Steve Jobs: "I'll just sue you" (2010)
Interesting - Sun didn't fold when Apple threatened them but there wasn't a suit either.<p>The thing is, it seems there are examples of open source companies or developers folding when presented with the "whiff" of a patent suit. See: <a href="http://forums.fedoraforum.org/archive/index.php/t-234073.html" rel="nofollow">http://forums.fedoraforum.org/archive/index.php/t-234073.htm...</a><p>Further, as I recall, it has been speculated that Nokia's Apple suit involved a demand by Nokia that Apple cross license its UI patents. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/did-nokia-sue-apple-to-access-multi-touch-patents-2009-10" rel="nofollow">http://www.businessinsider.com/did-nokia-sue-apple-to-access...</a><p>The thing is, if Nokia had previously been "coding around" Apple's UI, it's not surprising that their UI sucked.<p>It's easy to imagine that the more timid an organization, the more willing they are to be pushed around by an over broad claim.<p>Altogether, It would be a good thing to provoke Apple into <i>actually</i> suing someone for violating "their" UI controls: <i>Threats people back away from</i> put a bully in a more powerful position than <i>threats carried through</i>.