From the Ars article:
Apple's rubber band claim is rejected
because of two pieces of prior art, one a patent by AOL and the other a patent
by the very same Apple employee responsible for the rubber band
patent.
When applying for a patent, the applicant signs an
affidavit, backed by perjury, saying they are not aware of any prior art. Since
it is the same inventor on both patents, the usual defense of "I was not aware
of this patent" does not hold.
Even if the damages are only $30M, sue
that developer for that amount, for damages he (I'm assuming he's not a she)
caused.
Sure, he does not have that kind of money, but this is not about
getting money back. This is about stopping the practice of blindly signing
anything the company's lawyer puts in front of you. If engineers knew that
submitting junk patents might put them in personal risk, companies will start
seeing push back from within.
Just my personal wet dream....
Shachar [ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
|