HP, Seagate, Others Under ITC Review

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The U.S. International Trade Commission has voted to institute an investigation into hard disk drives manufactured by Seagate, HP, Dell, Toshiba and Western Digital.

The investigation is based on a complaint charging that the hard drives are made using patented products, and requests that the ITC issue a permanent cease-and-desist order against the companies. If the FTC finds that the way the disk drives in question are manufactured violate patents, it could issue cease-and-desist orders that will be final in 60 days from the date of the decision.
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I hope this doesn't spark some mass "the world is ending" hysteria in the computer world...
 
I hate our current patent laws... they really need a cut off time from when you can claim a violation of your patent.
 
But that depends upon what you mean, a cut off time from the discovery of the infringment, or a cut off time from the filing of the patent?
 
TheBlank said:
But that depends upon what you mean, a cut off time from the discovery of the infringment, or a cut off time from the filing of the patent?
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Well what I mean to say more was perhaps in the lines of cutoff from a violator producing the product at the time.


For instance, lets just say Oracle used Microsoft patent in violation, Microsoft from that point forward has a limited time frame in which they can pursue the violater Oracle.... if they wait beyond the x number of years, the infringement should no longer be valid towards Oracle.


Because you get companies or individuals who are well aware of a violation, but they wait first a few years till the pig gets big and then go to court for even more money.
 
Okay, yeah basically a cutoff point from when the company infringed upon finds the infringement. I know there's a slight difference there, but that would honestly be the only way to go about it fairly. Because if a company managed to sneak under the radar a product that infringed and made it past the "goal line", that's hardly fair for the infringed company in question.

I agree that some companies wait far too long waiting for a good pay off, and it's sleazy, but then you have to ask yourself, who's more in the wrong here?

Personally, I think to keep it fair, the only possible compensation for such an infringement would be the payment of the licensing fees that would have been accrued for the use of the patent in production/distribution. That way it doesn't matter whether or not they act fast or wait.
 
Ockie said:
Well what I mean to say more was perhaps in the lines of cutoff from a violator producing the product at the time.


For instance, lets just say Oracle used Microsoft patent in violation, Microsoft from that point forward has a limited time frame in which they can pursue the violater Oracle.... if they wait beyond the x number of years, the infringement should no longer be valid towards Oracle.


Because you get companies or individuals who are well aware of a violation, but they wait first a few years till the pig gets big and then go to court for even more money.
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Exactly the same thought comes to mind when I read that redhat was being sued some some blowjay company for the desktop environment. They KNEW redhat was around prior to this year.

Its unfair to companies who are oblivious to tedious patents. If I want to grow a plant, and the seeds are patented, and I don't know it ...... should there be some cooperative effort atleast between the patent holder and myself? There lies a window in which either side can play dumb, but then again, you can't expect a company to research every single patent ever made before each step of progression.

Are patents going to be the next bandwagon ride like people sueing nowadays? More people wanting to have their money for free.
 
MadJuggla9 said:
Are patents going to be the next bandwagon ride like people sueing nowadays? More people wanting to have their money for free.
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Next? This is a current bandwagon. Has been for a few years and will continue being one as long as the patent system is a complete mess (read: indefinitely).
 
I guess a nice lawsuit is a good way to balance your books when sales are down
 
TheBlank said:
Okay, yeah basically a cutoff point from when the company infringed upon finds the infringement. I know there's a slight difference there, but that would honestly be the only way to go about it fairly. Because if a company managed to sneak under the radar a product that infringed and made it past the "goal line", that's hardly fair for the infringed company in question.
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Lets say you make the goal line 5 years or 3 years, that should be a very hard goal to hide under the rug. Also, if you can manage to hide it for that long, you can most likley hide it idefnitley.

Another thing to note is that patent holders are responsible for doing thier own investigations. If you hold a patent and you don't do any followup and investigations, it's your own responsibility. Companies sometimes miss patent searches, so they may not know that they are treading on previous territory and sometimes even with proper patent research it's hard to find. It's the holders responsibility to always check out compeditor products for any violations.

Now quite honestly, if a company can hide it for so long under the rug, lets just say 3 to 5 years without the patent holder finding out, then perhaps the line of business isn't to the holders benifit.

I bet you that if they made some sort of deadline today, tomorrow you will see tens of thousands of claims filed.

TheBlank said:
I agree that some companies wait far too long waiting for a good pay off, and it's sleazy, but then you have to ask yourself, who's more in the wrong here?
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In a sense, I agree, but keep in mind that sometimes ideas are generated at the same time, so the compeditor company may not even know about another patent being out there.

TheBlank said:
Personally, I think to keep it fair, the only possible compensation for such an infringement would be the payment of the licensing fees that would have been accrued for the use of the patent in production/distribution. That way it doesn't matter whether or not they act fast or wait.
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I think this would be a good idea, but the problem is that no one really knows how well their patent will take off and what other uses can spawn from it or what impact it could make.

Either way, they need to redo the patent system, obviously this isn't working and is costing consumers and tax payers waaaaayyy too much money.
 
jaegertech said:
Next? This is a current bandwagon. Has been for a few years and will continue being one as long as the patent system is a complete mess (read: indefinitely).
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It's not as popular as sueing .... What I meant was it will eventually catch up and be the new BEST fad for gathering money that doesn't belong to you. You are right, I just wanted to clarify my statement.
 
MadJuggla9 said:
It's not as popular as sueing .... What I meant was it will eventually catch up and be the new BEST fad for gathering money that doesn't belong to you. You are right, I just wanted to clarify my statement.
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It will never be as popular as the standard gold digging lawsuit. You can't file a patent infringement suit because you nailgun your ass to a stud or because you poured hot coffee in your lap. That said, there are already firms out the that exist for no other reason than to collect patents and find infringements to sue over, whether the infringement actually exists or not.
 
And where exactly is Steven and Mary Reiber's Hard Drives? I dont see them on Newegg or at Worst Buy.
 
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