Patent Purgatory

Here's what's happening in the patent wars.

Android Advocates hate Apple because Apple is being sued by so many others. This, they say, is proof that Apple is a thief and evil.

Android Advocates hate Apple because Apple is suing so many others. This, they say, is proof that Apple is anti-competitve and evil.

Android advocates don't give a damn about patent litigation and they don't give a damn about being fair mined. They just hate Apple. The end.

Android's Fall from Grace

Via Foss Patents:

The Federal Court of Australia ordered an interim injunction against Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 over strong suspicions of the infringement of two technical invention patents.

The patents at issue are not tablet-specific. They are very broad and can hardly be worked around, unlike various other intellectual property rights that Apple asserted and Samsung recently engineered around.

Not tablet specific. Can't be worked around. Sounds like real trouble for all tablet makers.

After today's decision, I believe no company in the industry be able to launch any new Android-based touchscreen product in Australia anytime soon without incurring a high risk of another interim injunction. The two patents on which today's ruling is based aren't Galaxy Tab 10.1-specific at all. They will affect all Android-based smartphones and tablet computers, across all vendors.

Google's cavalier attitude toward other companies' intellectual property is starting to backfire in seriously harmful ways. Samsung is only the first Android OEM to suffer serious economic damage by not being able to launch products in certain markets.

Off the top of my head, I can think of at least 5 reasons why Android might be nearing its end:

1.  It's a failed business model that doesn't make anyone any sustainable profits.
2. The purchase of Motorola by Google has ended Android's licensing model and initiated the integrated model. I think Google has even less chance of creating a successful integrated Android product than Microsoft had with the Zune. Furthermore, the purchase of Motorola has lit a fire under every other Android manufacturer as they desperately seek to separate themselves from Android before Google cuts them off in favor of Motorola.
3. License fees paid by Android manufacturers means that Android is no longer "free".
4. The Oracle suit. A potential nuclear bomb that may end Android altogether.
5. The various Apple injunctions which may make it impossible for various Android products to even reach the market.

Android is unraveling. It now appears that it's only a matter of how fast and how hard it falls.