Smartphone Patent Wars
The demand for smartphones has been rapidly increasing since their release in 2006. However, the producers are slowly running low on ideas for newer, better, and different products. This struggle for originality has caused many disputes between the big smartphone industries and their so called “patented products.” In such a specific market with distinct consumer tastes, how can a company say that they own a certain idea?
Since 2006, Apple alone has been involved in 142 patent lawsuits with multiple different companies including Samsung and Nokia. Recently they won a lawsuit over Samsung their Galaxy SIII that contained technology patented by Apple themselves. A few weeks after winning this battle, Samsung launched an attack of their own on Apple and their newly released IPhone 5. This war seems endless, as whenever someone comes out with a “new” product, it is trampled on by any company that believes they might have stolen an idea. Because of this constant fighting, it has become nearly impossible for new companies to enter the market. Before they can display their products they are completely suffocated by patent infringements that they are spending more money on lawyers than developing their ideas. It is unbelievable that because of patents in a market of such similar production, new businesses cannot develop and old ones are forced either to sell or into bankruptcy.
Sources:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/10/08/business/Fighters-in-a-Patent-War.html?ref=technology
