-> [ Buy Fair! | Patent News ]
Philips owns a large portfolio of broad and trivial patents on algorithms and functionalities, mostly in connection with sound and image processing. Philips has been using this portfolio to charge levies on DVD players. Patents seem to have become an important part of the otherwise often bulky and uncompetitive business of Philips. The managment of Philips has allowed and encouraged its patent lawyers to lobby for software patents in Europe more aggressively than most other companies, openly using lies and blackmail against governments as their favorite tactic. The Dutch government seems to be completely obedient to Philips.
News & Chronology
2005-03-02 NL Philips spreads FUD in Dutch Parliament
2005-02-05 EU DM Europe: Philips patent lawyer attacks EPO patent awards (but Philips distances itself)
Background Information
More about public blackmail and lies of Philips can be found at
Here are some translated excerpts:
- Philips threatens to stop developing software in Europe if it does not become possible to obtain software patents. This weekend in the "Algemeen Dagblad", the electronics giant threatened to move its software development to America and Asia. "By obtaining patents, you are able to make money as developer of software, which then can be invested again in new software", thus Hans Streng, president of the board of Philips Software, in the "Algemeen Dagblad".
They already said they will migrate their research to Asia anyway in other articles (without even mentioning software patents):
Philips's software patents are as stupid as all the other ones. I've gone through some of their applications recently (with Gauss) and I found applications for a speaking avatar (with random eye blinks) and recognizing a company name in a speech stream.
They are constantly complaining about Asian companies but in fact those started lawsuits against Philips, because the latter's patent fees on DVD players are about half of the price of a DVD player in a shop.
Phlips isn't "better" or more honest in this whole discussion than Nokia, IBM, Siemens. In fact they threatened to move production and R&D outside the EU if they don't get what they are asking for. Publicly.
