Like a parody of Dr Seuss’s short story “The Sneetches”, the race to be the company in control of the greatest smartphone technology patent portfolio is creating more and more headline and causing more and more friction.
On the one hand we have Google and Apple who along with other “Star-bellied Sneetches”, Microsoft and Research in Motion (RIM) recently acquired the assets of Nortel and created an “exclusive club”.
Now we have Google acquiring the patents of Motorola: creating a “Super-star-bellied Sneetch” and Hewlett Packard throwing in the towel in preference of being a plain-bellied Sneetch, having “no stars on thars”. We also have Kodak intent of selling their patent portfolio, including patents that may permit the owner the ability to pursue claims against Apple and RIM. Whose to win?
Enter the patent trolls a.k.a. Sylvester McMonkey McBean.
Like the character in Seuss story, McBean is happy to work with both sides and take a fee in doing so. What is likely to happen is confusion in the market, akin to an arms race,
"until neither the Plain nor the Star-Bellies knew
whether this one was that one... or that one was this one
or which one was what one... or what one was who."
And ultimately as in the book, this continues until the Sneetches are penniless and McBean departs a rich man asserting, “You can’t teach a Sneetch”.
But you can. Let’s hope this latest strategy ends with compromise and avoidance of “mutually assured destruction” and collaboration is seen as the best strategy.
