The Patent Cold Wars, Visualised

It’s one thing to say that everybody is suing everybody over mobile patents. It’s another entirely when you actually see the battle lines all drawn out for you, as Thomson Reuters has so painstakingly done here. Full melee below:

What’s maybe most striking about this overdue (and more readable) update to a similar NY Times infographic from March 2010 is how little has been resolved since then — and how much more has been initiated.

The simplest way to read it: each one of those red and blue lines represents an arrow straight to the heart of innovation. And these companies’ quivers, apparently, are still very full. [ThomsonReuters]

Discuss

(5 Comments)
  • [–]

    Stephen

    Thursday, August 18, 2011 at 8:56 AM

    So to summarise:

    Companies being sued, but not suing:
    Barnes and Noble
    Foxconn
    Google
    Inventec
    ZTE

    Companies suing, but not being sued:
    Ericsson
    Huawei
    Oracle
    Sony

    Everyone else.

  • [–]

    stevjosco

    Thursday, August 18, 2011 at 10:42 AM

    First time ever: I wish I was a lawyer
    …Especially for a mobile device maker.

    The engineers who spend long hours inventing these amazing devices get a salary. The lawyers get millions for bullshitting better than other lawyers.

  • [–]

    JD

    Thursday, August 18, 2011 at 11:25 AM

    Not sure that ‘Cold War’ is applicable anymore, given the number of actual court cases. ‘Cold War’ suggests to me that patents are being held, law suits threatened but nothing is actually happening.

    If the actual Cold War was as hot as this patent war we’d be screwed.

  • [–]

    wardski

    Thursday, August 18, 2011 at 11:46 AM

    Its all smoke and mirrors.

    The only true winner(s) out of this are the legal firms.

  • [–]

    Nathan

    Thursday, August 18, 2011 at 11:48 AM

    In actual War the only winners are the Arms manufacturers.

    In this war its the lawyers.

    Both scum.

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