Discussion: Apple and the iPhone recently won a lawsuit indicating that Google and HTC stole some of their intellectual property, and is copying one or more of Apple’s key operating systems. What does this mean for HTC and other manufacturers of the Android phone? Time will tell. For Google, HTC, and the Android phone, the best case scenario is to win the appeal to the decision that the ITC made. Worst case scenario is for the ITC to ban the import of HTC’s Android into the US, which likely will cause their market share to dwindle to zero.
Source: CNN Money
Date: July 16, 2011
Link: http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/07/16/apple-vs-google-inside-an-android-patent-violation/?hpt=hp_
Discussion Questions:
- Do you feel patents like these stifle or encourage innovation? Explain.
- How might this ruling affect other users of Google’s Open Source projects (such as Google TV or Chrome OS)?
David Firth
This is a direct response from Google on the patent issue: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/08/when-patents-attack-android.html