Bonum Certa Men Certa

Klinkert Zindel Partner is Promoting Software Patents in Europe

Bronze babyland statue
Lawyers help the software patent trolls, which mean business to legal firms



Summary: Another supporter of USPTO-style patent law in Europe is named and rebutted

LAST MONTH we showed that New Zealand's patent law was getting a loophole similar to Europe's. It's intended to allow software patents to enter from the back door and this happened after intense lobbying for software patents, in part by A J Park [1, 2], a lawyers' firm which recently lied about Europe in order to advance its agenda. A lawyer from this law firm called Klinkert Zindel Partner (Germany) has just used InternationalLawOffice.com to further advance his agenda by publicly defending software patents. For example he says:



In practice, the new development is to be be welcomed. While making it easier to obtain software-related patents, the decision also clarifies the related requirements. Further, concerns about innovation being impeded by software patents relating to trivial technical solutions are unfounded.


What do they know about innovation? They are patent lawyers. They help impede innovation. Why does this site/journal repeatedly give a platform to many lawyers, not taking account of the consequences to the industry (not of the lawyers, the one that actually produces real products)?

TechLiberation.com, a longtime critic of software patents, gives the history of software patents this week:

Goetz’s ADR became the first recipient of a patent on software in 1968, “a clear turning-point in the recognition of software as a product, not a service.” With attorney Mort Jacobs, Goetz determined that their software should be licensed rather than sold to customers to prevent them sharing programs, “a customary and accepted practice” at the time.

This anecdote doesn’t prove anything, but it offers a lot of food for thought and discussion. To wit:

* Johnson’s account favors today’s software patenting status quo. She refers to the “natural market” for ADR’s software, implying that IBM’s practice of writing and giving away software would have been an unnatural influence. She portrays Goetz’ pursuit of a patent as “defensive,” though there’s an equally plausible interpretation in which IBM plays defense against an insurgent by writing software to match its offering. Blocking that option by seeking a patent would part of going “on offense.” Finally, Johnson characterizes the ADR patent as “recognition” of what she appears to take as the right outcome.

[...]


We wrote about Martin Goetz when he took pride in making software patentable. The “defensive” excuse never held water because there is no contractual agreement assigned to a patent to say it cannot be used in a lawsuit. Patents are monopolies and they can only be used like weapons are used; there is nothing defensive about monopolies and arms. It's time to get rid of this apologetic notion.

"They [EPO examiners] claim that the organisation is decentralising and focusing on granting as many patents as possible to gain financially from fees generated." —Expatica, European Patent Office staff on strike

Recent Techrights' Posts

Red Hat's Owner is Called "America's Worst Tech Company" (IBM) and Microsoft's Liabilities Grow
Microsoft has about a quarter of a trillion (yes, trillion with a "T") in liabilities
How the SLAPPs From Microsoft Staff Are Connected to the Corrupt OSI, Whose Majority of Money Comes From Microsoft for Openwashing, LLM Hype, and Whitewashing GPL Violations During Class Action Trial
Let's explain how some of these things are connected
 
What Happened to the Open Source Initiative (OSI) Elections: Missed Deadline
they helped expose a number of other scandals
Links 12/05/2025: Measles Rising and Taliban Outlaws Chess in Afghanistan
Links for the day
Gemini Links 12/05/2025: Advice, Iorist Ethics, and Touchscreens
Links for the day
The Finances of GAFAM Aren't as They Seem
MICROSOFT FINANCIAL PYRAMID revisited
Links 12/05/2025: US Brain Drain and Reminder That "Microsoft's Lobbying Efforts Eclipsed Enron" (Fraud Coverup)
Links for the day
The Enshittification of Royal Mail (Post Office/Postal Services) Continues
Enshittification is a thing, not only in the digital realm
If the Gossip is True, Today Microsoft Has "Large M1 Meetings" to Discuss Almost 30,000 More Microsoft Layoffs in 2025
the claim is that Microsoft is preparing to lay off 10% of its staff
Microsoft Has a Long and Proven History of Funding Meritless Lawsuits Against Rivals and Critics (It Always Backfires)
It also looks like the solicitor used by two Microsofters to SLAPP us is being urgently replaced
Links 12/05/2025: Gardens and Kitchens
Links for the day
Links 12/05/2025: Media Being Attacked (New Forms of Attack on the Press), Many Data Breaches
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, May 11, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, May 11, 2025
Links 11/05/2025: Pyotr Wrangel and Kubernetes With FreeBSD
Links for the day
What Happened to the Open Source Initiative (OSI) Elections: A Moment of Silence and Revisionism Amid US Government Investigation and Community Uproar
Not a word this month
Microsoft Florian Becomes Patent Troll, Arranges to Sue Companies (Extorting Money Out of Them)
From campaigner against software patents to paid Microsoft shill to "FOSS patents" (actually attacking FOSS) to revisionism as "books" (for Microsoft)... and now this
Links 11/05/2025: China's Fentanylware (TikTok) Tells Kids to Vandalise Schools' Chromebooks and Increased Censorship in India
Links for the day
You Need Not Be a Big Company to Defeat Microsoft If You Can Successfully Challenge Its Core "Ideas"
Maybe that's just a sign that the ideas of RMS have become too effective and thus "dangerous"
Gemini Links 11/05/2025: Yeeting Oligarch Tech, Offline Browsing
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, May 10, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, May 10, 2025
One is Simply Doomed to Fail When Working for Violent Men From Microsoft and Attacking Women as Well as People Who Merely Expose Crimes or Report Real Crimes
Imagine saying to people that you "practice law" or "exercise law"
The Tariffs Are Accelerating Microsoft's Decline in China
Judging by the way things are going, there will be considerable adoption of GNU/Linux in years to come, China being one major contributing factor.
Control Your Systems, Control All Your Data
what does it take for us to control our own systems and data?
Misplacing Blame for Security Problems, Sometimes With LLM Slop That Blames "Linux" for Microsoft's Failures
Broken telephones and stochastic parrots beget plenty of Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt (FUD)
Links 10/05/2025: WW2 Revisionism, Further Tit-for-tat in India-Pakistan Conflict
Links for the day
Links 10/05/2025: Germany Considers Smartphone Ban in Schools, Right to Repair Bills
Links for the day
Gemini Links 10/05/2025: Git Server and Great LLM DDoS of 2025
Links for the day
Blizzard/Microsoft Unions Grow Ahead of Mass Layoffs at Microsoft, Apparently Starting Next Week (as Many as 30,000 Workers Laid Off by Year's End)
Microsoft already fired about 5,000-6,000 workers this year by our estimates; that's not counting resignations compelled through pressure (i.e. pushed, did not jump) and contractors
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, May 09, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, May 09, 2025