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Circuits: Are U.S. Cellphone Carriers Calcified?

David Pogue nails the gap between American cell carriers and those i the rest of the world. He clearly states the real story behind the revolution that Apple's iPhone may have created:

As you can imagine, the iPhone was a primary conversation topic at this conference. Lots of grudging admiration and amazement at what Apple pulled off.

Not just technologically, either. The biggest impact of the iPhone may be the way Steve Jobs managed to change the phone maker/cell carrier relationship for the first time in years. "We'll give you an exclusive," Apple told AT&T, "and you'll let us do whatever we like. We're going to handle the billing. We're going to take the signup process out of your stores and let people do it at home. You're going to redesign your network so that it works with our visual voicemail system." And so on.

Stan Sigman, president and chief executive for wireless at AT&T, is on record as saying that he had no idea what Apple's phone would be like when he agreed to this-a deal that would have been unthinkable in the pre-Jobs era.

If the iPhone becomes a hit, then, it could wind up loosening the carriers' stranglehold on innovation. Maybe phone makers' imaginations will at last be unleashed, and a thousand iPhone-like breakthroughs might bloom.

Verizon's VoIP Patent Litigation

This column describes the patent pain exemplified by the recent decision for Verizon and against Vonage in the recent litigation where Verizon sued Vonage for patent infringement. Here is just one of hundreds of cases where companies are defending their business against those who would take some of it using technologies different than those of the incumbent.

The U.S. patent situation is enormously complex and costly, particularly when creating patentable IP, or legally defending them when infringed by others, or administered if they are to licensed.

Some would argue that today's U.S. patent system is broken, inefficient and unable to keep pace with galloping technology. Many game the patent system and others (think Asia) choose to ignore it. Some on the cutting edge of technology may not even bother to file for patents because the technology is moving so fast they believe the patent will be useless because it will be overtaken by new ideas and discoveries.

Nevertheless, the patent system is what it is and small technology R&D companies must play in this sandbox effectively or risk an infringement lawsuit that may devastate their business because of the cost to defend it. Also, they must decie how to invest limited resources to apply for patents in order to protect their ideas and technology or risk losing a potentially lucrative revenue stream from licensing.

Vonage Ordered to Cease Verizon Patent Infringement

Not a good sign for Vonage who already has financial difficulties. Once more, in this Internet age IP is shown to be an important asset for building a business. There's no substitute for controlling, via ownership or licensing, the patents a business uses to create its infrastructure.

The trial moved swiftly to reach this result.

"The patents Vonage was found to have infringed deal with technologies
involving connection of VoIP calls to the regular phone network, some features
for implementing call-waiting and voice-mail services, and VoIP calls using
Wi-Fi handsets. Vonage has maintained that even if the injunction is upheld, its
some 2.2 million subscribers will not encounter disruptions because it is
developing a technological workaround."