Google Ranking Low on the Patent Scale, Does it Jeopardize Android?
Last week IFI CLAIMS Patent Services presented a list of the top fifty companies in terms of patents awarded in 2010, and our beloved Google and torchbearer of the Android OS was not to be found on the list. Microsoft fell at number three with just over 3,000 new patents, while Apple’s 563 new patents was the greatest percentage increase year-over-year than any other company. Meanwhile, Google rang up 282 new patents throughout 2010.
That equates to just about half of their 576 total patents owned, and suggests the company is indeed marking their territory at an ever increasing rate, but is it enough? In a time when companies are suing each other quicker than they are outdoing each other in terms of innovation, the intellectual property of an operating system is as important as any other aspect. Paying out licensing fees, court settlements, or even being forced to remove some features are just part of the ill effects of weakened ownership of patent rights.
But Android is open source, so it may be easier to shrug off the patent argument. Ask any of the numerous companies that have sued Google and that might the case, however.
[via CellularNews]