Steve Jobs Rolls Over In His Grave As Apple Opens Licensing Talks To Settle Patent Suits

(9:26 pm PDT, Mar 6th 2012)

Steve Jobs Rolls Over In His Grave As Apple Opens Licensing Talks To Settle Patent Suits
In a move that would surely have Steve Jobs — the man willing to go thermonuclear war against Android — rolling over in his grave, Apple has apparently offered licensing deals to Samsung and Motorola in an attempt to settle ongoing and future patent suits. According to sources speaking with Dow Jones Newswires, Apple has offered licensing deals in the tune of $5 to $15 per device or the equivalent of 1% to 2.5% of net sales per device. Interestingly enough, these fees are on par with what Apple deemed “unreasonable” after attempts to license patents from Motorola.

Why now? Why is Apple changing strategy in the middle of a war Jobs vowed to spend every penny of Apple’s $40 billion in the bank, to right? It’s possible Apple is reconsidering the ramifications of burning its bridges, or perhaps some of the court losses are making Apple nervous about having their own products taken off shelves. With Android being spread across a multitude of devices and having a vast array of differences among versions, these lawsuits are becoming cumbersome while providing lackluster results. With Apple only having a few products, any injunction imposed against them would be crippling. Let’s not forget the possible onslaught coming from Google’s recent acquisition of Motorola Mobility and their portfolio of patents.

Regardless of the underlying reasons for Apple’s sudden change in strategy, we’re hoping these licensing talks result in deals that will benefit all parties, that way these companies can get back to innovating instead of litigating. I would’t hold my breath though.

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  • http://twitter.com/AfroMacnerd Gary Reed

    I read this earlier today. SJ would have loved this agreement. Apple will get paid more than Microsoft per Android device. You add the fact that Apple has won the right to see the source code. Steve J dancing and happy dance.

    • http://twitter.com/ppanah Poyan Panah

      Actually steve didn’t care about money and he said he didn’t want googles money, he wanted them to stop copying Apple…

      Apple shouldn’t go against Steve Jobs will and goals, because its his goal and mission that took Apple where it is today, he knew what he was doing and he saw things that other people in this business don’t. U start walking against the stream that SJ set, u bound to fail in the long run, as apple has done before. 

  • andizeck4444

    What a trollish headline, not to mention a silly argument. 

    Apple’s licensing strategy is in line with Steve Jobs’ goal. Exorbitant licensing requirements by Apple and Microsoft will destroy Android as an attractive OS for OEMs. Microsoft is the big winner here, because it will push those OEMs toward Windows Phone (which is safe from patent litigation because Apple and Microsoft have a long history of cross licensing).

    A win for Microsoft is a loss for Google, which is a win for Apple.

    Secondly, you obviously didn’t read the Verge today, which did a short piece demonstrating that Apple’s patent litigation strategy is actually fostering genuine innovation in the space. Instead of ripping off Apple’s slide to unlock technique, OEMs are being forced to come up with novel implementations that actually might be better than Apple’s method. That’s a win for consumers.

    I appreciate that you’re trying to play up the Apple v. Google rhetoric, but why not take some time and educate your readers. I expect a lot better from your publication. Sloppy tech journalism should be left with CNN and WSJ.

    • Kr00

      Wow, I actually agree with some of what you’ve said. It is the reality of patent suits. One thing though, Apple do support and foster many open source programs, they’re just not well known. There’s hundreds of them, and they don’t extort licensing fees for these, but the ones they do license are in line with industry expectations. Apple are, the biggest tech company on the planet. If their rivals wish to use their ideas, then they should be prepared to pay.

      • andizeck4444

        “Wow, I actually agree with some of what you’ve said.”

        Why are you surprised? I don’t have an allegiance to Google or Apple. I am well aware of Apple’s contributions to open standards, namely WebKit (its importance to the advancement of the web cannot be understated). I just like to read articles based on facts. This article does an excellent job of obscuring facts in order to push an agenda. For example:

        “Apple has offered licensing deals in the tune of $5 to $15 per device or the equivalent of 1% to 2.5% of net sales per device. Interestingly enough, these fees are on par with what Apple deemed “unreasonable” after attempts to license patents from Motorola.”

        The problem here is that the author intentionally draws a false equivalency between Apple’s licensing proposal and Motorola’s licensing proposal. He fails to note that Motorola’s was attempting to license its 3G wireless essential patents to Apple (after dissolving the Qualcomm license) and in so doing was violating its FRAND commitments. It wasn’t deemed “unreasonable” it absolutely is unreasonable according to FRAND principles, never mind Motorola’s previous licensing agreements.

        Too often we’re forced to endure rhetoric that attempts to obscure reality. The author had an opportunity to consider the real ramifications of a licensing strategy, not only for Apple, but for Android OEMs, for the viability of the platform, and for Google’s competitors (which aren’t necessarily the same as Android’s competitors).

        Instead, the author chose the easy way out. And it’s disappointing.

    • Paulakero

      I agree with you.

      ——–the arguments in the article are silly , an anti apple hack job. Cult of Mac is no longer even a semblance of being impartial to  (much less pro) Apple. — they must as well cancel the site and just have Cult of Android.Apple unlike what the article is implying is kicking Android azz all over the place with it’s lawsuits. Already android makers have been forced to make changes which they always try to pass off as minor YET HTC, Motorola’s etc financials have been dismal . Motorola would be broke if Google didn’t buy it. Sure there are other reasons why they are doing so badly but who knows all these lawsuits might have put a wrench in their works not to mention suck up their $$$. Meanwhile Apple (“crippling” indeed!) is walking away with 80% of the world’s cell phone profits — Apple which can buy Motorola 8 times over with its CASH pile and makes 50 times more money than Google in mobile can afford lawsuits, can they?Motorola’s portfolio of patents are a joke , many are FRAND compromised. “ Apple has offered licensing deals in the tune of $5 to $15 per device or the equivalent of 1% to 2.5% of net sales per device. Interestingly enough, these fees are on par with what Apple deemed “unreasonable” — yeah  it IS unreasonable for FRAND licenses but not for the patents apple has. Samsung is already being formally investigated by the EU for FRAND abuse and Apple has requested that Motorola be investigated as well. (Their FRAND patent lawsuits against apple has been thrown out of various courts). The proof that Moto doesn’t have much ammo is that besides trying to use FRAND (which Apple although having hundreds of FRAND patents have never used in lawsuits) Moto has also been forced into desperate measures like ‘double dipping’ in the Qualcomm case – suing apple for using Qualcomm chips although Qualcomm had already paid for the licenses. Also if Cult of Mac is paying the vaguest attention unlike what is being implied in the article Apple has just begun to fight: it’s major patents for the iPhone filed years ago are just NOW being approved, more and more major patents are being put into action.I don’t really know why Apple wants to license (or even if the rumour is true) but Apple can beat them with lawsuits OR with big fees (HTC, Motorola are already financially in trouble). android survives because it’s ‘free’.  Will Android OEMs continue with $$$ paid to Oracle, Msft, Apple or will they jump to WP7, Bada etc. ?

    • bolthouse

      THIS IS AN ADROID SITE, GTFO you crapple isheeps

  • Robert Norris Hills

    I think its funny that Apple is asking more $$ than Moto did…but Apple filed an antitrust suit against Motorola regarding its requests. 

    • andizeck4444

      That’s because Motorola is trying to charge an exorbitant rate for FRAND encumbered patents, violating its FRAND commitments. 

      Apple isn’t using FRAND patents to sue Motorola, therefore it is perfectly within its rights to sue for licensing at whatever rate it deems fair. Motorola, on the other hand, committed its patents to part of the 3G specification, and so it must license those patents in a fair and non-discriminatory manner. Furthermore, it should not be allowed to use those patents to sue for injunctions. 

      The EU is already formally investigating Samsung for the same behavior, and Motorola will likely be investigated as well (both in the EU and in the US).

  • bolthouse

    Crapple. The turd that just wont flush

    • http://twitter.com/t87 t87

      Why don’t you eat it then, since that’s the best of what you do?

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=613494111 Robert Gauthier

    This is typical negotiation bluster,  bet this was the strategy all along.

  • Actionable_Mango

    Politely cross-licensing patents is practically the only way for the tech industry to move forward at this point.

  • Shawn Kelly

    The patent system is a joke and completely abused by Apple and anyone else suing on such trivial grounds. Slide to unlock? Yet had no problem inserting a drop down notification pane to iOS hmm I wonder where they got that idea? Imagine if car manufactures began suing each other for have 4 wheels, or buck seats? A steering wheel? headlights I see alot of law suits brewing? 

    The system needs reformed badly 

About the author

Vincent MessinaVincent Messina has been writing and evangelizing about Android for the past three years. When he's not playing the part of "Loki" to his 5 and 4-year-old, he can be found here, covering all things Android. He adamantly believes Android has the greatest community around and can be harassed at any of the following locations: Google+, Twitter.

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