Mueller reports, “There’s a popular belief that all major high tech companies own tons of patents, and many consider Google fairly innovative. But its patent portfolio is dwarved by those of its competitors… The operating system that is the target of more infringement action than any other is Google’s Android.”
“No matter how influential Google may be on the World Wide Web, its patents apparently didn’t deter Oracle from suing. I’m sure Oracle took a close look at Google’s portfolio and determined that there was no risk of a serious counterstrike, or of any at all,” Mueller reports. “If Google could countersue, it might already have a favorable settlement with Oracle in its hands. Since it can’t, it will either have to fend off all seven patents asserted by Oracle (plus any others that Oracle could assert in a second suit), in each case by taking the patent down or proving that there’s no infringement, or it will have to come up with some theory that it was entitled to a license of some sort. Otherwise, Oracle will prevail and the vast majority of Android applications would presumably have to be rewritten. So chances are this will cost Google (and possibly the Android ecosystem at large) dearly.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: And the device assemblers who got totally blindsided by Apple’s iPhone and desperately turned to Google’s “free” Android in a sheer panic will be the ones left holding the bag. HP and even Microsoft and maybe even RIM (we’ll need to see more from them first), all of whom have their own mobile OSes in various stages of readiness, may be in stronger position to sweep up Apple’s table scraps than most people seem to realize. Smart mobile device assemblers will diversify and wean themselves from relying solely on Android in order to minimize their risk. Those that don’t are – *ahem* – courting disaster.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Erwin” for the heads up.]
Who GNU’ed?
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”grin” style=”border:0;” />
Oracle did not need to look at Google’s patent portfolio to sue when Google copied Oracle’s code line for line.
and the impact on Facebook’s using Android to build a phone app will be…?
“Microsoft is still the number three patentee with 3,094 new patents, Apple is a rising star with 563”
The big difference is how many of those pattens became actualy a product.
Microsoft pattens dreams or copies of other’s products (like they recently publicity Magic mouse wannabe).
Mora than 50% of apple pattens became or are working in a product we have today (like the multitouch in the iphone and the trackpads).
So an interesting list would be the top 50 companies with working patented products.
At the end of the day, Google is an advertising company, not a technology company.
@macdawg75
Zuckerberg won’t be able to click “Like” for that one.
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”grin” style=”border:0;” />
The concept behind a portfolio is that . . . You need something to put in it.
Afterall, what is a portfolio without anything in it?
Lies. Damn lies.
@Bubbles
It may be true that they generate the vast majority, if not all, of their revenue through advertising but to ignore the technical aspects of Google is ridiculously naive. Without that technological aspect there never would have been Google advertising. Google is as much a technology company as Microsoft or Apple.
Google can’t patent anything because Android didn’t invent shit!
@cspray,
Yeah, Gaagle’s a tech company alright – a tech company focused upon destroying the privacy of individuals.
Oracle’s Patent infringement claim against Google is not new ground. It’s the same claim that Sun filed over the old Microsoft Java VM. Sun went on to win all points in the claim and Microsoft was forced to pay and pay they did. Microsoft drop development their extended JVM at the start of the case and by the end of it had removed the MS JVM. Sun or course filed the even before MS dropped their own JVM. In the end the MS JVM was rubbed from existence.
The Android Java VM which is extended for Android and is the Core of all Android development is very likely to face the same road that the MS VM had without Oracle filling in the gaping Android JVM gap. Oracle is like to extract a hundred weight + from Google’s bank account and leave Google twisting in the wind. The interesting thing will be all the old Android devices that have to be pushed a non-infringing version of Android. It is likely to leave tens if not hundreds of millions or more Android device as non-usable electronic bricks.
OEMs should be terrified that their customer’s will end up with Android shell devices with little to no functionality. If Oracle follows the Sun vs. Microsoft path Oracle will be going for maximum impact and maximum damage to Google’s cash and reputation. Oracle could seriously damage Google to the point that investors loose confidence and start a sell off that may very well tank Google’s inflated stock price. Google stock selling for $8.50/share or less could be in the wings or even Google stock being moved to the Pink Sheets as the Fat Lady Sings.
By the way, (Eric T Mole) has lost his Position as CEO of Google.
Larry Page is now the CEO.
Wow !!!!!!!
Googles patents all relate to spyware. That’s the one field they utterly dominate in.
The number of patents aren’t what necessarily matter… it is the QUALITY of the patent (whether the patent has critical applicability and/or can or cannot be worked around) that determines it’s value…
Therefore, the value of a patent portfolio is WHICH patents are in it, not how many…
@ cspray,
Google is a tech company.
Yes, you’re right. Google builds and sells all sorts of tech. TVs, speaker systems, Digital media players, game consoles, cell phones, you name it.
Google doesn’t even sell software, let alone hardware.
Google sells advertising space. Period. They are an advertising company. Period.
@DUH
Good points.
According to Daniel Eran Dilger’s RoughlyDrafted article of August 14, 2010:
“. . .Oracle does’t just demand monetary infringement damages, it’s seeking to have any code that is found to infringe upon Oracle’s copyrights [a la Android] “impounded and destroyed.”
Ouch! OK, who’s going to invest big $$$ in developing all those Android tablets?
Ref: http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2010/08/14/how-oracle-might-kill-googles-android-and-software-patents-all-at-once/
2011 is going to be a hell-of-a fascinating year. This article alone bodes poorly for Android iPad ripoffs and well for Apple.
New charity:
MOPS FOR INDUSTRY
Donate supplies to help clean up the Even-Worse-Than-Expected FAILed iPad imitator BLOODBATH.
The original article (click the “Full article here” link above) was obviously written by someone knowledgeable on the subject. This isn’t an “I hate Google/Android” issue, but one based on copyright law. Likewise, a successful defense can’t be based on admiration for Google/Android.
I don’t have the legal or technical expertise to know how all of this works out, but it has the *potential* of knocking Google/Android out of the market. As other commenters have suggested, the impact would be huge for Apple/iPhone & RIM/Blackberry, it could give Apple another 1-2 years of almost complete dominance in the slate/tablet market, and it could derail Zuckerberg/Facebook’s plans to develop its own phone.
Investors should proceed with caution before placing bets on phone manufacturers that rely on Android operating systems.
I hate google but this patent business is also no good. It’s a nice idea in theory. In practice if you have enough money and lawyers, with the patent system you can steal other people’s ideas and future income from those ideas. It fails the little guy.
This is exactly the problem with patents, mainly software patents. Instead of protecting innovations they are used to stifle and hinder competition. I think that a patent should expire fairly fast if not used in a current product. You should not be allowed to just stack patents.
Software patents are WRONG and is something we should abolish.
It’s looking like Oracle’s suit against Google is in a totally different league to all the other patent spats. It’s got a long way to go, but it’s Google’s arrogance which could bring it undone in a big way here, and they would only have themselves to blame.
Oracle’s not going to back down, and this is going to get real nasty.
Tried a Galaxy Tab yesterday. Quite funny, I opened the video/you-tube application and it opened up side down. After a while the video starts, ahem…upside down…then you of course turn around the screen to see the video, then close the app and, wouldn’t you guess it…the homescreen is upside down…
Did that several times, every time it went the same way.
Android, the new “upside down and backwards copy of Apple’s OS”…this time literally…