Anyone else remember the lady that sued McDonalds because she spilled her coffee on herself? That is exactly how I feel about the recent slew of lawsuits.
It seems like everyday we see a new infringement suit from one company or another aimed at Android. As Eric Schmidt pointed out earlier about the most recent suit, “They are not responding with innovation, they’re responding with lawsuits.” Since these actions have become a little redundant in my opinion, I have strayed away from getting to involved.
The latest news on the sue happy front though was by Lodsys. They didn’t take aim at Android specifically, but at Angry Birds and Rovio. Claiming infringement against the companies Android and iPhone versions.
If you want to read more on this story, visit FOOSPatents. They have it all laid out for you to read up on.
What I am more interested in is what you guys think of all these companies suing each other constantly? Will there ever be an end to it? Will Android survive the battles in the long run?
Source: FOOSPatents
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WHAT THE F PEOPLE, LEAVE ANDROID ALONE!!! I swear to god that if one of these lawsuits screws something up that I love I will literaly kill the person responsible using my Google Nexus S. I’LL JUST KEEP SMASHING AND SMASHING MY PHONE INTO YOUR FACE UNTIL YOU’RE GONE! Don’t mess with GOOGLE!
I think the problem is out of hand
I agree completely with your point, but your reference to the McDonald’s coffee case is lazy journalism. That case is completely different, and has been mythified by the media.
1. She was not the driver; she was a passenger, and the morons working the window hadn’t put sugar in her cup like she asked.
2. The cup MELTED because the contents were nearly 180 degrees.
3. She got third degree burns over her groin area.
4. McDonald’s had paid out nearly 70 similar claims through the years.
5. McDonald’s witnesses said that they knew folks would get burned, but they were known for hot coffee and that was the cost of doing business.
6. All she wanted was the medical bills that Medicare Part B had not paid.
7. The six figure verdict was reduced on appeal.
That’s all that I can think of now without reviewing the entire case history, but, suffice it to say that businesses LOVE to cite the case as an example of “runaway tort litigation.” It’s a poor example, and very few people know the facts.
Most litigation in the federal courts is commercial, and some of it is abusive with folks trying to waive patents around like cudgels. You can lose in the marketplace with a mediocre product but possibly gain an advantage in the courts. But litigation *is* expensive, and a cases like this I agree are counter-productive.
But just don’t use the McDonald’s coffee case as your jumping off point. It’s just bad journalism.
Thank you. I was planning on saying the exact same thing, but you did it much better than I could have.
Hate to beat a dead horse, BUT the extent of her injuries included having her labia burned off! McDonalds was aware of the problem (High Temp) and chose to ignore it as the cost to pay off claims was smaller than the estimated cost of litigation per internal bean counters. She was originally rewarded the equivalent of 1 DAYS PROFIT from COFFEE SALE at McDonalds. As was mentioned they stalled, appealed and got it reduced. This doesn’t take away the fact that a lot of lawyers are sleaze balls and become politicians when they retire, and our judicial and patent systems are broken. Looser pays would eliminate of suits immediately.
Hate to beat a dead horse, BUT the extent of her injuries included having her labia burned off! McDonalds was aware of the problem (High Temp) and chose to ignore it as the cost to pay off claims was smaller than the estimated cost of litigation per internal bean counters. She was originally rewarded the equivalent of 1 DAYS PROFIT from COFFEE SALE at McDonalds. As was mentioned they stalled, appealed and got it reduced. This doesn’t take away the fact that a lot of lawyers are sleaze balls and become politicians when they retire, and our judicial and patent systems are broken. Looser pays would eliminate of suits immediately.
Hate to beat a dead horse, BUT the extent of her injuries included having her labia burned off! McDonalds was aware of the problem (High Temp) and chose to ignore it as the cost to pay off claims was smaller than the estimated cost of litigation per internal bean counters. She was originally rewarded the equivalent of 1 DAYS PROFIT from COFFEE SALE at McDonalds. As was mentioned they stalled, appealed and got it reduced. This doesn’t take away the fact that a lot of lawyers are sleaze balls and become politicians when they retire, and our judicial and patent systems are broken. Looser pays would eliminate of suits immediately.
Can’t fault your arguements, but find it hard to believe that the coffee was anywhere near 180 degrees, water boils at 100 degrees you’d have yourself a cup of steam way below 180 degrees and steam rises so wouldn’t burn your lap
I’ve read and studied the mcdonalds case, and I completely agree that using it in comparison to this patent case is very misleading. I don’t remember the exact tempature of the coffee, but i do remember that the temp was 2-3 times hotter than other fast food resturants, to the point where the reasonable prudent person would not assume the risk of scolding themselves to the degree which that lady was burned.
Yes, there are many frivulous law suits in our system, and this lodsys case very well be one of them, but you should check your facts before you just throw other cases around in comparison because that McDonald’s case isn’t one of them.
I’m not sure but the author of this article was talking about android right? Get off your know-it-all high horse and speak on the issue at hand.
To answer the reporter… Yes, between this suit and the Apple vs. HTC suit, Android and the devs may have a problem. I’m glad to see that Apple has relized they are touchable but shame on them for such childish tactics. And that goes fir Lodsys as well. If a company beats your idea you beat theirs with another. Show some damn dignity.
Blame Apple!
180 degrees FAHRENHEIT people, not Celsius. 212 degrees F is the boiling point of water.