Microsoft, Symantec, more sued over OS permissions patent.
A small Texas firm has filed a lawsuit against more than 20 companies, including Microsoft, AVG, and Novell, for violating its patents over data permissions and application authentication. It is unclear whether the firm may actually have a leg to stand on, but it certainly didn’t show restraint when picking who to face off against in court.
There’s another very similar story on Ars Technica: 36 companies named in parental control infringement lawsuit. These things are never really about damages–rather, the company holding the bogus patent (which invariably exists for the sole purpose of collecting bogus patents) sues some big company, estimates how much it will cost to fight the lawsuit, and then offers to settle. For example, let’s say that the patent trolls in Texas figure that it will cost Symantec five million dollars to fight the lawsuit (which everyone knows Symantec would win), so they offer to settle for $2.5 million. It’s basically a form of extortion which is legal in the US.
Leave a Reply