Richard Posner is a judge of the Court of Appeals in Chicago and thanks to him a lawsuit filed by Apple against Motorola never went to trial. He is not a fan of patents for software and believes that the pharmaceutical industry would need more such protection because the process of drug development is much more complex and expensive. Regarding software, he claims that Apple's attempts to sue competitors who would infringe its patents represent a similar tactic practiced by prey animals in their struggle for survival in the jungle.
It's not clear that we really need patents in most industries," said Posner, referring to the slew of features in smartphones that are legally protected. "You just have this proliferation of patents. It's a problem." "As in any jungle, the animals will use all the means at their disposal, all their teeth and claws that are permitted by the ecosystem," Posner contended. "I'm not actually that interested in becoming part of the smartphone generation.
"I didn't think I could have a trial just for fun."
Posner believes that banning the sale of electronic products for infringing a patent that protects an unimportant technology would cause harm to users who do not have access to new technologies. He believes that processes of this kind inhibit competition and the development of new technologies, and companies that have substantial monetary reserves do not spend a lot of money with such litigations. In his opinion, this kind of lawsuits between companies like Apple, Motorola or Samsung should not take place, but he is only one judge in a huge judicial mechanism.
