Patent Wars 2012: Meet the players

The patent wars are nothing new, but, in the technology sector, they stand to have a significant impact on the future of innovation.

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The patent wars have been around since well before the modern technology sector. In fact, a Time magazine article dated, June 10, 1929, with the headline “Business: Patent War,” covered the dispute over who could rightfully be called “The Father of Radio.” The battle for patent supremacy has led some of Silicon Valley’s most powerful companies to trek out an army of lawyers to negotiate acquisitions expressly for the purpose of beefing up their patent holdings, sue companies believed to be infringing on held patents and defend themselves against similar suits from others. The battle, dubbed “The Patent Wars” will be one of the long-running technology trend stories to be explored in 2012. In this photo, one of seven views of the new U.S. Patent and Trademark Office complex in Alexandria, Va.

Larry Morris / The Washington Post

When you don’t have patents you want or need, the rule of thumb is to buy them. That’s what Oracle did with Sun Microsystems, acquiring the company for $7.4 billion and, along with it, the popular Java operating system platform. Then, along came Google’s Android OS for tablets and mobile phones, which Oracle claimed infringed on its Java patent, suing the search giant in August 2010. In this photo, Oracle’s headquarters in Redwood City, Calif., on April 26, 2000.

Paul Sakuma / AP

The Oracle suit against Google was for $6 billion in damages — nearly the amount Oracle paid for Sun in the first place. A judge ruled the damage claim excessive and ordered both companies’ CEOs to meet and make a deal. The negotiations fell through, however, and it remains to be seen whether the case will go to trial in 2012 — perhaps as early as this spring. In November, a potentially damaging e-mail from a Google engineer that reads, “We conclude that we need to negotiate a license for Java under the terms we need,” was ruled admissable at trial. In this photo, Google Inc. company headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., is seen on Aug. 19, 2004.

Paul Sakuma / AP

Victory is sweet in the patent wars, minus the cost of your legal team(s). Motorola was victorious in Germany, winning a suit filed against Apple for failing to license one of Motorola’s wireless IPs. As of Dec. 9, according to a BBC report, Apple planned to appeal the decision or risk being forced to either pay damages or remove the technology from its iPhone 3G and 3G iPad. Complicating the case is Google’s planned acquisition of Motorola in 2012 for $12.5 billion, which would square the search giant against Apple in the case. In this photo, a Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. Xoom tablet device is arranged for a photograph at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Feb. 16, 2011.

Denis Doyle / Bloomberg

Eastman Kodak is, according to reports, preparing to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. But the U.S. International Trade Commission has yet to make a ruling regarding whether patents held by Kodak had been infringed upon by Apple and Blackberry maker Research in Motion (RIM). Kodak is one of the most closely watched companies by patent trackers eager to see who acquires its 1,100 digital imaging patents. In this photo, a saleswoman holds a box of Kodachrome film on June 22, 2009, in an electronics shop in New York City.

Chris Hondros / Getty Images

When it comes to the patent wars, Apple is one of the largest players, aggressively pursuing those whom it believes to be infringing on its popular inventions. Apple has filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission that patents governing its iPhone line have been infringed upon by Samsung Electronics and HTC among other companies. The ITC found that HTC had, indeed, infringed on Apple’s patents, but ruled against Apple in three other cases. Apple also has patent cases filed in German courts and before the European Commission in Brussels. In this photo, taken March 25, 2011, a giant Apple logo is seen as customers wait in front of the Apple Store in Munich.

Christof Stache / AFP/Getty Images

When it comes to the patent wars, think of Microsoft as a grizzled, old general. The company has been defending itself against suits and filing them, while working to acquire smaller, patent-rich companies such as Novell, for years. Microsoft was among a group of companies, including Apple, making the Novell patent purchase. Needless to say, this left Google crying foul, claiming, specifically, that Microsoft and Apple were ganging up on the search leader’s Android platform. In this photo, Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft Corp., pauses while speaking during an event at China's Ministry of Science and Technology in Beijing on Dec. 7, 2011.

Nelson Ching / Bloomberg

Apple and Microsoft, while bitter rivals in the consumer marketplace, have teamed up repeatedly to acquire companies for their patents. In one purchase, the two companies joined forces as part of a consortium of companies to buy Nortel’s wireless patents for $4.5 billion, leaving Google and its increasingly popular Android platform out in the cold. In this photo, a man rides his bike past a Nortel building in Ottawa on Aug. 19, 2004.

Jonathan Hayward / CP

Samsung lost a suit in Germany, when a regional court in Dusseldorf granted Apple a preliminary injunction against the company and sale of its Galaxy Tab. The Samsung tables was deemed too similar to Apple’s iPad. Sales were halted across the European Union, excluding the Netherlands. However, Samsung succeeded in overturning an injunction placed against its Galaxy Tab in Australia, also at Apple’s behest. Lest you think the patent wars aren’t eye-for-an-eye, Samsung has since attempted to block the sale of the iPhone 4S in Australia, France, Japan and Italy, claiming it infringes on Samsung’s 3G technology. In this photo, taken Oct. 21, 2011, a Cambodian man plays a game on the Samsung Galaxy tab 10.1 during a promotional sale at a shop in Phnom Penh.

Tang Chhin Sothy / AFP/Getty Images

When it comes to the patent wars, mobile device maker HTC has been caught in the middle of two tech titans: Apple and Google. HTC makes mobile phones using the Android OS, and the company is in the process of acquiring S3 Graphics, which possesses patents that Taiwan-based HTC claims Apple has infringed on. Apple, in turn, filed a complaint with the International Trade Commission against HTC and won, claiming the firm had infringed on two of its patents. Starting April 19, 2012, HTC will be banned from selling in the U.S. any phones that infringe on the two Apple patents. In this photo, visitors try out a mobile handset devices at an HTC store in Taipei, Taiwan, on Dec. 14, 2011.

Ashley Pon / Bloomberg

Google has also entered into the patent lawsuit crosshairs of the beleaguered telecommunications group British Telecom (BT). The company has sued Google for a variety of patent infringements ranging from Google’s Android platform to its advertising and social networking products. BT is seeking unspecified damages for unauthorized use of its inventions. In this photo, a BT phone box stands in Parliament Square in central London on Nov. 8, 2001.

Ferran Paredes / Reuters

Another company with a victory against Apple under its belt is Nokia. Both companies decided to settle their complaints against one another, withdrawing them from the U.S. International Trade Commission in June 2011. Nokia entered into a patent licensing deal with Apple, receiving a one-time fee and ongoing royalties from Apple, with the specific terms of the deal remaining confidential. The company is under the microscopes of patent watchers, who wait to see who may acquire the company and its popular mobile patents. In this photo, a woman takes a photograph of a Nokia Oyj Lumia 710 smartphone at a launch event in New York on Dec. 14, 2011.

Stephen Yang / Bloomberg

Sometimes it isn’t about the lawsuits but about the potential for acquisition that has patent-war trackers salivating (or grousing, depending on how you want to look at it). Blackberry maker Research in Motion is among the companies with high acquisition potential. The company has been struggling to keep up with the skyrocketing success of Apple’s iPhone and the army of mobile phones sold using Google’s Android operating system. RIM possesses the highest number of patents in the mobile space. In this photo, Mike Lazaridis, co-CEO of Research in Motion gestures at the end of his keynote address to the BlackBerry DevCon Americas conference in San Francisco.

Eric Risberg / AP

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