Bonum Certa Men Certa

Patents Roundup: More Ridiculous Patents, Qualcomm Permitted to Abuse, Human Rights Step in as Overhaul Debated

“[Y]ou’re creating a new 20-year monopoly for no good reason.”

--David Kappos (currently head of the USPTO) speaking about patents



Tired USPTO eagle



USPTOSummary: News from the US patent office seems to suggest that no substantial improvements have been made to this system



T

HE US patent system is a mess. There, it's said and done. The way to fix it is to change the application/review process and also to remove many old patents that should have never been granted in the first place. It is almost infeasible given the existing backlog which has already turned the USPTO into a laughing stock in some people's minds.

Dissatisfaction with this patent system is not just a pet peeve of Free software supporters. President of the FFII, for instance, has just shared what he calls "The sad patent story of Lexra processors." An Apple patent which we mentioned here before is another good example of this. Even a vocal software patents fan (Gene Quinn) hates this patent and Slashdot reveals that Google has just patented displaying patents.

"Google has actually managed to patent displaying patents. The USPTO issued US Patent No. D603,866 to six Google inventors for their 'graphical user interface for display screen of a communications terminal.' Among the six inventors is the guy who introduced Google Patents. Ironically, Google Patents can't seem to find the new Google patent for Google Patents."


Amazing, eh? Two days ago we wrote about Amazon and its patent on online gift delivery. As Mike Masnick puts it, "USPTO [Is] Convinced By Amazon That Online Gift Giving Patent Is Legit"

Amazon continues to aggressively pursue variations on its "one-click" patent, even as it is repeatedly held up as an example of how screwed up the patent system has become. In the latest story, found on Slashdot, a patent application for method of buying gifts online was originally rejected under the CAFC's recent Bilski rules because the invention "may be performed largely within the human mind."


Where does this insanity end? According to reports from the European technology press (Britain), the EU Commission has just dropped its investigation into Qualcomm's abuse with patents. How come?

THE EU HAS DROPPED its four year investigation into Qualcomm after companies that had been moaning about the chipmaker charged excessive royalties on its technology patents withdrew their complaints.

The Commission said that since all complainants have now withdrawn their complaints, it was not worth wasting more time and money on the investigation.


Was Qualcomm punished at all? This should also be probed by a US-based (and maybe Asia-based) agency. Qualcomm is based in San Diego, California. This happens to resemble the patent ambush from Rambus [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9].

IP Watch has this new article about a culture of sharing that once existed.

Dining on fresh fish beneath a golden sunset overlooking the Mediterranean beneath which lie the remains of the ancient Library of Alexandria, the conversation turns to the invention of written language. A light-hearted debate breaks out between an Egyptian and a Syrian over the origins of the first alphabet several thousand years ago, but is left for the time being when the Syrian asserts, “We invented the alphabet, you invented writing.”

Records show Egypt’s primary role in the development of written language as a way to disseminate ideas, and it is still advancing knowledge access, as evidenced by its world-class Library of Alexandria and several recent activities and publications. In some cases, library officials are out front on international policy issues related to access to knowledge.


Also from IP Watch we have this good article bearing the headline "Time For Human Rights To Enter Into IP Policy Dialogue, Panel Says" ("but they're still only *talking* about it," argues Glyn Moody).

Ensuring the right to development should become more integral to debates over intellectual property policy, said members of a panel last week. The World Intellectual Property Organization Development Agenda will play a crucial role in ensuring this integration if it happens, they added.


Moody also wrote about a new comparison between software copyright and software patents.

What's interesting here is that this position - preferring copyright rather than patent protection - comes from small to medium-sized software companies, but aligns with that of the free software world, which depends on copyright for the efficacy of its licences, but cannot accommodate patents, because they act as a brake on sharing.


There are alternative routes to offering developers "protection" that some of them crave. A "20-year monopoly" on some mere ideas (to borrow the words of the man in charge of the USPTO) is not the way forward, it's a farce. It's an impediment to science and economics, according to many studies.

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

'India Today' is a Slopfarm, Sometimes 'Covering' "Linux" With Slop Images
New example of pure BS
Rumours of IBM Layoffs Again, This Time Marketing
It's "bad marketing" to talk about layoffs
Slopwatch: linuxsecurity.com and hamradio.my (in Planet Ubuntu) Are at It Again With LLM Slop About "Linux"
LLM slop does not save time
Bluewashing Ends DEI at IBM and at Red Hat (HR or Hiring Become Gender- and Race-Neutral)
All that "whitelist is racist" stuff is likely a thing of the past
 
Sierra Leone: Android Up to Record Highs, Windows Falls to Record Lows of Almost 5% (15 Years Ago It Was 100%)
This is what happens when about 83% of Web requests come from mobile
Margarita Manterola (marga, Google) & Debian DebConf13 Swiss venue intrigue
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, March 14, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, March 14, 2025
Gemini Links 14/03/2025: Grizzy Bear and Prime Beats
Links for the day
Links 14/03/2025: ProPublica Admitting That It Uses Slop (Foolish Move), RIP Mark Klein
Links for the day
Windows is Fast Becoming Insignificant to Zimbabweans
based on this survey, less than 1 in 6 Web requests may originate from Windows
The Fall of the Open Source Initiative (OSI): The OSI Does Not Speak For You, OSI Staff Speaks for GAFAM/Microsoft (the Paymasters)
they speak for proprietary software companies, but they wear "open" on their sleeve
Microsoft Money Used for Abuse of Women and Against Journalism in Support of Women (the Victims)
"Never interrupt your opponent while he is in the middle of making a mistake."
Links 14/03/2025: Chinese Tensions With Australia, Putin Turns Down Ceasefire
Links for the day
Gemini Links 14/03/2025: Löjl and Docker Context Stuff
Links for the day
Links 14/03/2025: Scam Currencies in the US and Oligarchs (Including GAFAM) Controlling All the Major Policies
Links for the day
Antisemitic Attacks on Richard Matthew Stallman (RMS) in Wikipedia This Week
Did the man strike a nerve or what?
Links 13/03/2025: Intel Rotates Figurehead and South Korea Imports Karen People From Myanmar
Links for the day
Meanwhile at Microsoft Canonical...
Promoting proprietary surveillance by a company that actively attacks Linux in a lot of ways
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, March 13, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, March 13, 2025
Links 13/03/2025: Calculators and Spreadsheets, Returning to a Human Internet
Links for the day
Links 13/03/2025: Further Assaults on Science and Education in the US
Links for the day
Expect XBox to Be Shut Down Like Skype
"hey hi"-washing fools nobody
Truth Hurts (Especially Some Dishonest and/or Greedy People), But Reporting Truth is What Makes Journalism Valuable to the General Public and Helps Protect Society From Abuse by Sociopaths or Pathological Liars
When it comes to reporting, we're on the side of female victims, not the men who strangle them.
New Paper Reveals the Web (and Net) Drowns in LLM Slop, "Linux" is Impacted Too
It will be getting harder to trust anything on the Web
Links 13/03/2025: RIP, Carl Lundström; Tesla (the Company, Not Scientist It Piggybacks) Besieged by Public Backlash
Links for the day
Gemini Links 13/03/2025: MElon "Greek Tragedy" and Going Offline More
Links for the day
Richard Matthew Stallman, or rms (RMS), Turns 72 This Coming Weekend
This coming Sunday he deserves a cake
Links 13/03/2025: COVID-19 Legacies and "Modern" Cars as Spying Machines on Wheels
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, March 12, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, March 12, 2025