<br />There's always two sides to every story. <br />

 

You need to do some research on UNILOC before going much further.

I'm curious why everyone immediately takes Laminar's side in this issue. Did Uniloc try and obtain a license from Laminar and was told to pack sand prior to suing? I read the lawsuit and nobody sued the CEO or the developers individually, the suit is against Laminar. Hopefully Laminar was smart enough to get insurance to protect itself against errors and omissions.

 

I have no idea how Uniloc came to own the patent in question. But what if a smalll entrepreneur created the patent years ago and didn't have the resources to defend it. Maybe Uniloc stepped up and is helping the original developer against trolls that stole his technology. Maybe the original entrepreneur tried to work a deal with Android or Laminar and was told to no and the little guy was getting screwed.

 

There's always two sides to every story.

 

That's why there are courts, jurors and judges.

 

Remember the fiasco with Flight's EULA and countless forum posters took it upon themselves to be armchair lawyers and came up with theories and speculation? So much so, that it jeapordized developers' livelihoods.

What is known for sure is that Laminar is not the only company being sued under these circumstances. To ask questions like "Didn't LR insure themselves against this kind of thing" doesn't really help.

Electronic Arts is another company being sued for exactly the same thing by the exact same company. Here are some financial stats for EA:

Revenue US$4.143 billion (2012)^[1] Operating income US$35.00 million (2012)^[1] Net income US$76.00 million (2012)^[1] Total assets US$5.491 billion (2012)^[1] Total equity US$2.458 billion (2012)^[1] Employees 7,645 (2012)^[2]

 

Truth is, this is such a frivolous lawsuit, that no company (not even EA) even considered it a possibility.

Also, Microsoft was also sued for the same thing many years ago. Microsoft won, initially. Uniloc appealled...and won (by jury vote)...then Microsoft appealed...the judge overturned the jury and awarded victory to Microsoft.

Source...

http://www.theage.com.au/technology/biz-tech/aussie-inventors-445m-microsoft-windfall-wiped-out-20090930-gc77.html

Greed is so epic these days. my God.

I'm definitely supporting Laminar Research!

 

+1

 

http://patentabsurdity.com/

http://endsoftpatents.org/

This patent BS is out of control. Makes you wonder why it hasn't been fixed. Maybe there are too many ppl in high places with their fingers in the pie.

I often thought it would be a matter of time before the patent litigators entered the flightsim world.

 

What is a patent anyway? Is is a mechanism that prevents others from stealing a technology & ideas from the patent holder?

....or is it a mechanism that enables the patent holder to (legally) steal other peoples independant ideas that are broadly similar by pure coincidence?

 

The way things are going, the only winners I see in this ecosystem are the lawyers and the patent holders. Everyone else will be made to answer to them. The shift in power, wealth and freedom that we'll see without a fight could be monumental.

 

The question really has to be how do we fight it? The answer certainly isn't "one court case at a time" otherwise we'll all end up penniless in the hands of lawyers and patent holders. There has to be another way.

Lot's of good info here:

 

http://en.swpat.org/wiki/Arguments

 

I myself COULD have patented something that first appeared in FS Kneeboard almost two and a half years ago. Six months later another developer copied it exactly. What did I do? I made mine even better. Maybe they did the same, I never checked. But the point is, the consumers benefited from it. They got an even better product because two developers competed to create (invent?) a better functioning piece of software.

 

If we were talking about a 100 million dollar investment that developed a fusion powered car, I could completely understand the purpose of a patent.

 

My idea (invention?) cost me nothing but my own time (and very little of that too). However, this other company COULD have patented the idea that they copied from me, then sued me.

 

This is the problem.

This lawsuit is despicable and I will definitely be supporting Laminar Research.

 

Last year I was teaching myself iOS programming and then a patent troll came out and sued some iOS developers for something really simple. Even though I am still playing round with iOS development it put me off in writing and selling an application as I don't have the money to protect myself against trolls.

 

Software patents are definitely a hindrance to innovation and the IT industry. I wish the world would wake up and realise that.

 

*sigh*

I often thought it would be a matter of time before the patent litigators entered the flightsim world.

 

What is a patent anyway? Is is a mechanism that prevents others from stealing a technology & ideas from the patent holder?

....or is it a mechanism that enables the patent holder to (legally) steal other peoples independant ideas that are broadly similar by pure coincidence?

 

The way things are going, the only winners I see in this ecosystem are the lawyers and the patent holders. Everyone else will be made to answer to them. The shift in power, wealth and freedom that we'll see without a fight could be monumental.

 

The question really has to be how do we fight it? The answer certainly isn't "one court case at a time" otherwise we'll all end up penniless in the hands of lawyers and patent holders. There has to be another way.

 

To find the answer to that question, let us look to French history during the 1800s for some inspiration =D.

Well, I can only fully support Austin and LR on their fight against these patent trolls. Really disgusting!

Yes, it is rediculous. I dont follow android too much, I am curious what google has to say about it if it is indeed part of their api to do this.

 

I do know that apple indemnified it's developers against a similar patent claim for in game purchases. Not sure what, if anything google has done.

I heard Apple will be suing Laminar Research, too. Apparently their CDs have round corners.

Good luck Austin

Just put on the autopilot ,get on with things and this apparent storm will actually prove to be just a bit of turbulence on your long haul flight.

Happy landings!

Jay

What I would like to know is what impact, if any, this will have on the future of XPlane as it is looking more and more every day like it is our only hope for the continuation of our hobby. Is this lawsuit going to cause enough problems for LR that resources will be directed away from development both in time and money thereby stalling XP 10's growth? As I understand it from reading around, Austin himself is quite heavily involved in the core nitty gritty aspects of XP's coding and if he is having to spend all his time (and a good portion of his company's finances) fighting a legal battle, how is this going to affect things??

 

I fear this is yet another event that threatens the future existence of the hobby. FSX only has so many years left (if any) and P3D is looking less viable as an alternative all the time (see today's front page article and LM's firm announcement of no plans to support the entertainment/hobbyist sector of computer-based flying). Does anyone have some encouraging words to offer for the community? A bit of hope sure wouldn't go amiss right now.

I heard Apple will be suing Laminar Research, too. Apparently their CDs have round corners.

 

:LMAO:

 

I also heard some blood relatives of the Wright Brothers are also preparing a mother-of-all lawsuits, which will bring companies such as Boeing and Airbus to it's knees.