A Patent War thriller

A Cold War analysis in which Google plays the part of North Korea's Kim Jong-Il

Kim Jong-Il. Source: thealttab.com

Daniel Eran Dilger, one of the cleverest writers covering Apple -- both at AppleInsider, and on his own blog, Roughly Drafted Magazine -- has posted an analysis of the latest twist in the smartphone patent wars that reads like a Cold War-era thriller.

Title:

Why is Google playing the Cold War patent game in the age of patent terrorism?

Cast of characters:

• The patent trolls (LodSys and other so-called nonpracticing entities): Terrorists "leverag[ing] the latent power of the patent to threaten widespread damage if their demands are not met"
• Apple (AAPL): A nuclear superpower trying to disarm the trolls
• Microsoft (MSFT): Like the former U.S.S.R., it has abandoned its policy of mutually assured destruction and is now working with the West to make sure the trolls don't get their hands on nuclear weapons
• Google (GOOG): A developing country, like India or North Korea, "that has never had much clout in the patent wars" but has "aspirations to become an important power just by accumulating the firepower to retaliate to imagined threats from the West"

"Today's existing superpowers," Dilger writes, "are both mystified and somewhat entertained by the notion that these pissant countries really see themselves as puissant nations, even as their real attention remains focused on the modern threats of extremist religious conservatives who want to blow up buildings or shoot children to get attention."

"How did Google," he asks, "end up with both majority market share and a persecution complex? And why does it think the tech world is still operating under the antiquated rules of the Cold War rather than recognizing the real threat of patent terrorism? Understanding this insanity requires a historical overview of how Google put itself in the position of, I can't help it, North Korea as a diminutive braggadocio running a bankrupt little copycat nation that it is clearly not equipped to run."

It's a fascinating story, and Dilger tells it with flair. You can read it here.

Posted in: Apple, Cold War, Daniel Eran Dilger, Google, Kim Jong-il, Lodsys, Microsoft, North Korea, Patent, Patent Troll, Roughly Drafted Magazine

• Apple goes to court to protect its App Store ecosystem

  Asks permission to intervene in patent infringement suits against its smaller developers

  "Apple Inc. hereby respectfully moves to intervene as a defendant and counterclaim plaintiff in the above-captioned action brought by plaintiff Lodsys, LLC against seven software application developers for allegedly infringing U.S. Patent Nos. 7,222,078 and 7,620,565. Apple seeks to intervene because it is expressly licensed to provide to the Developers products and services that embody the patents in suit, MORE

  Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Jun 10, 2011 7:45 AM ET
  Posted in: Apple, Florian Müller, Google, iOS, iPhone, Lodsys, Microsoft, Mobile, Patent, Patent infringement, Tablets

• Apple hits iPhone patent troll with a 'cease and desist'

  The company that has been trying to extract tribute from app developers had better lawyer-up

  In a contest between Apple's (AAPL) legal staff and Lodsys, the tiny Texas-based holding company that has been ordering iPhone developers to pay for technology Apple had already licensed, we'd put our money on team Cupertino.

  "Apple is undisputedly licensed to these patents and the App Makers are protected by that license," wrote Apple general counsel Bruce MORE

  Philip Elmer-DeWitt - May 23, 2011 4:28 PM ET
  Posted in: Apple, Bruce Sewell, iOS, iPad, iPhone, Lodsys, Mark Small, Mobile, Patent, Tablets

• iPhone patent troll hits Twitterrific

  Lodsys' attack on Apple's App Store business model has reached an A-list developer

  On Friday, a small Texas company called Lodsys whose key asset seems to be four heavily licensed patents covering, among other things, in-app purchases, began sending patent-infringement letters to a handful of the 40,000 developers trying to make a living selling applications in Apple's (AAPL) crowded App Store.

  Even though Apple has licensed the technologies at issue, Lodsys CEO MORE

  Philip Elmer-DeWitt - May 17, 2011 11:21 AM ET
  Posted in: Apple, Florian Müller, iPhone, Lodsys, Mike Lee, Patent, Patent Troll, Patrick Igoe, Twitter, Twitteriffic