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A comment on Patent troll says it owns GPS, sues Foursquare. Parent comment

Re:Patent troll says it owns GPS, sues Foursquare by tptacek on Friday July 27, 2012 @05:23PM (#4303655)
This really doesn't look like one of those "if you squint, virtually any web app written in the last 10 years could infringe it" kind of patents. It looks like a patent on Foursquare.

I agree, the patent situation is a mess. And this is probably a terrible patent encumbered by all sorts of prior art. But on paper, it's a pretty good leg to stand on.

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Re:Patent troll says it owns GPS, sues Foursquare by ktizo on Friday July 27, 2012 @05:35PM (#4303704)
It also looks like a patent on elements of networked fleet vehicle tracking, which has been around since the '90s.
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Re:Patent troll says it owns GPS, sues Foursquare by sliverstorm on Friday July 27, 2012 @07:28PM (#4304039)
If I've learned anything about the patent system, it's that it doesn't matter if you've been doing it since 1776- if they've got a patent on it, you better watch out.
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Re:Patent troll says it owns GPS, sues Foursquare by tedunangst on Friday July 27, 2012 @08:28PM (#4304207)
If you personally have been doing it since 1776, you're fine. It's usually more like some obscure product by a now bankrupt company did the same thing, but neither they nor the product is currently available.
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