Commentary: EDA patent litigation threatens innovation, growth

Gabe Moretti
(03/28/2006 5:23 PM EST)

The ability of the electronics industry to continue to produce more powerful and cheaper products every two years or less, in accordance with Moore’s Law, depends on a strong and growing EDA sector. Many factors inhibit the growth of the EDA industry, including aggressive price cutting and lack of innovation. But in the last few years, the legal battles within EDA over intellectual property (IP) have also served to further cripple its growth. EDA customers are often confused by the litigation and use the EDA industry in-fighting in pricing negotiations.

While lawsuits that involve stolen code are necessary, many of the patent infringement lawsuits simply waste money that would be better spent on hiring more software engineers and developing innovative solutions that truly fill a need in the semiconductor industry. And in the fiercely competitive EDA industry, some companies use litigation to slow the progress of their competitors, which in the end slows the progress of their customers.

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