While the most recent patent wars, particularly between Samsung and Apple, are still in the heat of battle, some other infamous smartphone patent wars have been coming to a close. Recently, one of the largest patent litigation cases between Rockstar and Google has finally began to come to a close. Rockstar is a patent trolling company owned by tech giants Apple, Microsoft, Sony, Ericsson and Blackberry.
When the tech information age began to blossom around 1980, design and technology patents were generally ill-designed and could not predict the explosiveness of technological growth that was to come over the next several decades. Because of this, many companies filed many patents in hopes to someday cash out on their huge portfolios through infringement cases. It was here that many patent troll companies began to take shape, namely Rockstar, a smartphone patent troll giant. In 2011, Rockstar truly began to grow when its owners, Microsoft and Apple, bought $4.5 billion worth of patents from a telecommunications and network equipment company.
Once Rockstar’s portfolio had been solidified, it launched a patent litigation attack in 2013 against Google’s Android phone makers. This attack was an obvious patent troll that was aimed at weakening Google’s grip on the mobile market. Since this attempted attack, juries have noticed an increase in patent litigation cases led by patent trolls, and have since been rejecting troll attempts to reap money from companies more profitable than them. As of December 2014, Rockstar’s litigation case versus Google began to fade away; today, it has sold off most of its patent portfolio that it had originally been using to fight Google, gradually pulling out of this smartphone patent war. In the more recent years, this failed patent troll attempt has deterred companies from trolling other companies over smartphone designs, truly paving the way for innovation rather than for exploitation.
Once Rockstar’s portfolio had been solidified, it launched a patent litigation attack in 2013 against Google’s Android phone makers. This attack was an obvious patent troll that was aimed at weakening Google’s grip on the mobile market. Since this attempted attack, juries have noticed an increase in patent litigation cases led by patent trolls, and have since been rejecting troll attempts to reap money from companies more profitable than them. As of December 2014, Rockstar’s litigation case versus Google began to fade away; today, it has sold off most of its patent portfolio that it had originally been using to fight Google, gradually pulling out of this smartphone patent war. In the more recent years, this failed patent troll attempt has deterred companies from trolling other companies over smartphone designs, truly paving the way for innovation rather than for exploitation.
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkpaStFNMiU&feature=youtu.be
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