Apple is the king when it comes to its patent portfolio in consumer electronics. Based on statistics in 2010, Apple was granted 566 U.S. patents, roughly five times less than the number granted to Hitachi, Canon, and Sony respectively. However, it is ranked number 1 according to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' Patent Power scorecard. (Source: IEEE)
Brief History of Key Law Suits: (Source: cnet.com)
2008: EMG Technology vs Apple
2009: Nokia vs Apple
2010: Eastman Kodak vs Apple, Elan Microelectronics vs Apple, HTC vs Apple, Motorola vs Apple
2011-present: Samsung vs Apple
My question for you is: why are its patents so powerful and what does this imply in today's smartphone patent war? In other words, why does Apple so aggressively engage in litigation? Perhaps one reason is its high rate of acquisition of other companies, hence their patents included. But the patent race does not depend on acquisitions though. Patents incentivize innovation. Comment on what factors you think drive the smartphone patent races!
I have seen several of these figures/ maps of arrows pointing at which company is suing which company, but this one is a good one to look at and very clear. I do agree that Apple is an active participant (which makes sense based on its popularity in the industry). I thought it was interesting that based on the 2010 statistics, Apple was granted five times less patents than the other companies. Patents are so powerful because they protect the inventor's ideas/work from being stolen. A lot of money and time goes into research and development in order to carry out a new idea or concept. Thus, it is important that a legal system is in place to ensure that others do not take unfair advantage. I think Apple aggressively engages in litigation because it has the resources to do so (being a large, well established company). Also, as Professor Lavian talked about in class, companies use litigation to stall the entire process so that competitors cannot get ahead.
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