News Intel Hit with Another $949 Million Verdict in Patent Infringement Trial

[Admin]

Intel must pay VLSI $949 million for infringing a chip patent, Texas jury rules.

Intel Hit with Another $949 Million Verdict in Patent Infringement Trial : Read more

 

[thestryker]

Yet another example of the completely broken patent system in the US: A hedge fund buys up patents for the sole purpose of squeezing money out of people/businesses. Simplest solution would be if you're not the original patent holder and aren't using it to produce a product the patent is invalidated. The majority of the companies that are being gone after can afford it (they wouldn't be targeted otherwise), but at the same time this does nothing but transfer wealth between rich people. It doesn't protect ideas or help society in any way.

 

[ikernelpro4]

its 7,242,552 patent, which covers a method for lessening the problems of defects caused by stress applied to bond pads. The technique includes adding dummy metal lines to interconnect layers to increase their density before producing other layers

How about get lost?? What is wrong with the american patent system?? How the flying heck is this a patent?

 

[rugupiruvu]

How the flying heck is this a patent?

Ah, but if you violate it enough times per second it becomes valid!

 

[rtoaht]

Asian hedge funds found out how broken the US patent system is. They are targeting successful US companies to profit using vague un-patentable stuffs that somehow awarded as patents. Also it’s funny that the patent trolls always file lawsuits in certain Texas suburbs where they find enough gullible people to believe their BS.

 

[bit_user]

this does nothing but transfer wealth between rich people. It doesn't protect ideas or help society in any way.

Worse. Intel's revenues come from its customers. To offset these fines and any fees it has to pay to license patents, Intel must increase the price of its products. So, it's actually a wealth transfer from a broad swath of society -> the rich hedge fund shareholders.

Perhaps you might be tempted to say that Intel's shareholders are the ones who suffer, but if you look at Intel's history of dividends, they seem to prioritize those above all else. They will even cut their workforce, before they reduce their dividends.

IMO, the real problem is that many patents are over-broad or cover prior art. I wouldn't have such a problem if the patents were truly novel and non-obvious, because having a market value for innovation would generally serve to spur more of it. But, if you can get a patent for almost anything, and the standard for infringement is sufficiently low, then this whole situation starts to look like a petty extortion racket.