Bonum Certa Men Certa

Apple and Google/Android Suffer the Wrath of intellectual Monopolies

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Summary: A quick roundup of legal news about the market leaders in mobile and tablets

Pamela Jones is back to tracking the SCOracle case on a more permanent basis (when she does not help Apple against Psystar and patent trolls). Jones is rightly concerned that copyright law may be putting programming languages in danger, so it's not just a matter of patents anymore. Both Android and iOS are impacted by the patent troll she's tracking and yet another patent troll is harming both sides:

PATENT TROLL Touchscreen Gestures has claimed that Apple's Iphone and Ipad infringe its touchscreen patents. Touchscreen Gestures seems to be nothing more than a shell company that has ownership of a number of patents that cover screen tapping and dragging gestures. The firm has also claimed that Samsung and Research in Motion (RIM) infringe its patents with their respective tablets.


In other news, Apple gets a taste of its own medicine in Europe. As one reporter puts it:

German Court Upheld Ban On iCloud, MobileMe



Apple needed to get a taste of its own medicine. The Wall Street Journal reports that a regional court in Mannheim (Germany) has upheld its ruling to ban Apple's iCloud and MobileMe services. Motorola had accused Apple of infringing upon its patent EP0847654. The ban was enforced after the February ruling. Apple had appealed the courts decision challenging the validity of Motorola patent.


Apple and Android don't get along because the spiritual leader of Apple declared war, but both share some similar problems. They really should work together against software patenting. What we meanwhile are left with is a system which is unfriendly to competition and innovation. Intellectual monopolies are of no benefit to society. They help some of the biggest corporations gain more power over society.

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