IBM's announcement about providing start up companies access to its 40,000 patents sounds tempting but reading the details makes an unfriendly impression. One can hear the bureaucratic wheels of IBM lawyers' minds turning while they cut the potential applicants into two groups:
For stage 1 - companies earning less than $10 Million in annual revenue - upfront fee of $25,000.
For stage 2 - companies earning more than $10 Million in annual revenue - 1.0% royalty…
In a Blog called marketmachines the Blogger suspects that companies that would apply would have to cede all of their own patent rights to IBM as part of the deal.
When Google or Yahoo enable access to their information treasures they ask the developers gently to declare their sources (Google or Yahoo API)- This I call friendly.
IBM would seem friendlier if they will let people (not lawyers) write their announcements and if they will offer a third option:
For stage 3 - companies that develop applications for the blind (for example) – no fee…
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