Microsoft to allow advertising on PC's

Marty_J

timbim wrote: »

That's called patent trolling, and in the hands of certain companies can absolutely stifle R&D in the area. Not a good thing.

It's actually called "not releasing every single thing you invent".

According to Wikipedia, "patent troll" is "a pejorative term used for a person or company that enforces its patents against one or more alleged infringers in a manner considered unduly aggressive or opportunistic, often with no intention to manufacture or market the patented invention".

Also in the article, it notes that "defining trolls broadly as patent holders that do not practice or promote the patented invention would include holding companies, most US universities and many individual inventors, for example, Thomas Edison would fall under this definition. Large businesses typically have separate licensing departments, and may have separate patent holding companies, that are distinct from their research and development operations".

Clearly, having lots of patents does not make one a patent troll.

timbim_2

Marty_J wrote: »

It's actually called "not releasing every single thing you invent".

According to Wikipedia, "patent troll" is "a pejorative term used for a person or company that enforces its patents against one or more alleged infringers in a manner considered unduly aggressive or opportunistic, often with no intention to manufacture or market the patented invention".

Also in the article, it notes that "defining trolls broadly as patent holders that do not practice or promote the patented invention would include holding companies, most US universities and many individual inventors, for example, Thomas Edison would fall under this definition. Large businesses typically have separate licensing departments, and may have separate patent holding companies, that are distinct from their research and development operations".

Clearly, having lots of patents does not make one a patent troll.

Sorry, bit aggressive on my part. Evidently apple aren't patent trolling, and it would be unfair to say they are, on the contrary, they're releasing new and interesting technology at an alarming rate. In fact, I seem to remember a while ago apple coming under fire from a patent troll over the use of XML format in saving documents. That one fell to apple's leagal department fairly quickly.