This is a joke. An absolute circus. The patent “emperor” has no clothes. Here we have two innovative companies– one of which (Samsung) makes or has made a huge number of components that actually make the phones function (everything from screens to processor chips)– arguing about whether or not one of them gets to “own” the totally not obvious ideas of rounding rectangular corners or making a device with a large touch screen.
And now we have a jury deciding not only damages potentially in the realm several billion dollars but potentially whether innovation will effectively continue in the U.S. going forward. Nine “regular Joes” who are now tasked with adhering to over 100 pages of jury instructions for literally hundreds and hundreds of counts that span the breadth of IP law. And what hangs in the balance is nothing short of whether the future of America is one in which a company like Apple–sporting one of the highest valuations in the entire world–gets to “own” ideas such as a rectangular phone with rounded corners and use such ownership to block all competition from the market.
If this isn’t proof positive that the patent system needs to be significantly reformed then I’m not sure what is.
This is a joke. An absolute circus. The patent “emperor” has no clothes. Here we have two innovative companies– one of which (Samsung) makes or has made a huge number of components that actually make the phones function (everything from screens to processor chips)– arguing about whether or not one of them gets to “own” the totally not obvious ideas of rounding rectangular corners or making a device with a large touch screen.
And now we have a jury deciding not only damages potentially in the realm several billion dollars but potentially whether innovation will effectively continue in the U.S. going forward. Nine “regular Joes” who are now tasked with adhering to over 100 pages of jury instructions for literally hundreds and hundreds of counts that span the breadth of IP law. And what hangs in the balance is nothing short of whether the future of America is one in which a company like Apple–sporting one of the highest valuations in the entire world–gets to “own” ideas such as a rectangular phone with rounded corners and use such ownership to block all competition from the market.
If this isn’t proof positive that the patent system needs to be significantly reformed then I’m not sure what is.