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ICT Industry and the Patent Wars

Future technology rests on ideas – and some of the ideas that build our futures are expensive: after all, they can create billionaires, boost economies, and affect individual lives. But as Samsung drags the iPad mini into its intensifying battle with Apple, those on the sidelines are beginning to ask whether such additional conflict in the world is really worth all the fuss? Intellectual property and patent laws exist to enforce boundaries and protect the vulnerable in business, but are these technology giants pushing the concept a bit too far?

Earlier in the year, Samsung lost its main case with Apple in the US and was forced to pay out over $1 billion in compensation. The Korean company also suffered losses due to the courts embargo of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 during court proceedings, but has recently launched a counter offensive that claims a number of Apple devices, including the recently launched iPhone 5 and iPad mini infringe on their own technology patents.

As leaders of the mobile revolution, Apple, Samsung and Google have been known to work together, but in recent years they have increasingly brought private disputes out into the open where they have drawn considerable public attention. This infographic demonstrates that Apple has been the most active in taking competitors to court, but observers now point to a possible recent change in strategy. Though Apple recently removed Google Maps from their iPhone 5 offerings, they are reported to be seeking arbitration in their case against Google-owned Motorola for infringement of patented technologies, including iOS. Apple also recently settled a case out of court with HTC. So, why the change of heart?

Could it be that Apple has realized that such public squabbles over everyday computing devices like notebooks, smartphones, and tablets have become distasteful to consumers, damaging their public image? Or was it just inevitable that infringement of technological innovations would become so impossible to prove that an alternative solution would have to be found?

Against the backdrop of intensifying global conflict, continuing disputes such as those provoked by Samsung’s infringement of Apple’s ‘curved edge’ design and the gestures users can employ to control their devices, do, indeed, seem a touch absurd. But the complexity of international intellectual property laws does not help matters either – attempts to untangle the legal and technical implications of patent infringement attracts only the brightest and best legal teams.

In an increasingly competitive mobile environment, the solution for technology giants is not now perhaps cooperation, but independence: the trend is now for creating self-sustained ecosystems –with Apple and Google’s Android OS continuing to vie for control of the market. But, until recently, the only company that has been entirely comfortable with licensing its technologies is none other than the very first giant, Microsoft.

Traditionally an open platform for desktops and laptop PCs, the latest version of Microsoft’s Windows is touchscreen enabled, heading into new territory for ultrabooks and notebooks. Predictably, Microsoft and Google’s Motorola are currently thrashing out details of possible patent infringements in court: Motorola claims Microsoft will make $91 billion a year from new Windows 8 and its Surface tablet. It seems, for now, therefore, that the tit-for-tat mentality very much prevails.

It is difficult to estimate the amount of money that drains out of the ICT industry every year in legal fees and compensation payouts, but one thing’s for sure: so long as innovation remains profitable, and technological boundaries continue to blur, disputes over originality shall persist.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Writer on the go .