By Aditi Yashasvi[*]
This article deals with contemporary patent wars as a world phenomenon, fought by multinational corporations based within the US, China, Europe, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. Firstly, it throws a light on the concept of patent and why the patent battle exists. Secondly, it delves into the history of patent wars citing the infamous samples of the Wright brothers and Alexander Graham Bell. This article has taken an example of the long-running patent war between Samsung and Apple, to point out how relevant it’s during this technologically advanced world and provides you with an insight into how these wars have led to the destruction of the businesses in the long run. Thirdly, this article deals with the conflicting questions of whether patents should exist or not and if so, how are these patent battles helping the inventor or proving to be disastrous for the tiny companies. Lastly, the article attempts to answer such questions so as to seek out solutions to the issues arising out of those future patent wars.
Patent war may be a kind of “battle” between corporations or individuals to secure patents for litigation, whether offensively or defensively[1]. There are major ongoing patent wars between the world’s largest technology and software corporations. to own an understanding of the concept of patent, it is defined because the granting of ownership by a sovereign authority to an inventor. A patent provides the inventor (an individual who has invented the software or hardware or anything), exclusive rights to the patented process, design, or invention for a specific period of your time in exchange for an entire disclosure of the invention. The very first recorded patent for an industrial invention was granted in 1421 in Florence, Italy, to the architect and engineer designer. The patent gave him a whole three-year monopoly on the manufacture of a barge with hoisting gear. Ever since then, the granting of patents has been a vital economic activity to realize an advantage over one’s invention and find recognized as an inventor. it’s vital for an inventor to be recognized for the work he has done because it must be appreciated and acknowledged in its own particular space.
Patent wars don’t seem to be a brand-new phenomenon because it has been evidently seen in our history similarly within the Wright brothers patent war, the Wright brothers, attributed with the invention of the aeroplane, sought to stop competitors from manufacturing aeroplanes through litigation, stifling the event of the American airline industry[2]. The infamous Alexander Graham Bell, credited with inventing the Gramophone, was dragged into a patent war against his rivals. One of the notable cases was Bell’s lawsuit against Western Union. The Western Union was backed by Elisha Gray, also credited with inventing the phonograph. The war basically happened to determine who took the patent on their invention first so as to declare the primary inventor of the gramophone. The beginning of the many such patent wars was quite a century ago (almost 150 years ago): the stitching machine war of the 1850s and not only was it the very first patent war, but it also had all of the trimmings of the subsequent patent wars up through today’s smartphone war. Although some might imagine the stitching machine may be a usual and mundane household product, it had been a technological achievement within the 1850s. The well-known and seven years long term patent battle; Apple Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd, finally got settled in 2018. the 2 big smartphone companies are fighting over infringement since 2011 and took their case all the thanks to the Supreme Court. Both Apple and Samsung are fighting over the designs, utility and functionality of their smartphones and tablets since 2011. For the 2 companies, the long-running battle was about over money. What was really at stake was the marketplace for mobile devices and its impact on purchasers from all around the world.
Due to an intermingling of economic, political, and social factors, patent protection is that the strongest it’s ever been within the US. The jurisprudence, area of material possession law dedicated to the protection of tangible inventions, has taken on new significance and importance in an era driven by exponential increases in technological innovation and therefore the globalization of economic trade. Consequently, companies seeking a competitive advantage within the world marketplace are recognizing the importance of the acquisition and protection of material possession rights, hence, resulting in patent wars. An observation from the Apple and Samsung patent war, where Apple suffered grievous losses, what’s best for all types of innovation may be a thriving ecosystem within the market, during which companies ride each other’s ideas and constantly reinvent and rebuild themselves rather than trying to slow each other’s pace down within the courts. It’s bad enough when big companies with deep pockets battle one another, except for young companies, lawsuits may be fatal and may result in a start-up facing bankruptcy. Also, Fledgling innovators need to sleep in constant fear of huge players within the market or patent trolls onanism an enormous gun and bankrupting them, no matter whose idea it had been especially for startups, this is often a greater concern than someone stealing their ideas.
This raises a much bigger question: can we even need patents in an era where technology is advancing so rapidly and is prospering on an hourly basis that it makes entire computing platforms obsolete in less time than it takes to be awarded a patent? However, this question will be contradicted by elaborating the very fact that recognizing an individual’s invention or innovation is that the primary work to be done. Hence, ruling out the concept of patents is obnoxious. Therefore, the patent cases must be handled meticulously to grant justice to the initial owner of the invented technology.
[*] Student (Intern), BA. LL.B. (H). Amity Law School, Noida
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patent_war
[2] Lohr, Steve (30 July 2012). “Apple-Samsung Trial Highlights Tricky Patent Wars”. The NY Times.
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