In class this week we discussed the very hostile field that is patents. These times have been referred to "patent wars" as companies like Apple are spending over $2 billion on just litigation alone. Often times companies are suing one another not even with the intention of winning but just to be able to slow their competitors down. One of the reason the tech field has seen such an explosion in patent lawsuits is because the field is constantly changing and companies have to do whatever it takes to keep up. In 2008 Research in Motion, the creator of Blackberry, was leading the mobile phone industry. Now just 5 years later it is nearly irrelevant in the mobile phone industry. These swift changes has forced companies to try whatever necessary to stay competitive. Sometimes companies have even preferred cease and desist orders instead of being financially compensated because they know this will hurt their competitors much more than just losing cash.
This is frustrating because this is not what a free economy is about. A free economy allows collaboration since everyone will mutually benefit from this. Hopefully more alternatives like the Open Innovators Network will help change this landscape. If everything continues at this rate we will reach a stalemate in which no company will be able to produce a product without violating some patent.
No comments:
Post a Comment