Today, Ars technica has an article that ponders why Steve Jobs decided to file over 200 patent applications to protect the features of the iPhone. The article argues this strategy arose from the sting of paying Creative $100 million to license a patent that related to the user interface of the Apple iPod. It sounds plausible, but I think Apple's strategy evolved from more than one event and may have originated when copyrights failed to protect the "look and feel" of the windows interface in Apple v. Microsoft. See Wikipedia Apple v. Microsoft for details.
Here's a link to the article: Creative pushed Steve Jobs to armor up for the smartphone patent war - Apple's patent zeal was apparently triggered by a long-forgotten MP3 player
Copyright © 2012 Robert Moll. All rights reserved.
