05.03.11
Gemini version available ♊︎Novell is Similar to Nortel
Summary: Patent commonality in defunct companies which pass around their patent monopolies (similar brand names aside)
Nortel has become an arsenal for sale, which is a reason for concern but also ammunition against today’s patent system, which does little or nothing at all to serve the public. It’s there to serve monopolies and lawyers. Many companies which call their patents “defensive” see them becoming offensive, e.g. patents which Oracle uses against Linux/Android right now. Here is the latest from Nortel, which is passing patents like firecrackers, perhaps like Novell was giving its patents to Microsoft (via CPTN) before laying off a lot of workers. Ron Hovsepian and fellow managers will probably receive their millions in bonuses and compensation, as usual. They have nothing to worry about.
In other news, the president of the FFII shows that patents are starting to go into reexamination, which is a good thing. This can help show that the USPTO is incompetent and greedy, approving applications that never should have been approved. But in other news, he also shows this article about TiVo receiving a lot of money for dubious DVR patents. To quote:
TiVo and EchoStar have been in a ridiculously long patent dispute over DVR patents that began years ago. TiVo won nearly all of the early rounds, but the tide turned a bit last year, though it looked like TiVo was going to get something out of this. Of course, all of this was happening while the Patent Office itself was expressing doubt about the patents in question.
The case is now over, with EchoStar agreeing to pay TiVo $500 million (significantly more than the initial jury award).
Techrights is still running a week against software patents. We welcome suggestions for addition or complete articles, which we will gladly publish. █
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