Champagne at CSIRO after WiFi patent settlement Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation has won another round of its long-running patent battle with US carriers AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile offering a settlement worth more than $AU220 million. The three carriers had been resisting paying royalties to the agency, and as recently as last Friday …
According to the ABC radio reports this morning, the patent expires at the end of next year. It was issued on January 23, 1996. Patent number is 5,487,069, at least for the US. Apparently the CSIRO failed to get patents for Russia, China and India, but the next target is European companies.
Five years ago, yes the AU$ was worth a fraction of the US$. But since then the Good Ole US of A has been printing phantom money as fast as they can and have now driven their currency well below that of the AU$.
No the AU$ has not appreciated. The US$ has seriously depreciated.
The fact that the Euro has managed to slide even faster than the US$ is just staggering, but might have something to do with those French and German banks giving money to Greeks.
The good old greenback isn't what she used to be. I remember living by the Canadian border and feeling a bit peeved when I got Canadian quarters back from a vending machine, now I'd feel almost giddy.
Oh Neil, you have that the other way 'round according to Yahoo! one USD is about .96 AUD.
No worries though, printing cash is Ben's way of ensuring that deflation isn't actually going on and convincing folks that the economy really is getting better. Sadly he's probably right to given how much of people's economic behavior is based on perception and not research.
About freaking time I say. Disgusting behaviour by big American corporations, claiming that because it was a government funded organisation that developed it they shouldn't have to paid royalties... that might be how it works for American government science... but Australia isn't America!
Half a billion is chump change compared to what they should have paid in royalties... disgusting...
This is the farce that the patent system has become. CSIRO has spent tens of millions to defend their patent and have fortunately won. What chance would a lone patent holder have against these rapacious corporations. The same corporations that will screw you in the courts to defend their 'patents' for such brilliant innovations as single click vs. double click and other dubious 'patents'. Bert
Nothing.
Based on CSIRO policy, no matter how much your tech is worth, you are due nothing regardless of the amount of cash they make. I am sure that this current policy has not changed since the 90's Little else in the csirocracy has!.
Love to see the headline "CSIRO makes megabucks- inventors dudded by Govt." and see the reason why Aussie scientists in CSIRO don't care about patents like this unless they are getting involved in a start-up...
My understanding is this, if you work for a business and your work is research. Then that business pays you to research. In fact, that business just pays you for as long as they employ you for anything you may or may not do.
So, how can you consider that the results of any research belong to the researcher. They have been paid already, each week/fortnight/month. If those same people desire the benifits of their research they should consider a career change to self employed inventor.
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