Bonum Certa Men Certa

Patents Roundup: Open Invention Network, Subpixel Hinting, and Patent Trolls

Keith Bergelt joined OIN a few months ago and there's finally a video interview that serves as an introduction.



Ogg Theora



From Linux.com:

Linux.com correspondent R. Scott Belford caught up with Open Invention Network CEO Keith Bergelt at the 2008 LinuxWorld Expo and had a pleasant (on-camera) conversation with him.


OIN has been a rather low-profile establishment, whose function is unknown to many people. it was symbolised by Jerry Rosenthal, who is a former IBMer that decided to leave and there are changes coming up.

“OIN has been a rather low-profile establishment, whose function is unknown to many people.”They seem to have adopted a disappointing approach, whereby people just accept software patents and end up playing the same game in a way which does not neutralise patent trolls (unlike ESP). On the other hand, it serves as an effective deterrent that may suppress aggression from Microsoft, assuming it does not summon proxies [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]. LiMo has a similar effect which -- if maximised -- renders the patent system moot.

With or without OIN, the Free Desktop continues to be crippled and encumbered by the artificial limitations of intellectual monopolies. Here's just one new example:

Also note that, while I hate the subpixel (RGB) hinting, there is no official statement that the subpixel algorithm is covered by patents (except for a developer's comment in a source file). Officially, i.e. here, only Apple's patents on the BCI are mentioned. So what is all the subpixel fuss about? Stupid lawyers?


This is neither the first time nor an isolated case where Apple's patents stifle Free software development. TrueType was also discussed in the past, the context being Novell and SUSE. Neither Novell nor Apple are friends of Free software and both are obliged to support Microsoft's OOXML. Yesterday from the news in India:

There has never been a more intense global industry debate over open standards. On the one hand is Microsoft’s OOXML file format backed by Apple, Novell, Wipro, Infosys, TCS, and Nasscom.


Isn't it just beautiful to see Novell and Apple listed among Microsoft's very close partners [1, 2, 3, 4]? They are on a similar boat.

Novell shares its patent pool with Microsoft, not just with OIN. Whose side is it on?

Monopolies or shared monopolies are 'trusts' and anti-trust laws were created to combat them. A free market gravitates towards predatory capitalism and it will further deteriorate without intervention. Regulation is often intercepted using political corruption. Why are no regulators stepping in? Why is it that the Asian authorities need to pressure the US Government to do something?

Patents harm developers while making solicitors rich. Watch the effect of intellectual monopolies on Qualcomm's financial situation.

CEO Paul Jacobs, in his opening address to the collected mass ranks of US and European analysts, turned this image on its head – expressing his “palpable relief” that the Nokia patents dispute had been resolved – and on terms that will not wreck the greater part of Qualcomm’s profits – those through royalty payments, and talked about having been smashed around for the past three years, and that now that it was over, the settlement driving huge positive momentum for his company.

[...]

Jacobs added: “We are not quite so worried about that action since we have workarounds for the Broadcom patents which are already in chips, and that give us negotiating leverage. We have worked through multiple decision trees on the outcomes of that legal action and although we’d like to see it resolved, whichever way its goes it will not have as great an effect as the Nokia action.”


More on Qualcomm and Nokia in [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17]. While on the subject of patent trolls and legal harassment, Google has been attacked again. As always, unsurprisingly, it takes place in the Eastern District of Texas.

Software maker GraphOn has filed suit against search giant Google, alleging that Google's Base, AdWords, Blogger, Sites, and YouTube services violate GraphOn's patents

GraphOn, based in Santa Cruz, Calif., acquired the patents through its acquisition of Network Engineering Software, a privately held network software company, in 2005. The suit was filed in United States District Court in the Eastern District of Texas.


In other news, Dell's ridiculous attempt to obtains an intellectual monopoly on "cloud computing" has just been shot down.

Dell has lost its bid to trademark the widely-used term “cloud computing”.

The computer giant had filed an application to trademark the phrase with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in March 2007.

However, according to blogger Sam Johnston, Dell’s application was officially rejected by the USPTO late last week.


Can the USPTO restore patent sanity too? Ownership pertaining to thought, not just art (copyright) and objects, does not belong in civilization. Business method and software patents must end. The sooner, the better.

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Writing and Coding Isn't Always Enough
Last year we had to assume a role we didn't have before: litigants
Autumn Has Come
Autumn should be exciting in all sorts of ways; it'll also mark our anniversary
 
Gemini Links 01/09/2025: News Corp. WSJ and A Month With NixOS
Links for the day
Slopfarms Already Peaked, They Will Die When Slop Companies Run Out of Money to Borrow
slopfarms will lack an actual "engine"
“Sideloading” Never Killed Anybody
There are many online discussions this week about the misnomer "sideloading"
Slopwatch: Google News as FUD Vector Against Linux and Plagiarism Enhancer, Serial Slopper (SS) Uses LLMs to Googlebomb "Linux"
Slop destroys the Web not just by screwing with search engines and helping plagiarists. It's also responsible for de facto DDoS attacks...
Links 01/09/2025: "Attacks on Science" and China's "Soft Power" Grows
Links for the day
Links 01/09/2025: Fresh Backlash Against Slop and "Norway’s Electricity Crisis is About to Hit Britain"
Links for the day
Links 01/09/2025: Catching Up (Mostly via Deutsche Welle), "Windows TCO" Effect in UK
Links for the day
Gemini Links 01/09/2025: Linguistic Barriers and "Web 1.0 Hosting"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, August 31, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, August 31, 2025
The UEFI 9/11 - Part IV - External Interference
They all seem to be playing a role in crushing Software Freedom and self-determination for users
Links 31/08/2025: Baggage Claim Scams, an Insurrectionist’s War on Culture, and a Sudden Robotics Hype
Links for the day
Gemini Links 31/08/2025: Reviewing Netsurf and Slightly Less Historic Ada Design
Links for the day
IBM Has Taken Control of GNOME
Don't expect a successor to be found any time soon
Links 31/08/2025: Google Gmail Data Breach and LF Puff Pieces for Pay
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, August 30, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, August 30, 2025
This is What Google News Has Become
Moments ago
The Slopfarm WebProNews Has Turned Google News Into a Laughing Stock Full of Plagiarism by Slop
If Google News dies of neglect, that's one thing. It's starting to seem like active neglect by Google is a form of participation.
Do What is Moral, as What's Legal Isn't Always Moral
Do what's objectively moral, no matter the costs and the risks
Slopwatch: Google News Assisting Plagiarism and Anti-Linux FUD, Serial Slopper Rips Off Linux-Centric Journalists
This makes the Web a much worse place and lessens the incentive to do journalism
Links 30/08/2025: NVIDIA Fakes Results to Hide a Bubble Already in Implosion Phase, Data Breaches Galore, Important Win for Workers' Union in Canada
Links for the day
Representing and Speaking for Animals
If I ever choose to take this matter to tribunal with animals-centric NGOs on my side, it'll get some press coverage for sure
The UEFI 9/11 - Part II - Campaign of Censorship and Defamation Against Critics
In dictatorships, humour serves an important role. It's tragic.
In Kazakhstan, Yandex Estimated to be 20 Times Bigger Than Microsoft
Bing is measured as down this month
Shutterstock Not Enough? The Register MS Uses Slop Images in Articles (Seemingly More and More Over Time)
Cost-saving trajectory amid office shutdown?
Gemini Links 30/08/2025: Games, PostmarketOS, and Slop
Links for the day
Links 30/08/2025: Imgur Uproar and Many Ukraine Updates (Mediazona Reports Over 200,000 Russians Died for Putin)
Links for the day
How Not to Build Software
code forges that need a Web browser perhaps fill some 'niche' demand
GAFAM and "MATA"
The use of dark humour there hopefully helps illuminate what a lot of "modern" technology became like and how it interacts with human civilisation (to what ends and whose gain)
Birds Are Not "Pests and Vermin", Privacy is Not a Crime, and GNU/Linux is Not 'Hacking Platform'
I could not help but think of Free software analogies
The Sites Should Be Very Fast Again
That issue is now resolved
Flying in 2025
worse than ever before
Activists, Including Technical Activists, Need Not Pursue Affirmation
Techrights doesn't play or participate in a "popularity contest"
The UEFI 9/11 - Part III - Chaos is Scheduled to Happen Second Thursday of September (No Matter What the Microsofters Tell You)
The clock is ticking
Downplaying the Impact of "UEFI 9/11" is a Losing Strategy
we won't publish much whilst on holiday
Government Sites Should Run Free Software
Not proprietary bloatware with buzzwords
LLM Slopfarms Take No Breaks
When people run sites by bots they don't need to worry about "breaks"
GNOME Having a Meltdown Again
Thanks and farewell to Steven Deobald
Gemini Links 30/08/2025: Low Tech and Hunchbin 1.0.6
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, August 29, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, August 29, 2025