Who’s Suing Who, 2011 Edition
Image Source: wix.com
It seems litigation is in the air within the tech world. Not a week goes past without some manufacturer being sued by another, in what appears to be a never ending saga of bitter patent disputes. The constant sparring between Apple and Samsung is perhaps the most prolific of the lot (it’s a saga within itself!), with the latest round being won by Apple in banning of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Galaxy SII phone across most of Europe.
This infographic from Reuters, whilst a tad out of date, aims to summarise which of the mobile tech giants have been sued, or are in the process of being sued/suing at the moment.
This complete quagmire of litigation as resulted in the tech giants resorting to huge acquisitions in order to buff up their patent portfolios and protect their products. Apple and Microsoft led a consortium to purchase 6000 of Nortel’s patents governing wireless communication, whilst Google made a $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobile, the main motive being the acquisition of their 17,000 patents. Even so, this hasn’t really stopped the sparring. Microsoft has recently filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Motorola. And thus, it continues…
But what does this mean for the consumer? Normally, these suits are settled with the victor being awarded a cut of the profits from each sale of the ‘infringing’ device. e.g HTC pay Microsoft around $5 for each of their smart phones sold. This cost may be soaked up by the infringing manufacturer, or passed onto the consumer via a higher wholesale price. The regional blocking of device sales, such as that of the Galaxy Tab 10.1, is another drastic result of litigation.
But in my opinion, another effect of all these lawsuits is the creation of uncertainty amongst consumers. Will their devices be withdrawn? Will a certain feature be withdrawn?
The 'Slide to Unlock' patent, now Apple's (courtesy of 9to5mac)
In relation to this, Apple have recently won a patent for the ‘slide-to-unlock’ feature. This is a fairly fundamental (and widely copied) constituent to any smartphone , and it’s any ones guess as to heavily Apple will use it against their rivals. I imagine Samsung’s lawyers (as well as Google’s) becoming a tiny bit more nervous!
(Of particular note, it’s interesting to see how how the big Chinese telecoms companies ZTE and Huawei are suing each other, whilst being relatively unscathed by Western companies (bar Ericsson). Another thing interesting to note is how Microsoft and Apple, famous rivals in the tech field, are apparently not at each others throats).
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