, on the other hand, preferred to keep its technology under closed doors.
In 2010, when Apple filed lawsuits against HTC, then-CEO Steve Jobs stated:
We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We’ve decided to do something about it. We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours.I can think of two explanations for Apple's aggressive patent litigation.
First, Apple (especially Steve Jobs) wanted to distinguish their product from the competition. They did not want their competition to use their technology, even if they received royalties as Nokia had. They wanted their technology to be exclusive to their branded product. To be honest, I suspect that this was more for ideological or philosophical reasons than for profit.
Second, Apple is losing market share to Android manufacturers. Apple has cash and legal resources on hand. Litigating slows down the competition and gives Apple a competitive edge. After all, Nokia, which had itself been losing market share to Apple, triggered the smartphone wars by suing Apple.
Originally I thought Apple was the one who initiated the patenting war, then through research I realized that it was actually Nokia who started it. Who would've realized that Apple became the patenting monster which wants to slow down competitors if not eliminating them. With their sword winning over money and perhaps increment in market share, corporations rush to dig gold out of patent. This is definitely some kind of Patent Gold Rush that is happening. Apple is just the largest and the most aggressive mining business around.
ReplyDeleteI feel that Apple's broad patent litigation has negatively impacted the technology innovation in our country. It is true that patents are meant to protect intellectual property; however, it is not meant for companies to "squat" on overarching ideas and then sue other companies.
ReplyDeleteHow can the system be made more fair? Should Apple license its ideas to its competitors? What if Apple feels that, by doing so, competitors will be able to manufacture cheaper products with the same ideas and compromise Apple's success? Is this something we should accept because it means cheaper phones for consumers?
DeleteI think many of the "dirty" tactics we see in the patent war, such as suing in the Eastern District of Texas and filing claims just to slow competition are responses to a negative situation. More than anything, I would say the patent war normalized these kinds of behavior.
ReplyDeleteBy negative situation, do you mean a bad legal system and/or abusive uses of the law? I agree that many of the tactics in the patent wars seem "dirty", anticompetitive, or extreme.
DeleteToo many patent wars are "negative" in nature. The focus needs to remain in protecting IP and pushing for innovation, and yet, these battles remain petty. The USPTO is in pursuit for change, but there will always be someone taking advantage of the system, so long as there is one. One ingredient I'd like to see added is social shame. I wonder if it can add enough value to the industry as it has for environmental causes.
DeleteGreat overview!
ReplyDeleteI think another reason why Apple might get so eager at protecting its patents by suing others is because patents that survive an infringement case becomes more valuable since it has been "tested". Apple might want to use these lawsuits to make a point that we do own these technologies and other competitors' technologies cannot survive infringement cases, and therefore they have less perceived value than ours.
ReplyDelete