How To Use The Courts To Damage Competitors

Let’s see, didn’t Apple start by stealing secrets from PARC. Why I believe Jobs did do that and built the Macitosh from those secrets.

Seeking to capitalize on a major legal victory over its rival Samsung Electronics Ltd , Apple Inc has asked a federal court in a separate case to find that four additional Samsung products, including the Galaxy S III, infringe Apple’s patents.

In February, Apple alleged that at least 17 Samsung products infringe its patents. In a court filing made in San Jose federal court on Friday, Apple added four more products to the list of allegedly infringing products that have been released beginning in August 2011 and continuing through this month.

Apple won a major victory over Samsung last Friday in a separate case when a jury found that the South Korean company had copied critical features of the hugely popular iPhone and iPad and awarded the U.S. company $1.05 billion in damages.

The problem with software and patents … So there is no competition and the stale rule the world.

Apple and their walled gardens.

Samsung Internal Memo, Promises Ultimate Victory

No Apple fan boy am I. Do not like paying walled garden pricing, and not being able to do what I want to do with my computer.

Samsung management told the company’s employees that it will eventually be vindicated in its fight with Apple.

The company claims in the memo, which was sent to all employees, that it wanted “to negotiate with Apple” rather than head to court, but the iPhone maker balked. Now that it’s facing a more than $1 billion payout, Samsung told employees that it’s a company that centers on appealing to consumers — not patent law.

“History has shown there has yet to be a company that has won the hearts and minds of consumers and achieved continuous growth, when its primary means to competition has been the outright abuse of patent law, not the pursuit of innovation,” Samsung wrote to employees.

An open market makes the competition beter for all. You get the devices and software you want, on what device you want it on.

Intel Buys RealNetworks Patents

Intel has purchased 190 patents and 170 patent applications from RealNetworks for $120 million.

The patents include technology invented to create next-generation video codecs, which encode or decode video so that it can be sent over networks efficiently. It’s one more example of a giant company “armoring up” to deal with potential patent wars in the future.

As part of the deal, Intel will acquire RealNetworks’ foundational streaming media patents, expanding Intel’s diverse portfolio of intellectual property.

Intel said the deal enhances its ability to “continue to offer richer experiences and innovative solutions to end users across a wide spectrum of devices, including through Ultrabook devices, smartphones and digital media.”

“Selling these patents to Intel unlocks some of the substantial and unrealized value of RealNetworks assets,” CEO  Thomas Nielsen said in a statement. “It represents an extraordinary opportunity for us to generate additional capital to boost investments in new businesses and markets while still protecting our existing business.”

The two companies also agreed to collaborate on future support and development of the video codec software and related products.

RealNetworks will retain certain rights to continue using the patents in current and future products.

Kodak may file for Chapter 11 if it can’t sell patents

Eastman Kodak is prepping for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing that could put an interesting twist in the patent wars.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Kodak is looking for $1 billion in so-called debtor-in possession financing, which keeps companies running in a restructuring, with the idea that it would sell its 1,100 patents in an auction.

In other words, Kodak is betting that it can land capital like Nortel Networks did–via a bankruptcy court auction. Kodak is trying to sell the patents to avoid a bankruptcy filing. Kodak’s patents could come in handy in the ongoing patent wars. All smartphones have digital photography technology