M·CAM Inc. on NPR's All Things Considered

Pulled from Laura Sydell's Article titled "Microsoft, Google Tussle Over Android Phone Patents"

Patent No. 5889522 — a patent for bringing up different windows in a browser — was filed in 1994 before the days of smartphones and e-readers. David Martin, an expert who evaluates the value of patents, says not only is it a broad patent — it wasn't even a novel idea. Martin says Microsoft had a lot of company.

"They were not alone in the universe, but they were very clearly in heavy company in what they were doing," Martin says.

He says that in the 1990s, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office was bombarded with requests for software patents, and there was a lot of confusion. Often, patents were granted to companies for the same thing.

Now it's easier to settle than it is to sort it all out.

"It becomes expedient for parties to settle, because it allows the secrecy ... that protects the absence of quality in both portfolios from ever having to be confronted," Martin says.

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