Recently, Apple and Google are appealing Judge Posner's dismissal of a two-way Apple-Motorola lawsuit in Chicago on patent infringement. This appeal have not only affected the two companies, but have also caused many other companies to be involved, just like what happened in World War I and II. Instead of countries taking sides, it is companies taking sides this time. Qualcomm and BlackBerry is on the side of Google, while Intel and Microsoft are on the side of Apple. This tight relationship between all the different technology giants posses a huge potential for things to go wrong, and for a disaster to happen if a cyber war breaks out. It is also not just these few companies that are involved, The two sides have their group of 'followers' who are not directly involved, but still provide support and stand sides.
It is also interesting to note that BlackBerry officially supports neither party, but is clearly opposing Judge Posner and substantively siding with Google. This is because no matter which side wins, the categorical rule against injunction will harm it either way.
The huge number of companies involved in this one battle is incredible, reflecting that this lawsuit is an extremely important one. The ITC is thus under huge pressure to ensure that their decision is the right one, as a lot is at stake.
It is interesting to see how you compare the smartphone war with the World War I and II. In a sense it does seems that way. The market is definitely going to be effected by all these cases. I really respect the judges making these important decisions. I don't blame them for taking a long time to consider all aspects of these cases.
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