07 October 2010

Is Microsoft running out of steam?

Most people have heard about the 18th-century inventor James Watt and his steam engine; not so many know about the way he used patents to stifle competition and throttle further development of the technology:

Watt’s patent was very broad in scope (covering all engines making use of the separate condenser and all engines using steam as a "working substance"). In other words, the patent had a very large blocking power. The enforcement of almost absolute control on the evolution of steam technology, using the wide scope of the patent, became a crucial component of Boulton and Watt’s business strategy.

On The H Open.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mr. Moody, Microsoft is going to be biggest patent troll of them all - that's their destiny...

Glyn Moody said...

I think they are slightly different, because they are not "NPE" - non practising entities - they actually have a few products. And that's a vulnerability....