Who’s Suing Whom?
If there is anything that characterizes the trade media outlets for the
mobile channel it’s that the Who’s Suing Whom headlines are bigger and more
frequent than the new product announcements. Whether it’s Apple suing
Samsung, Samsung suing Apple, Microsoft suing HTC or Google suing everybody,
week after week the song remains the same.
There are occasionally some notable cases, such as Samsung’s difficulty
proving to a court than the Galaxy 10.1 inch tablet is not in fact an iPad2.
And there are some names that are noticeably absent from the daily roster of
patent infringement suits. Somehow Sony Ericsson’s name never seems to come
up. Whether that’s because they keep their nose clean with regard to patent
law or because no one actually buys their phones is up for debate.
So what’s to blame for the endless rash of patent suits?
The obvious answer would be “Duh, because of companies stealing other
companies’ ideas!” But there’s more to it than that.
The reality is that the landscape of business relationships in the tech
sector is impossibly complex, not just in mobile but in all of CE. Joint
ventures abound, and rival brands rely on parts sourced from each other.
Competitors are also collaborators. Consider that despite being at each
other’s throats, 25% of the parts that comprise an iPhone come from Samsung.
That’s about the perfect tech-sector definition of “Frenemies.”
With Frenemy manufacturers working so closely together, the line between
“mine” and “yours” gets vague. Add to that the sheer volume of patents that
are constantly being applied for and granted and you start to understand why
manufacturers need an army of patent lawyers. In that light, constantly
ending up in court over your products is an inevitability.
I’m in no way wringing my hands over this state of affairs. If anything, I
want to encourage it. Tech sector news is MY celebrity gossip, and I follow
it with all the glee with which non-techies follow Jersey Shore or Real
Housewives of Orange County.
Entertain me, manufacturers!
