Tech jobs vaporized as patent war goes nuclear

[Renew Deal]

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The patent wars go nuclear -- with costs to match
When I say Google is wasting $6 billion, I'm being charitable. Google actually is paying $12.5 billion to buy Motorola Mobility. There's absolutely no doubt that the major, if not the only, reason it's making that gargantuan purchase is to defend the Android platform from patent-related legal attacks from Apple and others. Some analysts have suggested that Motorola's big patent portfolio represents roughly half the value of the company. If you do the math, each patent works out to $400,000 to $500,000.
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Google isn't defending itself from the noxious little creatures we call patent trolls, of course. It's fighting with the likes of Apple, Microsoft, and Oracle, who are in turn fighting with the likes of Samsung and HTC. Our broken patent system has touched off a war, and your job could be the collateral damage.

More patent buyouts are on the way
Everyone knows what an arms race is. One side builds a new weapon, and the other side has to match it. Then the first side builds an even more powerful weapon, prompting the other guy to build more and so on. Remember how well that worked out for the Soviet Union?

Now there's an arms race in the technology industry, with patents playing the role of ICBMs. "Patents are emerging as a new currency," Alexander I. Poltorak, chief executive of the patent licensing and enforcement firm General Patent, told the New York Times. "I've recently received several calls from financial analysts and bankers who want to know how to value patents and what does it mean."
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http://www.infoworld.com/d/the-industry-standard/tech-jobs-vaporized-patent-war-goes-nuclear-170137

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

1. Intellectual ''property'' extremism kills innovation and stifles the economy.

It's true for copyright and it's true for patents.

[seeviewonder]

3. Agreed.

This is why we shouldn't allow a monopoly when it comes to only intellectual property. This will (and does) make it so competitors are unable to expand their product lines and thereby lower prices for consumers.

[phantom power]

2. We must not allow a patent gap!111!!