After a couple day hiatus due to sickness, I am back. Here are some interesting links worth reading from this week. I am going to do a separate post on news coverage of yesterday’s patent troll hearing in the House Judiciary committee.
Q&A With Samsung’s Mobile Chief
Korean Giant Unveils Galaxy Phone; Mobile Chief Isn’t Satisfied With U.S. Share
The Wall Street Journal
March 15, 2013
Yun-Hee Kim
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Shin addressed some of the major headwinds facing the company, including slowing economies in China and Europe—two of Samsung’s biggest markets—and constant legal battles over patents with Apple. He also discussed Samsung’s preference for Google Inc.’s Android operating system over Microsoft Corp.’s software, and its plans to launch a new smartphone this year using software co-developed with Intel Corp.
THX, Founded by George Lucas, Sues Apple in Patent Case
Bloomberg
March 15, 2013
Karen Gullo and Joel Rosenblatt
Apple Inc. was sued by THX Ltd., founded by “Star Wars” producer George Lucas, in a patent case in federal court in Northern California, according to a filing… The case appeared on a list of new filings in the court clerk’s office. No further details, including a copy of the complaint, were immediately available yesterday.
Cisco Systems Wins Patent Suit
VirnetX Shares Plunge
The Wall Street Journal Online
March 14, 2013
Drew Fitzgerald
The verdict from a jury in the U.S. court for Texas’ Eastern District dealt a serious blow to VirnetX, a Zephyr Cove, Nev., company that uses its patent portfolio to seek revenue from licensing fees or court judgments. Most of VirnetX’s revenue has come from a $200 million settlement reached with Microsoft Corp. in 2010, according to research firm ISI Group.
Stop Blaming Trolls for the Patent Problem
Wired
March 15, 2013
Michael Risch
The patent system is flawed, some would say broken. And patent trolls — less pejoratively known as non-practicing entities (NPEsNon-Practicing Entity. A broad term associated with trolls but now disfavored because it includes universities and legitimate technology developers that seek to license technology in advance rather than after a producing company has independently developed it. More) — are to blame, no matter how good a case they might make for their role in the patent ecosystem. Or are they? Trolls are an easy target because they don’t make anything, choosing
instead to enforce patents against those who do.
Inventors race to file patents
Wall Street Journal
March 14, 2013
Ashby Jones
Inventors are rushing to file patent applications ahead of a change in the U.S. patent system that is likely to make it more expensive and difficult to win protection for new ideas. The federal Patent & Trademark Office received 12,670 patent applications in the week ended March 2, its latest available data. The tally was the highest weekly total of the year and the second-highest weekly total of the past five months. Tallies for the weeks ending March 9 and March 16 aren’t available yet, but they are expected to be even higher, according to a PTOPatent and Trademark Office, informally used interchangeably with USPTO. spokesman.