In addition, the FSF is planning to hire a new manager for its End Software Patents campaign.
With FSF and ILUGC friends, also representing our LoCo Community attended the Patent Manual - Stake Holder’s Meet held at Intellectual Property Office, Guindy, Chennai.
The Manual has provisions for bringing in Software Patents in cases what it claims to be “Software combined with Hardware”. We expressed our concerns on it and the ambiguity over the term used.
India for its part seems to have adopted the more conservative approach of the European patenting norms for software. But the Ordinance definitely has its use and relevance in today’s India, particularly for our growing domestic semi- conductor industry. This, along with judicial tempering might definitely ensure a judicious use of patent protection while allowing the industry to grow through innovations and inventions, thereby, mitigating the risks of trivial patents chocking the life out of real innovations and inventions. This is the reason a patent should always be treated as a “double edged sword”, to be wielded with caution and sensitivity. Now whether, in reality this will be implemented on a rigid basis or will become broad in scope through application (as in the U.S.), and, more importantly, whether the Ordinance would, in fact, result in increased innovation and inventions in the software industry, remains to be seen.
Intellectual property laws which were designed to protect inventors are actually stifling innovation, according to a leading US law academic.
Michael Heller, an academic at Columbia University in New York, told technology law podcast OUT-LAW Radio that intellectual property laws are being used to stop new products and services being made.
Armed agents search for patent infringers
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A spokesman for German Customs told us: "We've raided 69 companies today. We have seized equipment including flatscreen TVs, CD players, set-top boxes and MP3 players."
[PDF], then saying: "This is a HUGE story. Why isn't the main stream press covering it?"
The legal drama between wireless chipmakers Qualcomm and Broadcom continues this week.
On Thursday, the companies said a federal judge has ruled that Qualcomm is in contempt of an injunction that bans the use of patented wireless technology owned by Broadcom.
Patent-licensing and enforcement company General Patent Corp International has reached a settlement with Motorola over a disputed patent belonging to one of GPCI's clients, Digital Technology Licensing.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has rejected a request by Blackboard Inc. for a temporary halt in the office’s review of a software patent the company holds concerning course-management systems.
This year Blackboard won a lawsuit in federal court against a rival software company, Desire2Learn, for violating the patent, though Desire2Learn has appealed the decision. Meanwhile, Desire2Learn had formally challenged the validity of the patent with the patent office, arguing that it is overly broad and covers technology that other companies had developed before Blackboard filed its patent. The patent office issued an initial verdict in March that rejected all 44 of the claims that make up Blackboard’s patent. But that review is “nonfinal,” meaning that the review is still underway.
Horacio Gutierrez, a Microsoft vice president, said the company filed its request with the ITC last month after trying unsuccessfully for several years to reach a patent licensing agreement with Primax.
The ITC performs economic research on trade agreements and investigates unfair trade practices. The agency has the authority to bar imports that infringe U.S. patents and trademarks.
The U.S. International Trade Commission will investigate a patent infringement complaint filed by Microsoft against a Taiwanese company.
In the complaint filed July 30, Microsoft alleges that Primax Electronics infringes the software giant's patents used in peripherals including keyboards and mice. Microsoft is asking the ITC to ban the importation of the products.
Microsoft has been granted a patent on 'Page Up' and 'Page Down' keystrokes.
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Microsoft has a long history of applying for, and being granted patents for, inventions that many argue — and can sometimes demonstrate — were based on earlier work carried out by others, or based on a common, self-evident idea.
