Patents - "Don't know whether to laugh or cry" Department

[40hz]

This was bound to happen. Apparently patent litigation is now adopting some the strategies of the former US/Soviet Cold War...

Makes sense. Why should the trolls be allowed to have all the fun?

From OSNews:

HTC Buys S3 Graphics, Gets Patents Apple Is Infringing
posted by Thom Holwerda on Thu 7th Jul 2011 20:41 UTC, submitted by sawboss

Sorry, but for some reason, there's a spike in patent, trademark, and related news this week - not entirely unsurprising considering it's earnings season. HTC, currently under attack from Apple and a recent signer of Microsoft patent agreement regarding Android, has bought S3 Graphics... For the patents. Patents Apple has already been found infringing upon.

I really don't know whether to laugh or cry about it.

Link to full article here.

[Renegade]

( FYI - The link is missing from there.)

Well, in general, I want to cry, but because it's Apple on the 'getting screwed' end, I'll laugh. (That is so entirely immature of me... Maybe I'm related to Peter Pan...)

[40hz]

( FYI - The link is missing from there.)

@Ren - fixed! Thanks guy. 

[Renegade]

I rather liked the summary:

And this is how you compete when innovation takes a back seat. Pretty much the entire software industry has been bogged down by software patents, making it virtually impossible to write any piece of code without infringing some patent in some closet somewhere in the US. So, you have to buy patent war chests.

Software patents, then, are clearly good for innovation.

Sigh...

The current system is inherently flawed beyond repair. A quick run down the slippery slope...

Make a patent claim in the area of mathematics or algorithms. From there you could extend the patent, just as the drug industry does with altering patented molecules for new patents. Rinse. Repeat. Congrats. You've just patented everything that is possible.

The logic can be followed in a very fun way through the arguments put forward by the ancient Megarians (founded by Euclid). You'd need to dig much deeper than Wikipedia for the arguments though. They include proofs for things like black is white, which DO follow.