Fighters in a Patent War - Graphic - NYTimes.com


Fighters in a Patent War

Apple has been involved in 142 smartphone patent lawsuits — and in six instances, suits with multiple plaintiffs — since 2006. A majority of patent suits within the smartphone industry are filed by so-called trolls, companies that exist solely to sue. But tech giants have also traded lawsuits among themselves. Related Article »
Most of Technology Patents’ operations seem devoted to suing 87 companies, including most major telecommunications firms, for violating patents regarding sending information over a digital network.
Mobile phone lawsuits filed since 2006
Each arrow represents a lawsuit involving a mobile patent. In some cases, when multiple firms are plaintiffs or defendants, a single suit is represented with multiple arrows. The circles are sized according to the total for each company.
GOOGLE and APPLE
Many of Apple’s lawsuits are seen as proxy fights in its battle with Google, which created Android, now the dominant smartphone operating system. Apple has not sued Google directly, though it has sued its partners, including HTC and Samsung, and has countersued Motorola Mobility, now a division of Google.
Defendant with party not shown
Plaintiff with party not shown
Suits among the top 10 litigants
Google bought Motorola Mobility in 2011 for $12.5 billion, largely for its patent portfolio.
NOKIA and APPLE
In 2009, Nokia sued Apple for patent infringements and Apple countersued. In 2011 the companies settled some cases, with Apple reportedly agreeing to make a one-time payment of $600 million and future royalties to Nokia.

SAMSUNG and APPLE
Apple and Samsung are suing each other around the world. In August, a California jury awarded Apple $1 billion. The same day, in South Korea, a court delivered a mixed verdict that, in part, ruled in Samsung's favor. A week later, in Japan, Samsung was the winner.
HTC and APPLE
Apple filed suit against phone maker HTC in 2010 in a move widely seen as directed at Google, which had partnered with HTC. At the time, Apple’s chief executive, Steven P. Jobs, said in a statement: “We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We’ve decided to do something about it.”
KEY
148
Apple
127
Samsung
127
Motorola
121
HTC
109
Eon
106
Nokia
104
Research
in Motion
99
LG
87
Technology
Patents
86
Sony
Notes: When possible, subsidiaries were counted as the parent company. In some instances, suits and countersuits have the same case number and so may be counted as only one case. These are the top 10 litigants as of the end of 2011.