Dropbox joins Linux patent protection hit squad

Sony v Sony

So Sony are in OIN but are also in Rockstar... that's could lead to some interesting situations.

Oracle!!

Should have told Larry to FO, he's part of the problem.

Protection?

Hmm - sounds suspiciously like the old fashion protection racquet. Join one mafia group to be protected from the others. Pay us money so we protect you from the others suing you and claiming money off you.

The least worst solution

Given the state of patents and patent litigation, anything that helps restore sanity is welcome, but it is extra-judicial and extra-democratic. In effect there's a good natured tough guy in the neighbourhood threatening bullies if they threaten others.

But it's not the same as a sensible legal system with proper oversight and actually adds dead-weight cost because it's working on the symptoms not the cause.

Buy Blackberry?

IANAL, but it seems to me that if Blackberry is immune to those patents then Google can buy Blackberry and simply fold whatever under the Blackberry umbrella. Problem solved at least temporarily.

Anybody who does not have a conflict of interest and has clue one about this topic knows that at the very least Software Patents are net negative all around.

Those who feel the patent system has a problem, should be speaking strictly in terms of abolition. This will bring them to the table faster than anything else and once abolition *is* on the table we will all be forced to confront the elephant in the room -- Do software patents properly serve their purpose at a price that make sense? Spoiler alert:No.

cost of fighting is B I L L I O N S of dollars?

Me thinks the finger slipped and hit B instead of M.

The quote "Financial terms of the Microsoft’s agreement with TomTom were not revealed, although the cost of fighting such cases can run into tens of billions of dollars."

I presume the fighting is what gets allocated to each sides attack dogs.....

(Not that Millions fighting such cases is well spent in my opinion.... but... better Millions then Billions.....)

Patents

This is a bit off topic, maybe, but the patent is supposed to be a mechanism to reward inventors, or so I understand it.

Then, I think patents should be allowed to be sold at most once: when the inventor wants to sell it to someone who will then use the process patented -- if they do not use the process, they should not be able to charge for royalties on it either. That way, inventors would make more money. And patent trolls would pretty much cease to exist. And let's face it, patent trolling is all that this article is about, deep down.

This is...

Brilliant! Albeit rather sad that companies are forced to go back to a free market this way because of the totally corrupt US patent system and trolls funded by Microsoft and Apple

Been reading this sort of thing for the last few years:

"Microsoft has been tying makers of Android and Chrome devices from Google into licence agreements – with claims that Android and Chrome violate certain undisclosed Windows patents."

So Microsoft's subsidizing it's failing hodgepodge of mobile and embedded OSes with money extorted from the companies that are succeeding in those fields with Linux and Android. Microsoft's mobile and embedded OSes are bludging on welfare and have been on it for the past six or seven years. One thing people say about people on welfare long-term - they lose their initiative.

It's kind-of obvious with Microsoft's mobile and embedded OSes, isn't it? Have they shown any sort of initiative within the last seven years that's worth mentioning? I certainly haven't read about it. Has anyone else?

Microsoft is Microsoft's own worst punishment.