“A Google patent lawyer says that the patent system is broken, and he accuses Microsoft of abusing the system,” Timothy B. Lee reports for Ars Technica.
“Speaking to the San Francisco Chronicle on Sunday, Google’s Tim Porter pointed to Microsoft’s attacks on Linux as an example of its broader corporate strategy,” Lee reports. “‘When their products stop succeeding in the marketplace, when they get marginalized, as is happening now with Android, they use the large patent portfolio they’ve built up to get revenue from the success of other companies’ products,’ he said.”
Lee reports, “The Chronicle asked Porter the obvious question: Should software be patentable? Porter refused to give a straight answer, ‘There are certainly arguments’ that copyright protection is ‘more appropriate’ for the software industry, he said. But he would only say that ‘the current system is broken…'”
Read more in the full article here.
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Apple poised to make billions on Google’s Android – November 4, 2011
Why Google lashed out at Apple and Microsoft over patents: Android is in deep trouble and its top lawyer knows it – August 4, 2011
Google legal honcho: Apple, Oracle, Microsoft use ‘bogus patents’ to wage hostile campaign against sainted Android – August 3, 2011
Boo hoo Google … yawn
And this guy is an attorney?
O.K. Lets see…… We will take the IP that you paid your researchers to develope and give it away for free and then cry when you expect us to pay you for what we stole. Yes, that sounds like Google.
Whenever I hear Google talk about patents, I always picture Google as Ford and every other tech company as Bob Kearns, and then I realize that they’re just trying to rip someone off.
“Dad, the system we have for using the family car is broken.”
“How so son?”
“Well, you expect me to pay my fair share, pay for my own gas, oil, maintenance, and repairs and insurance. I want to just use the car whenever I want and gain all of the benefits of your efforts in paying for it. This system isn’t fair Dad!”
“Uh… Son. Time for you to move out. And… the car stays here.”
Boohoogle will be loving MS’s approach as soon as Apple shuts down Android entirely…
Hypocrites much?
Let me remove the confusion in his statements for you: Other company’s patents and protections are immoral and bad. However Google’s patents and copyrights are good.
See, his comments make sense now.
The length of time between applying for a patent, and getting it reviewed and issued (years) is very broken in our fast moving world. Products have come and gone before some related patents are even reviewed by the PTO.
And then the court system is broken, taking years to resolve patent disputes.
If the timeliness of those two systems were fixed, we would not be hearing this Google lawyer whimpering because Android would not exist in its present form, cobbled together from stolen parts then embellished with some innovative features.
If there is any system that is broken, it is the patent office’s and the court’s. That’s why you have companies like Google that are taking advantage of the bureaucratic red tape and delays in the system to abuse with impunity.
Me: Google steals when its ideas fail
“Well, yes, it’s broken when we see something that we want, but not broken when we feel we have a right to protect the IP we developed and labored over…”
That’s really what he should have said, because it’s what he meant. Google thinks they have a right to be the dominant market force in whatever area they decide is their domain, because “Hey, their Google,” they’re doing no harm. Everyone else is evil. I think stealing IP makes it pretty tough to rationalize that you’re doing no harm. That might be their “reality distortion field” but I’m not buying it.
If Google wants to get out of technology, they can go into whine making.
Of course Google is going to remain silent on the issue of whether software is patentable! Not only are they complicit, they have moved their IP offshore in order to take advantage of taxes.
Pot, meet Kettle. Both black as sin. Or at least Motorola; Goog itself has so few patents to speak of.
Face it guys, you’re both hacks. Jump into bed already.