Nortel Patents Go To Apple, Microsoft, Sony and Others 121
tcr writes "A consortium that includes Apple, Microsoft, RIM and Sony has been successful in its bid for the Nortel patent portfolio. The winning bid was $4.5 billion. TechCrunch predicts this could result in a slew of lawsuits directed at Android, but also suggests that the deal will likely receive scrutiny from the U.S. courts."
Re:Consortium patents (Score:2, Insightful)
Like when Apple ripped off an wireless sync app [slashdot.org] made by a one guy.
Oh for crying out loud. Can we not rehash this. Syncing over wireless. Not a hard concept to come up with. They didn't rip the name off as it's the most obvious name for such an app. Neither did the rip off the logo as it's a combination of a 'sync' logo and a 'wifi' logo. It's not rocket science. Yes, they rejected his app (due to him accessing parts of the OS outside the SDK) but that doesn't mean that they just ripped it off. Everyone's been after wifi syncing since the very first iPhone and I find it ridiculous that people out there believe that apple couldn't implement it themselves and had to 'rip off' this guy.
Re:Consortium patents (Score:4, Insightful)
Only company from the list that I worry about is Apple. They're really been left and right everyone about patent issues.
Such as? I guess you mean Samsung....for blatantly copying the iPhone and iPad? Nokia sued Apple first. Kodak sued Apple first. Several Microsoft proxies sued Apple. Who is Apple going after?
Microsoft, not so much, unless some patent troll has attacked them first.
What planet are you living on? Microsoft and its proxies are the biggest patent trolls on the planet. how many Android makers have they shaken down for protection money? How about Microsoft funding SCO to go after Linux? How about all the mainframe software lawsuits against IBM by their proxies in Europe? Microsoft shill much?
Re:Consortium patents (Score:3, Insightful)
oh yes, because apple has never sued because somebody else used the obvious name they came up with. Like say, maybe, app store.
Re:Google must be concerned (Score:4, Insightful)
License the patents?