We recently mentioned the patent storm (in a teacup) which had led to a ban on certain chips. It appears as though patent trolls are now uniting in their effort to manipulate certain court rulings and abuse the broken system as much as it takes in order to restore calm (as in, a "cold war" again). Here is the gist of this counter-suit claim:

Oyj, the world's top mobile phone maker, filed a patent counter-suit against Qualcomm Inc in a Texas court seeking damages and an injunction against the U.S. chip maker.

This entire scenario could teach us that there are no winners in patent confrontations. The biggest losers are probably the trees, which are cut down to be consumed as unnecessary paperwork, without any fruits that have innovative merits. This will hopefully speed up some muchly-needed reforms.

With big piles of nearly identical patents, it is worth reminding ourselves of this recent story which involves Microsoft's profit from unspecified patents.

Microsoft is facing a patent lawsuit over its failed Ultimate TV DVR system. The lawsuit, filed by joint venture company Intellivision (no relation to the Mattel console), accuses the company of making fraudulent and misleading claims in order to acquire intellectual property without having to make royalty payments.

Is this the future? Or is it the end of constructive and rapid scientific progress?

Want an eight-figure check in time for Christmas shopping? Sure you do. Microsoft's vague patent threats against Linux create an opportunity to do a nifty variation on the patent trolling business model.

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Naturally, Microsoft, in order to win, needs to keep the actual list of patents secret.

The rule of terror is without a shadow doubt the least productive. It distracts the inventor, it leads to hesitation, and it builds barriers. The world of science and technology can do better than this. More to the point -- it deserves change.