Patent granted on smartphones, everyone sued
![](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/zkOhTo_86tzpJ203UWcocA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTQyMDtoPTcyOA--/https://s.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/6nOdtQ.wl5v5zN8FQ0aPCw--~B/aD00MjE7dz0yNDM7YXBwaWQ9eXRhY2h5b24-/https://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2008/01/money.jpg)
What would you do if the US patent office gave you the go-ahead on a far-reaching, non-specific application filed for a "mobile entertainment and communication device"? If your answer was that you would immediately draw up lawsuits against almost every major electronics manufacturer that even looked at a smartphone funny, you get a cookie. Yes folks, as impossible as it is to believe, the holders of the aforementioned patent have just sued Apple, Nokia, RIM, Sprint, AT&T, HP, Motorola, Helio, HTC, Sony Ericsson, UTStarcomm, and Samsung... amongst others. So eager was this company to sue, in fact, that legal papers were filed a day before the patent was granted, and subsequently had to re-submitted. The real sucker-punch here is that the patent simply combines a list of prior technologies jumbled into one product, a practice which has recently been ruled against by the Supreme Court. Still, we doubt it will stop the holders from trying to nab a few dollars in settlements, staying the work of real innovators, and generally making a mockery of our patent system. Bravo!
[Via Slashdot]