Patent Trolls and IP warehouses limiting application of technology in weather

[Jeff Duda]

Looks like Amazon has gotten into the frivolous patent trolling. Stephen Colbert's take on it:

http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/videos/4a4ahs/amazon-s-audacious-photography-patent

 

[Rob H]

Patents are not free (trademarks and copyrights can be free) and don't really give much protection.

I would disagree that they don't really give much protection. If a patent is awarded it's assumed to be legit and therefore the default judgment will always find in favor of the patent-holder. It's up to the defendant to prove that they didn't infringe on it.

Say I make a cool little app that I sell for a few bucks on the mobile marketplaces. One of these weather companies with patents sees that I made something better than their barely flushed out idea and doesn't like the competition, as its a niche market. I don't have the legal resources to contest it even if I have a very good chance of proving my case, and so I acquiesce. Good software fades away, bad existing software continues marching on. Innovation squashed.

 

[Mike Smith]

Location Centric is a division of AccuWeather.

And, yes, SpotterNetwork was infringing one of our patents. And, we forced them to take a license. And, because of their public service the license was FREE. Yes, Free.

We are in no way patent trolls. Those, by definition, are people who buy patents unrelated to their business. Storm detection and warning is very much part of AccuWeather's business.

It would be helpful if people would not jump to conclusions in the absence of information.

 

[Ed Boik]

Location Centric is a division of AccuWeather.

And, yes, SpotterNetwork was infringing one of our patents. And, we forced them to take a license. And, because of their public service the license was FREE. Yes, Free.

We are in no way patent trolls. Those, by definition, are people who buy patents unrelated to their business. Storm detection and warning is very much part of AccuWeather's business.

It would be helpful if people would not jump to conclusions in the absence of information.

This is good to hear. There's still a sidebar argument about the reasonableness of vague unimplemented ideas or ideas that are novel.

This storm report patent isn't novel. Its data entry.

Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk

 

[Tyler Allison]

SpotterNetwork was infringing one of our patents.

I'll have to respectfully disagree Mike. Accuweather claimed the SpotterNetwork was infringing their patent. The SpotterNetwork did not accept that claim, but was forced to license anyway.

And, because of their public service the license was FREE. Yes, Free.

No it wasn't and still isn't. It was/is extremely cheap....and we very much appreciate Accuweather recognizing the public service nature we perform....but the license was/is certainly not free.

-Tyler

 

[Rob H]

No one had any idea that Accuweather was the actual owner of this patent until someone spoke up. "Accuweather" and "patent troll" are now linked together in Google's cache for eternity. It might be wise to focus future discussion in this thread on generic patent issues or ones where representatives from both parties aren't involved before things get out of hand