brinkley1988
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When a federal jury ruled against Google last week, awarding Bedrock Computer Technologies Inc. $5 million for infringement of a Linux kernel patent, it stirred up fears that the decision could have implications for other Linux users and Google’s much-sued Android mobile device operating system.
While Bedrock got no where near the $180 million it asked for in its suit against Google in the Eastern District of Texas federal court, it is cause for worry to other Linux users. Bedrock has also sued Amazon, MySpace, PayPal, Yahoo, AOL, and others, while Raleigh-based Red Hat, a Linux distributor, is suing Bedrock in an attempt to invalidate its patent. The Linux kernel is at the heart of Google servers and its Android OS is also built on Linux.
The patent in suit is: U.S. Patent No. 5,893,120, on “methods and apparatus for information storage and retrival using a hashing technique with external chaining and on-the-fly removal of expired data.”
In a statement, Google responded to the court decision, saying, “”Google will continue to defend against attacks like this one on the open source community. The recent explosion in patent litigation is turning the world’s information highway into a toll road, forcing companies to spend millions and millions of dollars defending old, questionable patent claims.”
Google’s Linux-based Andoid OS faces 14 other patent suits even as it has rapidly become the leading smartphone operating system.
This case and others – such as Apple Inc.’s against Samsung Electronics that claims Samsung copied iPad and iPhone designs – point up the need for some sort of patent reform when it comes to software.
Following the verdict in the Texas case, some analysts suggest others being sued may elect to pay fees rather than go to court.
While Bedrock got no where near the $180 million it asked for in its suit against Google in the Eastern District of Texas federal court, it is cause for worry to other Linux users. Bedrock has also sued Amazon, MySpace, PayPal, Yahoo, AOL, and others, while Raleigh-based Red Hat, a Linux distributor, is suing Bedrock in an attempt to invalidate its patent. The Linux kernel is at the heart of Google servers and its Android OS is also built on Linux.
The patent in suit is: U.S. Patent No. 5,893,120, on “methods and apparatus for information storage and retrival using a hashing technique with external chaining and on-the-fly removal of expired data.”
In a statement, Google responded to the court decision, saying, “”Google will continue to defend against attacks like this one on the open source community. The recent explosion in patent litigation is turning the world’s information highway into a toll road, forcing companies to spend millions and millions of dollars defending old, questionable patent claims.”
Google’s Linux-based Andoid OS faces 14 other patent suits even as it has rapidly become the leading smartphone operating system.
This case and others – such as Apple Inc.’s against Samsung Electronics that claims Samsung copied iPad and iPhone designs – point up the need for some sort of patent reform when it comes to software.
Following the verdict in the Texas case, some analysts suggest others being sued may elect to pay fees rather than go to court.