Why would anyone still support a bully like Apple?

Summary: Apple's attacks on Android (using bogus patents) may be soon be escalated to the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS)

PATENTS are the long-term foe of Free software because as long as there are software patents (even in just a few countries) import of devices with Linux or Android or whatever other Free software inside them can be banned, barred, blocked at the border. It's a massive injustice.

The other day we saw the law firm Fox Rothschild LLP (prolific when it comes to pro-patent-maximising opinions) spreading FUD against Free software licences and promoting software patents. These are the sorts of parasites that continue to stand in the way of a Free software-run world -- one in which transparency and participation are part of the social contract. Suffice to say, transparency and participation reduce corruption and empower peace, whereas the opposite creates suspicion, hostility, betrayal, and conflict.

Florian Müller has spent a number of years attacking Android, sometimes as part of the contracts he was paid for, e.g. by Microsoft. He recently wrote about how Apple lost a key design patent. It's one which we covered before. It's laughable.

Sarah Burstein says that "SCOTUS hasn't heard an issue of substantive design patent law for over 100 years." She cites Howard Mintz who wrote that "Federal Circuit refuses to rehear Samsung appeal of verdict in patent trial against Apple. Scotus or bust" (i.e. last resort).

The SCOTUS has thus far been the best weapon against ridiculous patents (more on that in our next post) and Müller says that Samsung will appeal to it, answering questions from Apple propaganda sites (see questions like "will Samsung ask SCOTUS?" regarding this article from Mac Rumors).

"These are the sorts of parasites that continue to stand in the way of a Free software-run world -- one in which transparency and participation are part of the social contract."This development has been covered a lot by corporate media in the US and it hardly shocks us that a US court ruled in favour of a US company, not a Korean company. We wrote about such biases many times before (the ITC is a good example of that) and since the corrupt CAFC is involved, it makes this anything but shocking, just expected.

There is no CAFC hearing for Samsung, say lawyers from London. Someone "wrote in to say that the method by which the figure was arrived at would, if unchallenged, lead to "absurd results" on the basis that three design patents could not encompass the entire value of a smartphone which has hundreds (if not thousands) of IP-protected features."

The bottom line is, Apple's patent war on Android has turned 5 (it started against HTC and then Samsung was added). HTC is still suffering and Apple hopes to destroy Samsung not by innovating but by litigating. By extension, Apple attacks the whole Android world, including Linux. We can't let Apple get its way. ⬆