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    [The patent thickets that cause unpredictability and uncertainty...
    a policy of the USG along with many many other countries reaps its
    long term fruits...]<br>
    <strong><em></em></strong>
    <h2 class="posttitle"><br>
    </h2>
    <h2 class="posttitle"><strong><em>US Perspectives</em></strong><br>
      A Bigger, Meaner Patent War <img
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        IP-Watch Subscribers" alt="Available for IP-Watch Subscribers">
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    <small>Published on 25 June 2012 @ 1:42 pm</small>
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    <p>By <a href="http://www.ip-watch.org/author/sseidenberg/"
        title="Posts by Steven Seidenberg" rel="author">Steven
        Seidenberg</a> for Intellectual Property Watch</p>
    <div class="entry">
      <p>It’s been called a patent war, and it’s raging over much of the
        globe. In at least ten countries – including the United States,
        Germany, the Netherlands, Australia and South Korea – Apple is
        locked in ferocious legal battles against Google, Samsung and
        HTC over whose smartphones and tablets infringe whose patents. </p>
      <p>There’s a lot a stake: Damages could run into billions of
        dollars. Even worse, the loser could wind up being forbidden to
        sell its products in various markets. </p>
      <p>This costly, high-stakes global patent war may seem
        unprecedented. But according to many experts, that’s only partly
        true. In many ways, this patent war is similar to major patent
        disputes in the past. And it is likely a foretaste of more
        patent wars in the future.</p>
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