I think personally its quite sad apple seem to spend most of their innovation in finding how patents they have can be applied to other peoples devices, in other markets , specifically , day in day out !
I don't think any engineers are involved in offensive litigation. They might be needed to testify defensively, though.
How much money do apple spend on this ? as much as they recoup ? as a traded shareholding company are they not liable to disclose this info ?
No, they don't have to disclose the minute details of their financials. They don't even do that for their products.
I would have thought nearly all of the patents apple are trading off should have been covered by some sort of frand agreement , as they seem to be so fond of paying others very little for sharing the patents they don't own !
Apple for the last 24 months or so have disappointed me , with the amount of pure petty minded market destruction they are doing , maybe covering up the huge lack of innovation they have themselves anymore ???? please people , apple fans/lovers or not don't fool yourselves this is about patent protection , its just pure market share / money / race to the top ..
Apple _did_ innovate to create the original iPhone. Others totally ripped it off. As an engineer myself, I find it totally staggering that Samsung have gotten away with so much already! If I worked for Apple and spent a huge amount of time and effort thinking of some of these features, I'd be seriously offended by Samsung's copying. Making things simple is much more difficult than leaving them difficult.
After all of that work, Samsung send their photocopiers to examine the iPhone. They come up with a
132-page document. It covers all minor aspects of the phone from how many taps it takes to start writing a new SMS, to all kinds of little nuances, tweaks and flair. Then they recommend "changes" to the Galaxy to make it pretty much identical to the iPhone. Apple did the hard work, Samsung is stealing it.
Here's an official court-approved translation of the original Korean document, if you want to check it out for yourself:
http://www.theverge.com/2012/8/8/3227289/samsung-apple-ux-ui-interface-improvement
Look at that and tell me again that Apple shouldn't hire lawyers to take these guys down. Imagine if that was something you'd created - a novel, or a painting or some other creative work. Then a team sit down with a microscope and examine every little thing that you did and copy it in to their product. That isn't innovation. That isn't design. That isn't engineering. It's reverse-engineering; and just like engineering has a certain pride of creation, reverse engineering for the purpose of copying is shameful and harmful to society.
As for Apple's current pace of 'innovation', sure I'd like to see them do more. Then again, I have higher expectations of Apple like I have for any other company (and I'm sure many others are the same). It doesn't mean they're not entitled to protect their ideas and creations.
Apple will win most of the patent races i am sure, they have enough money ,but when there is no competition left , what chance of innovation or progression is there ?
I sure hope samsung win their lawsuits, wherever they may be left ! Purely to show apple they can't totally manipulate every eventuality in the marketplaces they are arguing
Just my 2 pence, but hey what do i know !!!
Apple want to stop people copying their ideas. They don't win because they have lots of money: Samsung's legal team aren't being restrained by costs; there is no imbalance on legal budgets. Apple are winning because they're correct and the law backs them up.
The Android group has won a few cases, but all relating to FRAND-pledged SEPs (FRAND doesn't mean low rate, it means you signed a contract with ETSI that they can use your patent in a standard but that you'll license it to anyone at the same rate). They haven't been able to enforce an injunction on those "wins", because that would be all kinds of illegal in whatever jurisdiction it's in (EU/US/anywhere else).
The SEP thing is new for this smartphone war. It's coming about because the Android group are desperate to gain leverage to force a license out of Apple. Apple are staying strong in the face of some almighty intimidation and bullying by those guys. They should be applauded; I know most engineers I know are behind Apple on this (or at least very much against Google's position and actions).