Earlier in the week Kodak won a patents case against Sun Microsystems over what appear to be excessively broad and not at all novel patents covering, well pretty much anything that tries to do anything with remote programs, or even other local programs. Well, Sun have decided not to appeal and have settled out of court for US$92 million.
This sets a dangerous precedent, and it’s very likely we’re going to see more legal action over these three patents. Now hopefully the courts will see sense and strike them down, or maybe the Public Patent Foundation will take them on (they beat Microsoft).
If not, then the consequences could be dire, and if you don’t believe me then try these opinion pieces on eWeek and ZDnet.