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Lodsys Responds to Controversy Over Lawsuit Threats
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You must be really really old. Eckert and Mauchly (Univac corp) were reportedly trying to patent all kinds of stuff like this circa 60 years ago, but I didn't think any patents on their (an anyone else's) software inventions were granted back then.
So you prefer to screw all small inventors? Say you borrow all your relatives life savings and you invent a fantastic new way for all cars to get 100 MPG. But you can't afford $10B to start your own auto company within a reasonable time. So by your new law, you'll just have to give your invention away to GM, and let your parents lose their house?
Geeez, keep dreaming, kid.
Ah, the internet, thinking everyone that types something in a forum is a "kid". I happen to be an 80 year old man with five sister wives and an estate that extends 20 miles past the meandering creek next to the big rock by the bridge.
Meanwhile your a 16 year old boy from Anaconda Montana who uses an iMac G3 to stream low quality episodes of Xena on your 56 k connection.
How do you do those new fangled imotchi cons
*rolleyes*
worthless human
these people sound like they are a waste of oxygen, I say kudos on the death threats!
people like that are the REASON the world is not a better place.
these people sound like they are a waste of oxygen, I say kudos on the death threats!
people like that are the REASON the world is not a better place.
Or you take your idea to Angel Investors and become a billionaire? Capitalism baby! Unless your idea is *****, or you don't have the expertise to make an idea a reality in which case you don't deserve a pickled egg.
Sadly mostly older generations seem to think America is still # 1 everywhere
and they press these buttons in a museum.
Example: Which country is the biggest steel producer in the world?
Then you get to see their disappointed faces.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Try that yourself. Invent something good enough that you'll spend the dollars to patent it (again, not cheap). Then, be one of a multitude of others out begging Angel Investors for money to back your idea.
Angel investors are NOT a dime a dozen. The vast majority of the time, those that have to take the financial risk want so much of the upside reward, the remaining share seems too low to accept for the person who invented whatever they've invented.
Yes, definitely try to get backing. Yes, definitely try to get licenses. But if both of those don't work satisfactorily, or if both of those are beyond your own financial resources, this third option (love it or apparently overwhelmingly hate it) is a way to see the value of your patented concept be proven out in the world (by enough implementations that some lawyers will take the case for a commission on an ultimate settlement). And because you managed to win the patent for the concept, you finally have a chance to make some money for doing so (some XX-teen years later).
You don't. Inventing something new and cool in your workshop is a very different expertise from negotiating a $10B investment, or making and running a huge corporation. That's another reason why most (90%?) new small companies fail, and only big companies end up with most of the patents.
Agreed! The worst part is if you bring it up to an older generation (or some newer generation members) they think you are insulting the U.S. and go on a big "if you don't like it get out!" speech when in reality its fact. The U.S. has stagnated big time. I won't mention any hot buttons here since I don't want to de-rail the thread but its easy to see what foreign countries have, especially those in the EU have compared to what we have and see how much we are lacking.
Anyway back on track: I wish patents could only be valid if an invention is made with them within 2 - 3 years after the patent is filed. If not, no patent!
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Actually I am from Europe and I love America otherwise I wouldn't be here.
Don't agree with everything they do, but allowing for some realism would make it better.
The country is so big with such a diversity of people, that I honestly believe it can't be governed. So, everything is driven by money.
While there is always a try to erode it's freedoms, USA is the place to be...
until you get old.
I love it when people edit out half of a argument so they actually have something to argue about. Inventors don't have to bring their inventions to market to make money from them, that's the beauty of the patent system. They either sell the patent in whole to some company IE GM, Ford, Lodsys etc. and receive a lump sum for their work, or they licenses the technology to them to rep the benefits for the life of the patent.
It would be most wise not to misunderstand the role the EU plays in the lives of the people living under its rule. Its bad thing. A Very Bad thing.
So, assuming that Lodsys has a case, what is the expiration date of this patent, exactly?
How can they prove the paid app was purchased as a result of clicking an "Upgrade" button in a free or demo copy; especially if the button just takes the person to the regular old App store?
Really??? How much of your families life savings did you borrow to pay all those extensive patent costs? Do you think you will ever be able to pay them back before they lose all their house?
Should small inventors (as in nerdy engineers and scientists working in their own garages, not businessmen) have any potential of reward for the investment in time and money (as in mortgaging their house and their parents house to pay for tooling and prototypes) that they spend inventing new cool stuff?
Maybe not? In ancient times before patents, only noblemen and their buddy's could create stuff and make a living at that. Everybody's else was a pretty much a serf whose productivity and ideas belonged to the king, or the church.
And this isn't what the patent covers. Read the abstract. The patent is simply about providing an interface that requests user feedback and sends this information to a central location.
Just the act of clicking "upgrade" or "buy full version" etc on a page that asks "Did you like this ? Check out the full version/these extra levels", whether it be IAP or a simple link to the App store for a full version is covered. This is not related to IAP per se, it is much broader.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Or someone not sufficiently qualified to offer feedback- perhaps even frightened and surprised by a volume of death threats- just reacted to the situation out of hand. Imagine if you were on the wrong end of a patent dispute that involved Apple and people started sending you death threats in the volume you might imagine of the Apple (always) faithful. You might be shocked on the low end or even frightened enough to try to respond without completely thinking through your response.
My guess is that their counsel will have such comments removed soon enough. And something more professional will be posted (if anything at all).
These people are just people- not some evil empire looking to bring Apple and the entirety of iOS to it's knees. They think they have something that can make them some money. Some lawyers have probably given them some confidence about that. Then, the wrath of Apple fanatics have rained down upon them up to and (apparently) including death threats. Apparently some of these death threats are even coming from some iOS developers.
Why aren't we just as outraged that iOS developers will threaten someone's life over the potential to have to pay a little money to a patent holder? Apparently, the requested rate is .575%. Some of you all heated up about this might want to do a little math. For example, $50 times .575% = 29 cents. $1000 times .575% = $5.75. We're not exactly talking about huge impact here on us as individuals, nor small developers if they just eat the costs. Even if any one of you made one of those death threats, when was the last time your in-app purchases were such that they exceeded say- $10,000, thus costing you an extra $57.75 for your portion of the requested patent fee in this situation. Else, how long until you might have to lay out that extra $57.75 to cover that patent fee? And is $57.75 or $577.50 or even $5775.00 (the latter on $1 million of in-app purchases by the way) worth making death threats?
If this is upheld, the affected developers could just raise their prices enough to wash out the added cost. Apple loses nothing. The developers lose nothing. The patent holder gets paid. And we the consumer have to pay a little more for something we choose to buy. We can also choose NOT to buy it.
When Apple leverages the magsafe connection patent to kill production of the lower priced alternatives, we also have to pay Apple's higher price because of a patent dispute. Where are the death threats, etc in that patent issue that affects some of us in a pocketbook-impacting way? It will take a fair amount of (in app) purchases at the slightly higher cost to wash out this license fee to add up to the difference in cost of the magsafe clones vs. Apples version. I recall that difference in cost working out to nearly $40-$50 dollars more (again about $800K-$1M in in-app purchases to equate). Maybe we should just rampage the walls in Cupertino???
Instead of the end user eating the cost (which is relatively small to each consumer), maybe the developer eats the added cost? Or maybe Apple eats the cost? Or maybe Apple & the developers work together to do this in some other way outside of the Lodsys patent claim? There's still lots of ways for this to play out.
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Hmmn, must be the most convoluted analogy I have ever come across in my life!
And I don't assume that, either!!!
I really home someone gets the DOJ involved here. This is a prime example of the misuse if IP. These guys are terrorists, the new mafia.
Firewood you are being a bit facetious. This is an argument against patent trolls, not the "little" guy. However, in your scenario, you believe that the first little guy that files the paper should be able to rape every other little guy that comes along that can afford to make something of it. Not only do businesses lose, but so do consumers. Ultimately our patent system is a burden on capitalism and the free market and needs to be adjusted to the best interests of consumer, which is fierce competition.
You are missing a lot of understanding on the online business models
HobeSoundDarryl you are just as ill equipped to reply. In some circumstances, namely apps that provide 3rd party content, or are ad supported, they are making less than 3% profit, accounting for development, marketing, and support costs. Therefore, .5% of cost can be over 15% of the profits the developer is realizing. Not so small when you talk about real numbers is it.
HobeSoundDarryl you are just as ill equipped to reply. In some circumstances, namely apps that provide 3rd party content, or are ad supported, they are making less than 3% profit, accounting for development, marketing, and support costs. Therefore, .5% of cost can be over 15% of the profits the developer is realizing. Not so small when you talk about real numbers is it.