Apple Will Update iPhones In China To Avoid a Ban On Sales (theverge.com) 33
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The New York Times: Apple said it would update the software of iPhones in China (Warning: source paywalled; alternative source) to try to resolve a legal dispute that threatens to stop the company from selling older iPhones in the country. Apple and its longtime chip supplier, Qualcomm, have been fighting in court over Apple's use of Qualcomm's technology. On Nov. 30, a Chinese court ruled Apple must immediately stop selling seven older iPhone models in China because it infringed on two Qualcomm patents. But Apple has not stopped selling those iPhones there. The company has argued the phones are not subject to the ruling because they are running new software that was not discussed at trial. On Friday, Apple said in a statement that it would update its iPhones in China early next week "to address any possible concern about our compliance with the order." Apple said its update would change the iPhones' software so it did not infringe on Qualcomm patents, which relate to switching between apps and changing the size and appearance of photographs.
Not quite... (Score:2)
Samsung and LG uses those same camps
Not exactly - Apple at least tries to monitor [apple.com] the camps to help the workers some.
Samsung and LG, use the *unmonitored* camps. Let that sink in.
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Qualcomm should be ashamed.
The patent system is run by the government. You should blame them for running a dysfunctional and corrupt racket, rather than blaming the companies that exploit it, which is nearly all of them.
The solution is to fix the patent system, not to shame individual companies into being less greedy.
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The solution is to fix the patent system, not to shame individual companies into being less greedy.
. . . so what are your thoughts on how to fix the patent system . . . ?
My fear is that, whatever better patent system we come up with, the Big Patent industry will find ways to abuse and exploit that, as well.
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. . . so what are your thoughts on how to fix the patent system . . . ?
The system I have in mind provides no way for a Big Patent industry to abuse and exploit. It would also work wonders when applied to copyright. Or blasphemy laws.
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Nobody asks, "how do we make a better cancer"? The patent game keeps small players out and stifles innovation.
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. . . so what are your thoughts on how to fix the patent system . . . ?
1. Eliminate software patents entirely. Most countries don't have them.
2. There should be a fee to get a patent, but also to keep one. The annual fee should double each year. This will make it easy for "the little guy" to get a patent, but make it increasingly expensive to just sit on an unused patent.
3. Outlaw trolls. Any NPE should not be allowed to sue for the infringement of assigned patents. Only the original inventor or someone actively using the patent should have the right to sue.
4. Have a
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Companies will not even talk to an individual inventor. Most of their inventions are either crap,
In today's IT world . . . never underestimate the value of crap.
something close to what is already being done,
Lots of big companies "incentivize" employees to produce a quota number of "potentially patentable" ideas from their normal project work.
It's kinda sorta like getting latrine duty in the army:
Project Manager: "OK, we're through with all the business for this meeting . . . but we still need our patent submission for this year . . . anyone willing to volunteer . . . or do I need to punish someone?"
or something the company may come up with on their own.
Oh, it's even worse than that . . . my employ
There's a huge lessor here for phone providers (Score:2)
Something I did not see commented on here is - Apple has created a great deal of "luck"for itself here, because they CAN update all of those older phones they are selling.
Imagine if this were any other Android maker. They'd basically be out of luck for phones older than a year, because it would be covered by software patents they would have no update for.
So this provides a great reason for phone makers to provide longer support for devices than they currently do.
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I don't think it's been an issue with any Android maker because they all consider Qualcomm's patent terms fair.
Paying the racketeer and "considering it fair" are two vastly different things. Qualcomm got too greedy, arguably not honoring the spirit of FRAND, and Apple has decided it's worthwhile to push back legally.
First time I heard China cared (Score:2)
First time I heard China cared about "patents". So it's probably not really patents, but a nice long lever to apply pressure to Apple to put in a barn-sized backdoor.
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First time I heard China cared about "patents".
If it took America's biggest company getting their most popular product blocked for you to hear about it, then you simply haven't been paying attention. Patent issues in China have been going on for a long time, and one of America's complaints is that it seems to be stacked in favour of Chinese companies.
Hell 8 years ago patents for Dyson inventions were being granted in China and the patent system was being used to block Dyson from selling products.
China cares, just not about the west.