Patents, Patents, Patents

Right, well there has been a lot of talk recently of companies suing each other. This isn’t just because they are American, even the Finns are getting in on the act. But it’s due to patents. The most recent acts have been submitted by Kodak against Apple and RIM (makers of Blackberry) and Nokia against Apple. Apple seem to be getting a lot of stick, but that’s probably because they are the best at what they do and companies want to take a little dig at them.

 Let’s focus firstly on the Nokia vs Apple battle. Ilkka Rahnasto, vice-president of legal and intellectual property at Nokia, said

"The basic principle in the mobile industry is that those companies who contribute in technology development to establish standards create intellectual property, which others then need to compensate for… Apple is also expected to follow this principle."

Basically, Nokia have patents for acts such as wireless data and security and if companies, like Apple, want to use it they have to contact Nokia and then make sure that everything’s fine before the go-ahead. Nokia claim that Apple has been breaching these ever since the launch of the iPhone, back in 2007. Read our original post on the suing here.
Now let’s take a look at the other patent row that is going on, with Kodak on one corner against Apple and RIM on the other. Kodak claims to have a patent for the way the cameras on the phones previews the pictures, and that Apple and RIM are infringing it. As well as this monster of a patent, Kodak has also filed two separate suits against Apple. They claim infringements of patents about digital cameras and certain computer processes. But they’ve missed a trick here. Apple don’t make a digital camera. Duh, Kodak. It seems that this battle has been happening for quite a while now, with nothing happening. Kodak's chief Intellectual Property officer has said; 

"We've had discussions for years with both companies in an attempt to resolve this issue amicably, and we have not been able to reach a satisfactory agreement. In light of that, we are taking this action to ensure that we protect the interests of our shareholders and the existing licensees of our technology."

Kodak has asked the US International Trade Comission (ITC) to stop both companies from shipping anymore handsets until the battle is won. Quite frankly, are they mad? No more shipping of handsets, that doesn’t mean though, that they can’t move the making of the handsets to the US, still sell them, and continue to make millions? I seriously think Kodak need to review their lawsuits against these companies. If I can work out that they haven’t got it right, I think the boffins at Apple will.
But there is a more pressing matter here; why would they have to stop shipping handsets? This is all about Kodak having what they want, and not what the consumer wants. Surely, all this should be what the consumer wants and not have it any other way. I also don’t want amazing technology to be spoiled and not put into places where it would be great because of companies being afraid of patents and copyright. It could cast a dark shadow over the world of technology if the companies aren’t careful.