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Why Patent Applications Increase in a Down Economy
,----[ Quote ]
| In September, in a case known as "Re: Comisky," the U.S. Patent Office held
| the inventor's method for conducting mandatory arbitration involving legal
| documents was not patentable, essentially finding that a business process
| that does not require the use or implementation of technology, but depends on
| steps of human intervention, can not be awarded a patent.
`----
http://www.blackenterprise.com/yb/ybopen.asp?section=ybaa&story_id=118487485&ID=blackenterprise&p=2
There are some good articles about the large number of stores that are being
shut down. Struggling businesses now resort to using so-called "defensive"
monopolies. This includes Microsoft, whose profits decline and bank balance
falls very quickly (links at the bottom).
Punishment
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| You can't have it both ways: if "Intellectual Property" should be treated
| like actual property, then you put it at risk when you use it in a crime. The
| European Commission isn't picking on a US-based company for no reason here.
| In fact, the Commission generally advocates for expansions of exclusive
| rights in information that tend to benefit US-based companies at the expense
| of Europe. And in this case, the Commission didn't even limit Microsoft's use
| of the patent system. It only limited the company's ability to make vague
| anticompetitive threats based on unspecified parts of a large patent
| portfolio, and handed over some protocol information that Samba was in the
| process of working out anyway.
|
| A common-sense patent regime would limit the tools available to future
| software monopolists, and might make the next antitrust action unnecessary.
`----
http://www.linuxworld.com/community/?q=node/19349
Recent:
Microsoft Profit Drops; Forecast May Miss Estimates
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| The world's biggest software maker said sales of Windows for PCs sank 24
| percent and revenue from its online advertising unit came in at the low end
| of its projections. Microsoft's report contrasted with positive comments from
| chipmaker Intel Corp. and computer company International Business Machines
| Corp.
|
| [...]
|
| Microsoft declined $1.60 to $30.20 in extended trading after closing at
| $31.80 at 4 p.m. New York time on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The stock has
| fallen 11 percent this year.
`----
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aQ7_iN1SxJ.c&refer=worldwide
Data: Cash balances at large tech companies
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| PictureMicrosoft has reduced its legendary cash balance by tens of billions
| of dollars in recent years through a series of buybacks, dividends and
| acquisitions. The importance of cash was evident in the Microsoft-Yahoo saga:
| Had the Redmond company succeeded in the proposed $44.6 billion acquisition,
| it would have needed to borrow money for the first time in its history to
| fund the deal.
`----
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/microsoft/archives/138129.asp?source=rss
Microsoft says to borrow money for Yahoo deal
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft Corp said on Monday it may borrow money for the first time in its
| history to fund a portion of its $44.6 billion unsolicited offer for Yahoo
| Inc.
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http://www.reuters.com/article/companyNews/idUSN0455692920080205
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