Jon:
with a proprietary operating system, called TDMA, that is fast becoming the world-standard
Actually, Ericy, Nokia, Lucent et al. all have access to TDMA. In fact, TDMA/GSM has become a de facto standard around the world. I would agree with that statement.
I was thinking a little bit at work (Yes, I know that is dangerous), however the rights one is entitled to with a patent might change in the future. For example, Intel has covered their chip (and architecture) called the Pentium II with patents and trade secrets. What is interesting, however, is that the FTC is suing Intel for Anti-Trust for (in my words) "not letting anyone else play". Therefore, AMD (one of Intel's competitors) has to develop not only a uP, but also the architecture surrounding the uP. I am all for patents and believe it is a company's choosing whether to license them, or not. I find it fascinating that a company can get in trouble for not licensing their patents.
dave |
