It doesn't strike as unethical or petty to make a deal (FRAND in this case) and not abide by it through a loophole?
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Apple Pulls All Withings Accessories From Apple Online Store Following Nokia Lawsuit
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It doesn't strike as unethical or petty to make a deal (FRAND in this case) and not abide by it through a loophole?
I love it. 40 lawsuits? That's obscene and hard to believe it's sole intent isn't to unfairly enrich themselves.
In the wake of its legal dispute with Nokia, Apple has pulled all Withings-branded accessories from its online store and presumably from all of its retail stores around the world.
Apple appears to have pulled the accessories in the last day or two, eliminating Withings products like the Body Cardio Scale, the Smart Body Analyzer, and the Wireless Blood Pressure Monitor. When searching for these products on Apple's site, they are no longer listed as available for purchase.
Apple has stopped offering all Withings products because Withings is owned by Nokia following a spring 2016 purchase worth an estimated $192 million. The Withings brand has been integrated into Nokia's Digital Health unit and is led by Cedric Hutchings, formerly the CEO of Withings.
Earlier this week, Apple filed an antitrust lawsuit accusing Nokia and several patent assertion entities of illegally transferring patents to attempt to extort excessive royalty fees from the Cupertino company. Apple had established FRAND (Fair, Reasonable, and Non-Discriminatory) deals with Nokia, but by transferring patents to patent holding companies, additional royalties can be demanded.
A cached version of the listing for the Withings Wireless Blood Pressure Monitor, no longer available from Apple.com
In response, Nokia filed 40 patent infringement lawsuits against Apple across 11 countries, accusing the Cupertino company of failing to establish licensing deals for Nokia patents that cover displays, user interface, software, antenna, chipsets, and video coding.
According to Apple, Nokia has been conspiring with patent assertion entities (Acacia Research and Conversant Property Management) in an "illegal patent transfer scheme" to wring money out of Apple because Nokia's cell phone business is failing. Nokia, meanwhile, says that it has not been able to reach a licensing agreement with Apple and must defend its rights.
Article Link: Apple Pulls All Withings Accessories From Apple Online Store Following Nokia Lawsuit
It was Nokia that spit in Apple's eye. They should just accept and continue letting them benefit by continuing to allow Apple Store presence? That makes no sense. Do you often let others walk all over you?
Well, the internal documents were part of the trade dress lawsuit -- which was thrown out by the appeals court.
I am not sure if you ever spent a day in product development or marketing, but benchmarking your products against competitors' is a fairly common practice. Yes, I'm 100% sure that Apple does it too.
Hi master Timmy - glad you could join us - but isn't in time for your stories and bed time?
Apple doesn't need to court order. They think Nokia is violating their agreements and they are free to take action against it and of course, make sure there is no conflicts of interest.
It's a perfectly legitimate move.
This doesn't seem childish to me. Why generate income for a hostile entity, against your own interests, that is actively trying to destroy your primary line of business? If I were a still a stockholder, I would demand this.
Some trolls will not see that. They just bash apple whenever they can with/without logic.
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Exactly. It's a legitimate move.
Destroy their business. Yea right.
Why ignore it on the retail level? Because there's a constant din of lawsuits going on in the back channel all day long between all these companies. It's all nonsense and these companies should know it. But fine, let the lawyers make millions battling over idiotic patents, but don't take things off the shelf that customers may want because of that stupidiy.
Earlier this year, Apple paid Samsung $2.6 billion to ramp up OLED production for them for next year. Do you have any idea how much money Apple gives Samsung? Half your iPhone is made by Samsung.
So are you saying Apple should stop giving so much money to Samsung (and close their iPhone business) or Samsung should stop doing business with Apple and force Apple out of the iPhone market (while causing Samsung to lose $10+ billion a year?
Thank goodness for Apple you're not a stockholder.
Wasn't it Nokia's CEO that once proudly said they would copy anything if it brought them money? Back around the time of the iPhone 1 release way before MS took them over.
Apple: **** Nokia and their products
Average Consumer: What's a Nokia?
Average Consumer: What's a Nokia?
If they had other options, I'm sure they would take it.
It makes good business sense.
Taking out withings product doesn't dent apples profit much but it can hurt withings much more.
So why not?
Samsung is not a hostile entity that the OP presents. I'm sure the CEOs and lawyers can still grab beers together
Samsung vs. Apple -> business is business
Nokia vs. Apple -> childish behavior
People are calling this childish behavior????? Here's an analogy: You have an employee. That employee tries to scheme against your company to create a lawsuit against your company. Firing the dude is gonna be the first thing you do... It's not childish to pull product from a company that's clearly not playing nice.
Think before you post people.
Think before you post people.