Invalid Patents
If you think up nearly any new mobile idea these days you will probably find out that it, something very similar or some technique it uses, is already covered by a Patent.
However, interestingly, Visto, the push email provider have recently lost their case against RIM regarding patent licence fees.
"the patent was invalid because it was a computer program and was not inventive enough"
"It does not seem to me that that is enough of a technical effect to render the invention patentable"
"But this is simply the effect of running the program on the computers. It is providing for data to be delivered from one element to another, so that the data is accessible to a user at another computer."
Now, how many systems could be described as just that?
A few more thoughts…
Many startup companies these days have few paying customers and the strength of the company (through subsequent funding rounds) is measured in terms of its intellectual property backed by patents. If these patents were to be deemed to be "not inventive enough", where’s the real value in these companies?
It also seems like Microsoft may have not needed to settle with Visto over similar claims, just days earlier.
