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Re: [News] Microsoft Wastes Money on Patent FUD Attempts

Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> espoused:
> Microsoft's patent covenants cause confusion
> 
> ,----[ Quote ]
>| Then there is Oracle licensing agreement with the Open Invention Network, 
>| formed in 2005 to protect Linux from patent threats. By agreeing to a royalty 
>| free licence to the OIN patents Oracle also agreed not to assert its patents 
>| against the Linux operating system.   
>| 
>| So if you can avoid suing anyone for patent infringement related to those 150 
>| standards, you?re safe from IBM, and if you?re using any form of Linux, you 
>| are safe from patent infringement claims made by Oracle.  
>| 
>| Now, that sounds like peace of mind.
> `----
> 
> http://www.businessreviewonline.com/os/archives/2007/07/microsofts_pate.html
> 
> Linux Expert: Microsoft Is Throwing Money Away
> 
> ,----[ Quote ]
>| "If [Microsoft] found the knife, they'd use it -- but I don't think they 
>| found the knife," Bottomley says, referring to patent violations. He rattled 
>| off a few of the Linux community's defences: "Patent law is supposed to 
>| protect people who wish to publish their ideas. I suspect these ideas were 
>| never published. Whoever invented [something] first is entitled to the 
>| patent -- it wouldn't be unlikely to be [the open source community], in which 
>| case the patent would be invalid."      
> `----
> 
> http://rcpmag.com/blogs/weblog.aspx?blog=1102
> 
> Courting a Jury
> 
> ,----[ Quote ]
>| For all of the hype these days over enormous jury verdicts -- including the 
>| record $1.5 billion judgement against Microsoft Corp. in March -- few juries 
>| ever decide a patent dispute. The huge stakes and the unpredictability of 
>| juries ensure that "most companies choke down some kind of a settlement or 
>| licensing deal," says veteran patent litigator Woody Jameson, a partner at 
>| Duane Morris in Atlanta. And, of course, the cost of just getting in front of 
>| a jury is staggering: a big patent trial now costs each side more than $4 
>| million to try.       
> `----
> 
> http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1184749586614

That's interesting - maybe the US/Canada/Mexico/Australia software
patents groups will price themselves out of the market anyway?

-- 
| Mark Kent   --   mark at ellandroad dot demon dot co dot uk          |
| Cola faq:  http://www.faqs.org/faqs/linux/advocacy/faq-and-primer/   |
| Cola trolls:  http://colatrolls.blogspot.com/                        |
| My (new) blog:  http://www.thereisnomagic.org                        |

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