Bonum Certa Men Certa

Patents Roundup: “Lawyer's Trick” in Gene Patenting, Elan Microelectronics and HTC Connected, Neelie Kroes Confused About Role of Patents

DNA stairs



Summary: How companies want to privatise human DNA, an HTC supplier wants to block iPad, and Commissioner Kroes passes on clichés about patents and entrepreneurship (after heavy lobbying from Microsoft)

Yesterday's news about gene patents led the president of the FFII to saying that "Genes and software patents are granted thanks to the "lawyer's trick" (or a computer program as such)" [1, 2, 3, 4]. The New Scientist asks, "Is this the end of gene patenting?"



Elan Microelectronics' embargo attempt against Apple was also mentioned yesterday (contained in the same post) and here is what TechDirt had to say:

Given all of this, it was really only a matter of time until the patent litigation began flying over the iPad. Slashdot points us to the news that Elan Microelectronics is seeking to ban the import of iPads into the US via the ever-popular ITC loophole.


Our reader Oiaohm says that it took him "a bit of digging" but he found that "Elan Microelectronics is a direct supplier to HTC. Now this is good. Apple attack HTC so now HTC suppliers lining up to eat them for lunch." Apple tried to embargo HTC phones consisting of Android (Linux) and now the iPad [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9] is at risk.

A week ago we wrote about Amazon's pushing of software patents into Europe and now we find another bizarre patent that "could make returns harder" according to CNET.

A new patent awarded to Web retailer Amazon.com could change what customers see in their shipping confirmation e-mails, as well as making falsely problematic returns more difficult.


Amazon does not respect competition or Free software and along with Microsoft it hurts GNU/Linux [1, 2, 3, 4].

This brings us to Neelie Kroes. We previously complained about her bad attitude towards software patents [1, 2, 3]. Last week David Hammerstein revealed what Microsoft had been doing to her [1, 2]. She is being bamboozled and lobbied heavily and it may have led her to making the following statement three weeks ago:

To give you one example of the barriers to smart growth: protecting a patent is 13 times more expensive in the EU than in the US. How does that help you as entrepreneurs? It does not!


There's a fallacy here. Patents do not spur growth; this myth has been debunked many times by several independent studies. TechDirt currently has this new explanation which it titled "The Patent System Does Not Scale"; in short, patents become a burden at some stage. They only hinder and distract, rewarding lawyers and monopolists, not scientists.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Ensuring That Every Computer User Anywhere in the World Can Take Control of All His or Her Computers
We must fight the people who attack general-purpose computing, in particular those who push this agenda very aggressively inside Linux
What Happened to the Open Source Initiative (OSI) Elections: The Purge, the Cover-up, and the Witch-hunts
OSI has gone "full Microsoft"
 
Gemini Links 28/04/2025: Autism and Structural Navigation
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, April 27, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, April 27, 2025
In 24 Countries Observed by statCounter Vista 11 is Still Less Than a Quarter of Windows Users Despite All Other Versions Being 'Expired'
They ought to move to GNU/Linux
Links 27/04/2025: Pope Goodbyes, "Politics of Fear", Slop Redux and More Google Shutdowns (Google Debt Had Grown This Year)
Links for the day
Links 27/04/2025: Serenity Dialectics, Hockey Jersey Ethics, and More
Links for the day
Links 27/04/2025: Death of Nest Thermostats, Death of Metaverse
Links for the day
Links 27/04/2025: Projects Workflow and Discovering Technology
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, April 26, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, April 26, 2025
Microsoft Isn't on the Map in USSR
To them, it's either Google or Yandex
In Central America Windows Became a Small Force
These are countries where Windows used to have well over 95% of the "market"
What's Very Vexing to GAFAM, EPO and Others Is That It's Incredibly Hard to Censor Us (and Nobody Ever Successfully Did That Before)
resist, do not capitulate
Site May be Even Faster Now
It basically takes less than a tenth of a second to serve the page
Receiving SLAPPs and Collecting Them Like Trophies (the SLAPPs Always Fail)
People who file lawsuits bring even more attention to themselves (or to embarrassing statements about them)
Year of GNU/Linux on the Laptop?
It's not happening only in Lenovo
What People Must Understand About the Open Source Initiative (OSI)
some facts about the Open Source Initiative (OSI)
Many of the Scandals Are Interconnected (Overlapping People and Corporations)
We're only getting started
More Copyright Lawsuits Against LLM Slop Providers and Suppliers of LLM Slopfarms Would Benefit Society
It's not just bad for the Web and for society; it's also legally dangerous
Links 26/04/2025: General Assassinated in the Town of Balashikha, US Promoting Seafloor Mining
Links for the day
Links 26/04/2025: Facebook Layoffs Again, Remembering What's Real, and Say No to Mass Surveillance
Links for the day
Links 26/04/2025: NOAA Budget Cuts and "Dog Days Ahead"
Links for the day
In defence of JD Vance, death of Pope Francis
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Three Years in Prison for Disney Employee’s ‘Menu Hacking’: The Economic Fallout of Digital Menus
Reprinted with permission from Ryan Farmer
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, April 25, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, April 25, 2025