Bonum Certa Men Certa

Update on Patent Lawsuits Against Android and Google

Android screenshot



Summary: A roundup of some important cases which for the most part involve Google and/or its Linux-based platform

IT HAS BEEN "tentatively decided that the case should be dismissed with prejudice because neither party can establish a right to relief," quotes iophk regarding Apple's case against Motorola.



So, a few good things do happen for Free software this week. Google in the mean time gets sued again, using software patents:

The growing popularity of cloud technology is attracting not just users but patent lawsuits too. The latest example is a suit filed against Google that claims the company’s Drive and Docs products violate a 1999 software patent.


Apple is also using patents against Google and Android, this time hitting Samsung and HTC for their Android devices, seeking to ban them (embargo indeed). "In the short term, Apple’s technological and industrial design prowess can help to prop up dying business models," wrote Timothy Lee not too long ago and he was right. Linux is eating Apple's market share away and all that Apple can do it sue.

HTC says it does not infringe and the case might end just like the one against Motorola:

In the face of ongoing claims by Apple of patent violations, HTC insists that it's playing by the rules.


A troll that targetted both Apple and Android is taking it up a notch according to Groklaw (it got patents from Microsoft's patent troll IV). Quoting the report:


I went to take a look at the latest regarding Lodsys, now that Oracle has joined the fray, and it turns out that Lodsys filed the following new cases on the same day, May 10, in -- you guessed it, the Eastern District of Texas. Where else could this farce play out as if it were legitimate? Here are the complaints against each of the new victims, all PDFs:

* Lodsys Group v. Bank of America et al (2:2012-cv-00284) * Lodsys Group v. Becker Professional Development (2:2012-cv-00286) * Lodsys Group v. Foster and Smith, Inc. et al (2:2012-cv-00287) * Lodsys Group v. Rosetta Stone Inc. (2:2012-cv-00288) * Lodsys Holdings Group v. Dell, Inc. (2:2012-cv-00289) * Lodsys Holdings Group v. AVG Technologies USA (2:2012-cv-00290) * Lodsys v. GMCI (2:2012-cv-00291)

The et al with Bank of America includes Epicor Software Corporation, Hoovers, Inc., Market America, Inc., Network Solutions, LLC, Overstock.com, Inc., Sleepy's, LLC, The Estee Lauder Companies, Inc. The Becker litigation includes also Cabela's, Inc., Charming Shoppes, Inc., HSN, Inc., Nike, Inc., The Men's Warehouse, Inc., Tivo, Inc. Foster and Smith includes Recreational Equipment, Inc. and Walgreen Co. The AVG case includes GFI Software, Inc., Kaspersky Lab, Inc., Raxco Software, Inc., Symantec Corporation, and Webroot Software, Inc. The GMCI case includes Playboy Enterprises, Inc., RK Netmedia, Inc., Score Internet Group, LLC, and Vouyer Media, Inc.


It is well established that patent trolls are harming everyone, but it is Apple and Microsoft -- not Google -- which often use patent troll to sue companies like Google by proxy. As a developer, this does affect me because I do Android development these days and not only is the attack against Android a problem; as the aforementioned news article shows, apps too are targets for lawsuits and software patents are the cause. Everyone suffers and the change in policy is quite imperative now. People need to raise their voice, topping that of lobbyists of corporations.

“There’s no incompatibility between free software and capitalism… now Extreme Capitalism, the empire of the corporations… extreme capitalism means that in each area of life, the businesses interested in that area rule society, control the government… control policy” ~Richard Stallman

Recent Techrights' Posts

The State of EPO Staff's Health in Rijswijk or The Hague
We're going to cover the EPO some more later in the month
NVIDIA Corp Lost 36% of Its "Value" Since Cheeto Inauguration, But "Gen Hey Hi" (GenAI) is Totally Not a Bubble
Selling loads of unneeded hardware based on hysterical hype; like selling shovels during a Gold Rush
 
Techrights Will Spend the Next Few Years Writing a Lot About Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs)
It's a growing problem
GNU/Linux Growing in East Asia, Windows by Default No More?
GNU/Linux is now on the shelf
Slopwatch: Anti-Linux 'Articles' From Linux-Hostile LLMs
It is almost always negative things and nobody can be held responsible for it except the charlatans prompting the LLMs
Links 05/04/2025: Fentanylware (TikTok) "Sale Looks Highly Imminent" (US), Stock Market Drowning in Panic
Links for the day
Gemini Links 05/04/2025: Moving Plants, No to Smartwatches, RAID Hygiene
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, April 04, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, April 04, 2025
Techrights Has Dealt With More Potent SLAPPs Than Violent Microsofters Begging to Hide What They Did to Women
I became accustomed to SLAPPs
Links 04/04/2025: Fury in South Korea, Flight MH370 Remains Mystery
Links for the day
Gemini Links 04/04/2025: Anger and Raspberry Pi CM4
Links for the day
Links 04/04/2025: LLM Slop Bubble Bursting and Korea Music Copyright Association Bans Slop 'Music'
Links for the day
Traf-O-Data, the Company That Jeffrey Epstein's BFF (Bill Gates) (Co)Founded 53 Years and Went Out of Business Due to Heavy Losses
Who will die first, Bill or Microsoft?
Why Microsoft's Shares Sank Almost 20% in Recent Months (the Bubble is Imploding)
verified press reports from the past 24 hours
A Note on SimilarWeb
Or why SimilarWeb is meaningless for more than 99% of the sites on the Web
GNU/Linux Rises to Almost 5% in Algeria While Windows Sinks to All-Time Low
GNU/Linux grew tenfold
Where to Get More Gags
A valued reader recommended that to us
Links 04/04/2025: Tech Stock (Inc. GAFAM) Fall, Google Pretends to Do End-to-End Encrypted Emails (With Google in Control)
Links for the day
IBM Said to be Shutting Down Offices or Sites in the United States
the press can no longer avoid admitting that IBM moves many jobs to India
To Participate in Fedora Diversity You Must Use Proprietary Software
Not for the first time either
LLM Slop as Attack Vector on the Reputation of Linux
The attacks on Linux have escalated to information warfare
Yandex About to Be Three Times Bigger Than Microsoft (Bing) in Asia
That's about 60% of the world's population
Gemini Links 04/04/2025: Decoupling Updates, Elaho as Gemini Client
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, April 03, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, April 03, 2025
Microsoft's Trouble in Africa and Asia
A new all-time high for GNU/Linux
Brett Wilson LLP Reported to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA)
The saddest thing in all this is that law firms can maintain high standards shall they wish to
Links 03/04/2025: Tariff Pains and C.D.C. Cuts
Links for the day
StatCounter: Microsoft is Masking a Disaster, It's Way Behind DeepSeek Already and Interest in LLMs Has Waned
it turns out the money "raised" for "Open" "AI" may not even exist at all
Links 03/04/2025: SoftBank Money for Microsoft "Open" "AI" Probably Doesn't Even Exist, Wikimedia Foundation Blasts LLM Nuisance While Microsoft Admits Demand Has Shrunk
Links for the day
Gemini Links 03/04/2025: Patch Panel and Pictures
Links for the day
Islamic Republic of Iran: GNU/Linux at All-time High This Month, Windows Falls to 12%
Vista 10 is up this month despite being "end of life" (EoL) soon
Indonesia: All-Time Highs for GNU/Linux
What's noteworthy right now is the growth of GNU/Linux
statCounter Says GNU/Linux Usage is Up Again (Internationally)
some preliminary April data
Only on April 1st Can the Free Software Foundation Associate With Microsoft's Open Source Initiative (OSI)
We saw some pranks that day linking the FSF to Microsoft (e.g. "endorsing" Windows)
Confirmed in the Mainstream Media: A Lot of Microsoft "Workloads" Were Just LLM Slop (Helping to Fake Growth for Years, as Microsoft Had Paid "Open" "AI" to Become a "Client") and Demand is Rapidly Waning, Datacentres Canceled and/or Shut Down
Anything to facilitate further accounting fraud
Taiwan's Media Covers Closure of Microsoft's "AI" Lab, It's Time to Talk About the Gradual Death of Windows and Implosion of the "AI" Bubble
Earlier this week we showed that mostly Asian media had the 'nerve' to mention Microsoft silently shutting down its 'AI' lab
IBM Gets Rid of Kelly Chambliss as Mass Layoffs Reported in IBM Consulting, IBM Loses Key Contracts/Graft
IBM Consulting has been in disarray lately
More Gains for GNU/Linux, Based on Web Surveys
the Steam site shows rapid growth for "Linux" this month
Slopwatch: Anti-Linux Articles, Not Even Written by Humans
Why aren't Web sites more vocal about this problem?
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, April 02, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, April 02, 2025
Links 03/04/2025: Apple Fined Over Secret Surveillance, "Elegant Writer For A More Civilized Age"
Links for the day