From Nancy Heinen, Apple general counsel until 2006:
“When patent lawyers become rock stars, it’s a bad sign for where an industry is heading.“
Yes it is. And from the same article:
“Last year, for the first time, spending by Apple and Google on patent lawsuits and unusually big-dollar patent purchases exceeded spending on research and development of new products, according to public filings.“
The whole piece is worth a read.
-Thx to Mother Jones.