CD-burning software prompts patent suit
Oh my gosh, here we go again.
It seems like every day there is a new patent infringement suit filed over some trivial aspect of a system by a small tech company that managed to get a patent for some incredibly generally-worded process.
Think of it this way: So-and-so got a patent ages ago for something simple, like mixing blue and yellow to make green. Years later, other-guy creates a product with a widget that makes a perfect pot of coffee every time. Now so-and-so sues the other-guy for patent infringement because their widget is green.
Well, Optima, the proud owner of a patent for a CD recording technique, is suing Roxio, one of the biggest makers of CD burning software, for patent infringement. Optima’s patent apparently covers a process for taking a directory structure out of memory, then writing it to CD in a direct fashion, kind of like copying files and folders to a CD as if it were a hard drive.
It appears to me that Optima is going after the big dog (Roxio) in the CD recording industry in order to get a licensing agreement from them. Then, all the other smaller folks that make similar software (or hardware for that matter) that allows a CD to be used as a hard drive (that is, it allows copying directories and files apparently directly to WORM — write once, read many — media) will be obliged to do the same. I guess you could just call it technology extortion. Optima was just lucky enough to think of it first.
But should Optima (or others) be rewarded for thinking of something first? Especially if it is something as trivial as thinking about the process of how something should be done like copying stuff to CD Roms?
And this is not the first time recently that this has happened. AT&T sued Paypal and eBay recently over another very generally-worded patent. In fact, if you want to be truly frightened, just check out Google’s list of patent infringement links.
What a creepy world this is becoming. One of the funniest things I’ve read regarding patent infringement is what one Slashdot reader’s plan was: Get a patent on the process of getting patents on simple things and suing the snot out of everyone else. Then, they could go out and sue Optima and AT&T and anyone else who wanted to try this method of extortion.
Lets chat Toby, email me at work