This is actually a pretty favorable outcome for HTC, as the reported industry average for invalidations during IP review is around 90 percent.
This is one of the biggest problems with the modern patent system.
This is one of the biggest problems with the modern patent system.
I wonder if it's actually one of the biggest problems, though? What are the average number of invalidations for other industries? Do other industries also suffer from "The Lodsys Problem" to the same extent as software? I'd also like to see a reference for that number!
My inclination is that, yes, software patents are terrible and should be abolished. Also, regardless of how 90% compares to other industries - it's a strong indicator that the way patents are granted in the first place is very broken.