As I watched the latest raft of Apple iPad advertisements gracing the Academy Awards March 7, something troubled me regarding Apple’s recent lawsuits against HTC (and, indirectly, Google’s Nexus One). So am I just an inherent Apple basher? Isn’t Apple protecting its intellectual property in the same aggressive way Nokia is? Would we expect anything less?
But as I viewed the disembodied hands expanding icons to applications on the eagerly-anticipated iPad, it suddenly occurred to me why there is something troubling going on. Nokia is following the well-trodden paths of the likes of Texas Instruments Inc. and IBM Corp. – making tactical best advantage of a patent portfolio to turn it into its own revenue stream. This can be quite lucrative, particularly if the company in question is not shipping as many products as it used to be. If overused, this strategy can turn a company into a patent mill, but Nokia probably looked at the continuing product business of TI and IBM, and figured the strategy was worth the risk.
If Apple takes a tactical position of protecting its particular means of implementing touchscreens, or tying applications to touch behavior, fine. If it wishes to set up a licensing pool to charge a reasonable fee for utilizing touch methods similar to Apple’s on future smartphones, tablet computers, or smartbooks, I have little problem other than possible quibbles with Apple over the royalty rates one might define as “reasonable.” But given Apple’s past behavior, I fear that the company wants to stake out the touch-sensitive application invocation from handheld device as something uniquely Apple’s. And the TV ads last weekend carry this subtle but sinister message that you can’t live without the touch-activated experience of iPad/iPhone/iPad Touch, and that Apple will make damned sure it gets its pound of flesh from every touch-addicted mobile user worldwide. Or maybe that’s my paranoia shining through.
Loring
