Apple Is the Leading Innovator Thesis

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Nowhere is this gap more visible than in the field of mobile computing devices. Apple, Google, Microsoft, Samsung, and HTC, among many others, are currently involved in a web of costly patent infringement suits. Perhaps it is time to examine whether computer software patents fulfill their intended purpose of promoting technological innovation and economic growth

Through its high-quality, no-cost Android OS, Google allowed mobile phone hardware manufacturers to make a number of different smartphone models at an affordable price. Unlike Apple's iPhone and RIM's Blackberry line, which were up-market and targeted at specific segments, companies like Samsung and HTC, which did not have to recoup software development costs, offered smartphone models for the mid-market and even entry-level market.

The availability of so many different Anroid-based smartphones, one for each consumer segment, led to a very rapid and broad dissemination of smartphone devices in the mobile phone market. This dissemination familiarized the whole consumer base with smartphones and enlarging the mobile computing market considerably. Furthermore, this familiarity has even come back to help Apple by creating broader interest and anticipation for Apple's iPad tablet, which represents the next big growth channel for Apple, and for the mobile computing industry in general. (Newman).

The Android also promotes technological innovation because it is an open source platform. Open-source software means that software's source code, essentially its intellectual property, is freely available to the public. This allows computing professionals and hobbyists to modify the software for different purposes or even to make it more efficient. Such participation not only helps to train potential inventors, it also pushes the limits of the software itself, revealing hidden possibilities within the software.


Conclusion

The current patent law regime, and the intellectual framework in general, does not arise out of ethical considerations. After all, the concept of owning an idea runs counter to the collaborative spirit of science itself. Rather, it arises out of economic considerations, out of a desire for the economic growth created by technological innovation. When those patent rights threaten to inhibit economic growth instead of promoting it, it may be time to reevaluate the patent law regime.

Bibliography

Warshofsky, Fred. The Patent Wars: The Battle to Own the World's Technology. New York: Wiley, 1994. Print.

Newman, Jared. "Apple's New iPad Should Be Google's Wake-Up Call." Time Magazine. March 9, 2012. Available at http://techland.time.com/2012/03/09/apples-new-iPad-should-be-googles-wake-up-call/#ixzz1pmX7FZYd

Frischmann, Benjamin. Avoiding a Cliff Dive Science July 25, 2008: 491-492.

Mei, Lin, Li Shaojin, and BW. Andrew. "Innovation and Price Competition in a Two-Sided Market." Journal of Management Information Systems. 28.2 (2011): 171-202. Print

Gruman, Galen. "Apple and Microsoft: Frenemies beat back Android axis in mobile patents." InfoWorld. Mar 20, 2012?.

Harris, Andrew. "Apple Fails to Wrest Android Data From Motorola Mobility." San Francisco Gate. March 20, 2012

Available at http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2012/03/20/bloomberg_articlesM16XXB6JTSEA01-M1727.DTL

USPTO -- Section 2100 - Patentability Requirements http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/documents/2100.htm

Computer Ethics Institute - Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics. Available at http://computerethicsinstitute.org/publications/tencommandments.html

Association for Computing Machinery -- ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. Available at http://www.acm.org/about/code-of-ethics

35 U.S.C. § 271 Infringement of patent

Herman v. Youngstown Car Mfg. Co., 191 F. 579, 584-85, 112 CCA 185 (6th Cir. 1911)......

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