Caught in the Crossfire of Patent Wars
For the past few days I’ve been refreshing my mailbox nonstop, waiting for the shipping confirmation for the new HTC EVO 4G LTE. I was hoping to get a brand new phone before my trip to London next week. Unfortunately it looks like I’ll have to go with my old phone, as my phone will, at least for now, be stuck at US Customs, pending investigation of Apple patent infringement. We’ve all joked about patent wars, but the war has now hit home, and consumers are caught in the crossfire.
So let’s jump back to last year. Apple won a order to ban HTC Android devices based on a claim that HTC had infringed on several of Apple’s patents, one of which included the ability to turn phone numbers and email addresses into active links. The International Trade Commission (ITC) delayed the ban to April 19th, to allow HTC to work around this issue. Now Customs has to investigated to see if the two devices in question (HTC One X and HTC EVO 4G LTE) have been tweaked enough to be cleared.
The web was instantly filled with angry remarks from both the Apple and Android fan camps. Apple is being ridiculous to resorting to such actions when the company itself was built on ideas “taken” from others. HTC didn’t do enough to work around clearly defined technical issues and patent infringements. Sprint didn’t do enough to inform the many fans who rushed in line to pre-order, thinking that their phone would arrive before the original release date of May 18. Then there’s just the overall patent system, which many have called broken or in need of major reform.
While it’s very easy and tempting to start pointing fingers while I fume at the idea of having to deal with a two year old phone for my weekend vacation, one thing is clear – no matter what the outcome is, it’s clear that consumers are losing out. Competition is supposed to force companies to strive to build better products. Instead of focusing on innovation, many technology and manufacturing companies are more focused on entangling themselves and everyone around them in a web of patent lawsuits, threats, and settlements in a legal Cold War. Then again, perhaps it takes a Cuban Missile Crisis for everyone to realize that this madness needs to stop.
It’s a shame that I probably won’t get my phone in time but all the same, there’s not much I can do. Well, I’m less inclined to consider buying a Macbook to avoid supporting Apple (although I’ll still use my iPad). Still, like pawns stuck in a war, I’ll be spending my time on the fringe of the western front, dreaming of a world where cases like this could be settled in a boxing match between Tim Cook and Peter Chou.
For a more technical read on the case, check out the Verge.
