02.03.08

Gemini version available ♊︎

Patents: The Less, the Merrier; Software Patents: The None Means Merry

Posted in Apple, Free/Libre Software, Patents at 11:48 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Digital Majority has amassed some pretty good links, the first of which shows some of the roots of the patent dilemma.

Another practice that I find abhorrent is the BigCo “pay for patent application” approach where BigCo pays engineers a bonus (typical $1,000 to $5,000) for each patent filing. Not for the patents, but for the patent filing. This obviously encourages engineers to waste a bunch of their time not innovating but instead cranking out a bunch of stupid patent filings that clog the system.

“Blackboard promised it would not sue FOSS projects such as Moodle (an open pledge was made), but the company seems very willing to use its arsenal of junk patents offensively.”As pointed out last month, you have to be rich just to own a patent. This gets pretty horrible once you permit junk patents and software patents to pass because there is a seemingly infinite number of patents you can collect once you find the time and the money.

Several months ago, Blackboard made a lot of noise with its heap of junk patents, which put at risk various free content management systems (CMSs). The ‘bright’ idea of having different roles with different privileges on the system is supposedly Bloackboard’s invention (or so they wish you to believe anyway). Blackboard promised it would not sue FOSS projects such as Moodle (an open pledge was made), but the company seems very willing to use its arsenal of junk patents offensively. From the news:

The Blackboard patent infringement case against Desire2Learn goes to trial on February 11, 2008 in Lufkin, Texas. The trial is expected to last two weeks. Both sides will have no more than 18 hours to present their case.

[...]

By all accounts Blackboard’s patent is a stupid one and never should have been issued by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

Here is Apple scooping another patent on user interfaces — a very questionable thing to do even in the area of software patents.

On January 31, the US Patent & Trademark Office published eleven of Apple’s patent applications in total. This particular report centers on Apple’s patent application titled User interface elements for hierarchical selection of items while listing several continuation patents. Apple’s current patent generally relates to user interface elements.

Surely yet quietly, Apple likes software patents, despite the fact that it suffers from them at times [1, 2, 3, 4]. █

Share in other sites/networks: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • Reddit
  • email

Decor ᶃ Gemini Space

Below is a Web proxy. We recommend getting a Gemini client/browser.

Black/white/grey bullet button This post is also available in Gemini over at this address (requires a Gemini client/browser to open).

Decor ✐ Cross-references

Black/white/grey bullet button Pages that cross-reference this one, if any exist, are listed below or will be listed below over time.

Decor ▢ Respond and Discuss

Black/white/grey bullet button If you liked this post, consider subscribing to the RSS feed or join us now at the IRC channels.

DecorWhat Else is New

  1. IRC Proceedings: Friday, June 09, 2023

    IRC logs for Friday, June 09, 2023

  2. Links 10/06/2023: libei 1.0.0 and Qt Creator 11 Beta

    Links for the day

  3. Jim Zemlin Boasting in 2022: Linux Foundation Has Revenue of Over 200 Million Dollars; IRS in 2022: Linux Foundation Has Revenue of 139 Million Dollars

    As noted here months ago, the Linux Foundation is run by a lying, manipulative charlatan who merely milks the brand “Linux” to enrich himself; where is that anomaly coming from?

  4. 'Linux' Foundation: Spendings on Salaries Increased More Than 20% in One Year

    As per the document just published after it had been submitted 7 months ago, salary-related expenditures rose from 49,386,990 to 59,791,694 in one year

  5. Links 09/06/2023: JDBC FDW 0.3.1 and Godot 4.1 Beta

    Links for the day

  6. Gemini Links 09/06/2023: Thoughts on Flatpak and Apple Cultists

    Links for the day

  7. Trying to 'Finish the Job' of Bully de Blanc and Deb Nicholson by Rewriting History (and Even Terms) for Microsoft

    Heather J. Meeker is trying to rewrite history and now we can see who her financial masters and hosts are (lots of Microsoft); The media portrayed her as some kind of historian for Free software a few months ago (as funding had been secured), but she already outsources everything to proprietary software controlled by Microsoft. This will be corporate revisionism; moreover, there’s employment history with Microsoft. As an associate put it: “The employment history with Microsoft is a dead give away that she will only spew lies and disinformation” (using books and such; the revisionism is well funded); the latest blog from the OSI is also sponsored by Microsoft (both the blog post and the person who wrote it)

  8. Links 09/06/2023: Tor Browser 12.0.7 and Many Linux Devices

    Links for the day

  9. Linux Foundation Demotes Mr. Linux, Linus Torvalds, to Third (in Salaries), Only Uses Him for the Name

    The Linux [sic] Foundation‘s tax filings (divulged by the Nonprofit Explorer) show that it now pays “CHRIS ANISZCZYK” and “JAMES ZEMLIN” more than it pays “LINUS TORVALDS”, sans bonuses. Torvalds fell to third place already. Mr. Zemlin pays himself over $1.2 million a year. He doesn’t even use Linux. He lacks credentials and accomplishments (except for selling out to companies like Microsoft), but he keeps pandering to power and money (Bill Gates). It should be noted that the Torvalds bonus was added only after backlash had erupted.

  10. HMRC is Just Taking Taxpayers' Money and Not Enforcing the Law (or Selectively Enforcing It for the Political Masters)

    What we've been demonstrating or highlighting so far this year is a defunct system of accountability, wherein the government officials and their associates are essentially above the law; can they endure the negative press that entails?

  11. GNU/Linux Decade in India: From 1.5% to 13.5%

    The world's largest population is quick to move away from Windows; not many adopt Apple (Indians don't care for overpriced junk), so GNU/Linux is growing fast

  12. IRC Proceedings: Thursday, June 08, 2023

    IRC logs for Thursday, June 08, 2023

  13. Links 09/06/2023: Microsoft's 'Online' ("Clown"/OneDrive) Storage Goes Down Again, Files Cannot be Reached

    Links for the day

  14. What Will Happen After All Major News Sites Die Isn't Pretty

    With webspam, chaff, sponsored puff pieces and worse things being presented as "the news" we're running out of actual purpose for the World Wide Web

  15. HMRC 3 Weeks Later: No Action, Same as 'Action Fraud' (Your Tax Money 'at Work')

    When people need police enforcement against a crime it turns out that police is “MIA” (missing in action); it might matter that Sirius worked with the British government, so there’s a reduced incentive to affirm crimes were committed and then arrest the perpetrators

  16. Links 08/06/2023: Istio 1.18 and FreeIPMI 1.6.11

    Links for the day

  17. Gemini Links 08/06/2023: Sourcehut, Gemini Identity, and BBS Comments on Cosmos

    Links for the day

  18. IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, June 07, 2023

    IRC logs for Wednesday, June 07, 2023

  19. The Need to Evolve on the Internet

    Tux Machines is one year away from its twentieth birthday and its increased focus on protocols aside from HTTP/S is paying off; Tux Machines also weaned itself off all social control media, including Mastodon and Diaspora (they're not the future, they're the past)

  20. EPO Management is Still Bullying the Staff (While Breaking the Law and Violating the European Patent Convention)

    Overloaded or overworked EPO workers are complaining about further deterioration at the workplace and their representatives say "this management style may well contribute to feelings of disengagement, depression, or even burn-out"

  21. His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) Not Responding After 20 Days (Well-Founded Report of Tax Fraud) and British Police Pretending Not to Exist

    The crimes of Sirius ‘Open Source’ have helped unearth a profound problem in the British law enforcement authorities; What good is a monopolistic taxman (called after the British Monarchy even in 2023) that cannot assess its own tax abuses? Or abuses connected to it via a contractor? Meanwhile, as per what I was told, the police is not responding to my MP and that’s ANOTHER scandal (police not only refusing to act against crimes, committed against many people, but moreover not responding to elected politicians)

  22. Links 08/06/2023: Cinnamon 5.8 and Leap 15.5 Release Mature

    Links for the day

  23. Gemini Links 08/06/2023: Emacs and Thoughts on Bubble

    Links for the day

  24. Links 07/06/2023: Reddit Layoffs and OpenGL 3.1 in Asahi Linux

    Links for the day

  25. Gemini Links 07/06/2023: Jukka Charting Geminispace

    Links for the day

  26. IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, June 06, 2023

    IRC logs for Tuesday, June 06, 2023

  27. NOW LIVE: Working for the Public — Universities, Software and Freedom - a Talk by Richard Stallman at Università di Pisa (Italy)

    As noted a few hours ago, Richard Stallman is delivering a talk at Università di Pisa this morning

  28. Richard Stallman's Talk is in Two Hours and There's a BigBlueButton Livestream

    Dr. Stallman is in Italy to give talks at universities this week; he will soon give a live talk, accessible in his site or directly at the source

  29. Links 06/06/2023: Angie 1.2.0, New EasyOS and EndeavourOS Released

    Links for the day

  30. Gemini Links 06/06/2023: OpenKuBSD, GrapheneOS, and More

    Links for the day

RSS 64x64RSS Feed: subscribe to the RSS feed for regular updates

Home iconSite Wiki: You can improve this site by helping the extension of the site's content

Home iconSite Home: Background about the site and some key features in the front page

Chat iconIRC Channel: Come and chat with us in real time

Recent Posts