“With yesterday’s patent infringement suits filed by Microsoft against Barnes & Noble, Foxconn and Inventec with a US district court and the ITC, the total number of Android-related patent lawsuits has reached 37. Yes, thirty-seven,” Florian Mueller reports for FOSS Patents. “More than three dozen. Hard to believe but true.”
“Now I have — with a little help from a friend who’s good at graphics design — created a chart that shows how lawsuits involving Android have exploded since last year (see full article),” Mueller reports. “This infographic leaves no doubt that Android faces more problems than any other software platform — mobile or otherwise — in the history of this industry. And the trend is undoubtedly that there will be even more of this before all is said and done and, hopefully, settled.”
Mueller writes, “Google’s own patent portfolio is, as I explained in January, far too weak for what’s undertaken in connection with Android. While a company’s own patent portfolio can’t deter non-practicing entities (sometimes also called “trolls”) from suing, it is at least very helpful in order to reach cross-license agreements with other major IT companies. Google is unable to do that. This is a serious strategic weakness, and it’s in no small part responsible for the Android patent mess.”
Read more in the full article, which includes the infographic, here.
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