Apple Ordered to Pay VirnetX Another $502.8 Million for Patent Infringement

[return2sendai]

So sorry...

It's only language.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

Apple knowingly violated patent law and accepted that by offering to pay 112 million. Apple regularly violates patents and just sees it as opportunity cost, "is violating this patent cheaper than us developing it?". Which isn't fair to the patent holder, and they get away from some freebies because smaller companies don't have the resources to take the Apple giant to court.

Call it trolling, but a patent is a patent and if they made it first, Apple needs to honor that. If the shoe were on the other foot, Apple would crucify the company that violated them.

But there are SO MANY PATENTS!

The problem the industry will run into, and perhaps already is, is that there are TOO MANY PATENTS! If you innovate, and someone has a patent they are sitting on, and have enough lawyers, they can STOP INNOVATION! It's got to be like walking through a funhouse house of mirrors, or trying to walk across your yard, in new white shoes, in the dark, and avoid the 'land mines' left by the dog.

Going back to my music analogy, someone innocently uses three notes from a piece of music from years, decades ago, and they are sued. What are the chances, eventually, that all three note sequences are protected, and no one can come up with any new music without fear of being sued. It might be a silly analogy, but how many patent trolls are sitting on 'patent traps' and have the money and greediness to sue for massive damages and stop innovation.