Apple only got one of its patent claims against HTC validated in the latest ITC ruling – but this one is a doozie. The patent 5’946’647 is notorious in the telecom world for being so comprehensive – it covers the way phone numbers and email addresses embedded in emails and text messages become highlighted and clickable. Somebody emails you a phone number and you can immediately call that number via a simple click – no painstaking cut and paste moves needed.
Circumventing “the 647? is probably going to be difficult. The patent is very generic and covers a lot of different approaches. I am guessing the Presidential veto on behalf of a Taiwanese vendor against the ultimate California tech powerhouse is not going to happen – so HTC will have to modify its software substantially.
This opens up what seems to be a very effective line of attack against LG, Motorola, Sony and other Android vendors. Google may be drifting towards a real IPR debacle here. Samsung seems to be making moves towards increasing its bet on the Bada OS and Asian companies seem to be evaluating the Tizen OS project seriously.
And it could hardly come at a better time for the Windows camp, which is attempting to pull off a highly unlikely comeback after tumbling to sub-2% mobile market share level. AT&T and Verizon are presumably negotiating with Nokia about the upcoming Lumia launches in North America right now. Nokia was confident enough to book its biggest presence in the upcoming CES 2012 trade show in Las Vegas in at least half a decade.
The HTC loss might mean the US giant carriers could give Windows another look. It’s hard to say how bad the Android patent battles will get in 2012, but another round of escalation is likely in the cards. Nokia has unique leverage against Apple via its comprehensive GPRS, EDGE, W-CDMA, antenna, power consumption and mobile email patents (Nokia launched its first email phone in 1997). Nokia can probably shield itself better from Apple’s attacks than any of the Android vendors.
This is an interesting juncture for telecom shares – the grim RIMM warning combined with the possible unraveling of the European banking system has pushed Nokia into a deep tailspin. The mobile infrastructure vendors from Ciena to Alcatel have continued sinking as markets begin anticipating that the sovereign debt trouble may spill to corporate arena, crippling the CAPEX plans of the heavily indebted European giant operators. This patent ruling could give NOK a bounce unless the European debt meltdown picks up speed tomorrow.
Any telecom bounces are likely to be evanescent as long as European leaders remain at odds – and we received a very clear message from the ECB today that there will be no debt-buying bonanza without a new mandate for the central bank. That new mandate is politically impossible to cobble together – so we remain firmly on a hellbound train. Investors clearly have not seriously started contemplating what would happen if carriers like Telefonica would be locked out of debt market. That day may come sooner rather than later.
Via: Forbes
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