Bonum Certa Men Certa

Obama Administration Goes After Phantom Enemy; Patent Trolls Are a Symptom, Hardly the Only Problem

Money talks, the suggested 'reform' is corporate

A thousand dollars



Summary: More evidence showing that in order to eradicate patent trolls, as well as their large equivalents (patent pools and thickets), we must reconsider patent scope, not size of plaintiffs; President Obama is going only after the small offenders

EARLIER ON we wrote about the racketeering operation known as Intellectual Ventures. It is so vast that it has summoned a legion of lobbyists constantly pressuring the government, seeking to legalise (or keep legal) extortion like its own.



"Acacia uses software parents, which Microsoft habitually passes to trolls."To understand what Intellectual Ventures is about (world's largest patent troll bar none; as IP Troll Tracker points out, it's hard to believe anyone is still unaware of this), think of Goldman Sachs and Mr. Madoff. Both are committing more or less the same crime but at vastly different levels of granularity. One gets a bailout (taxpayers' money), whereas the other gets sent to prison. Why? Well, pyramid schemes are only cracked down on by the government if they are small; if the scale is large, then there are lobbyists and more work is required (with the risk of retribution) to convict and arrest the perpetrators. Ask AG Holder why he doesn't convict large banks. He has already said that, fearing prosecution would have a negative effect on the economy, he would rather just let them be. Astounding!

Some days ago we wrote about Microsoft's friends at Acacia (former Microsoft employees in it) apparently taxing GNU/Linux again. Acacia uses software parents, which Microsoft habitually passes to trolls. As this news shows, Acacia's patents are "abstract" (i.e. on software) and therein lies the problem. The article says: "In a 14-page ruling issued on May 29, U.S. District Judge Ronald Whyte granted summary judgment to EMC Corporation, NetApp Inc., and Quantum Corp. in a patent infringement lawsuit brought by Acacia subsidiary Compression Technology Solutions LLC. Whyte ruled that Acacia's patent, which relates to a process of compressing digital data, is an abstract idea. Abstract ideas are categorically excluded from patent-eligibility under Section 101 of the Patent Act, along with "laws of nature" and "physical phenomena."

"Another ‘legal’ site uses patent trolls as a distraction again. ""In September 2011, Acacia asserted the patent at issue against seven tech companies -- EMC, NetApp, Quantum, Hewlett-Packard Company, International Business Machines Corporation, and Quest Software Inc. All of the defendants settled except EMC, NetApp, and Quantum, represented by Ropes & Gray, Goodwin Procter, and Durie Tangri, respectively."

Don't expect David Kappos from the USPTO to pay attention to it. Regarding the latest software patents promotion from Kappos (published in Patently O to make some waves) Pamela Jones wrote: "No, the problem really is deeper than just poor quality patents; the problem is that software never should have been patentable. Software patents are destroying innovation, making it simply impossible to do a thing in software without getting sued. And sued multiple times, if you are successful. To pretend otherwise is to represent the interests of those who are already holding patents, not those who are trying to innovate."

Tell this to the EFF too. They seem to be targeting one patent at a time, still, and especially patent trolls. This is a misguided, short-term approach.

"This current patent crisis has nothing to do with patent trolls, it is about patent scope."Several 'legal' sites, ones that we habitually mention for promoting the views of patent lawyers in news feeds, continue to distort the public debate about software patents in the US. Mondaq pushes a couple of such views and Managing IP does so too, summarising with "Court issues seven conflicting opinions" and "USPTO responds" (the USPTO is defending broad scope for patenting, as we showed before), but that is not a court of law, it is a rogue institute seeking to increase revenue. Another 'legal' site uses patent trolls as a distraction again. This current patent crisis has nothing to do with patent trolls, it is about patent scope. As TechDirt noted the other day, even a student who won the Intel Science Fair got "Threatened With Patent Infringement Claims For Patent Not Yet Granted". Or to put it another way: "So it goes in America. No one's immune from the threat of patent litigation, not even 18-year high school students in possession of an award-winning science project in one of the most prestigious science fairs around." (original article at IDG)

When so many horrible patents get granted and then groomed by patent lawyers' sites it is no wonder we're in this sordid mess. "Seems to me that it is Patent Lawyers who mainly endorse patenting. Makes more business for them," wrote "Anti Software Patent" in Twitter the other day, adding that "Maths done on a calculator isn't Patentable but if you type it into a computer it is? A calculator is a computer as it Computes!" (as noted yesterday in this essay).

"Suffice to say, the White House will be addressing the wrong problem, obeying corporate requests rather than public requests to re-assess patent scope. "Watch how opposition to software patents gets smeared by patent boosters like Martin Goetz, whose sole achievement seems to be getting a patent on software.

Suffice to say, the White House will be addressing the wrong problem, obeying corporate requests rather than public requests to re-assess patent scope. That's what all politicians do. According to this, Obama is still going after the symptoms rather than the root cause. The analysis adequately starts by giving this bit of background: "Back in February, we were a bit surprised during President Obama's "Fireside Hangout" when he appeared to speak out against patent trolls. Historically, most politicians had always tiptoed around the issue, in part because the pharma industry seems to view any attack on patent trolls as an existential threat -- and, frankly, because some small time patent holders can also make a lot of noise. However, it's become exceptionally clear that there's political will to take on patent trolls. We've noted five different patent law bills introduced in Congress, all targeting patent trolls in one form or another."

"The issue with patent thickets is showing that trolls are not the real problem. "Yes, it's all about trolls to them. The article carries on as follows: "And now, it's been reported that President Obama is going to come out strongly against patent trolling, directing the USPTO and others to fix certain issues, while also asking Congress to pass further laws to deal with patent trolling. The President will flat out note that patent trolls represent a "drain on the American economy." The announcement will directly say that "patent trolls" (yes, they use the phrase) are a problem, while also talking about the problem of patent thickets like the infamous "smartphone wars.""

The issue with patent thickets is showing that trolls are not the real problem. There is a more fundamental problem and that is what Obama should be tackling. The press coverage only concentrates on trolls [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] (FOSS-friendly sites aside [1, 2]), which re-affirmes our position that President Obama will only crack down on small abusers while ignoring the massive extortion rackets. "The White House Hates Patent Trolls," says this alternative news site, but it sure doesn't hate software patents. Not yet anyway...

The biggest patent abusers are, in the White House's view, perhaps too big to jail, let alone speak about.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Confirmed in the Mainstream Media: A Lot of Microsoft "Workloads" Were Just LLM Slop (Helping to Fake Growth for Years, as Microsoft Had Paid "Open" "AI" to Become a "Client") and Demand is Rapidly Waning, Datacentres Canceled and/or Shut Down
Anything to facilitate further accounting fraud
Taiwan's Media Covers Closure of Microsoft's "AI" Lab, It's Time to Talk About the Gradual Death of Windows and Implosion of the "AI" Bubble
Earlier this week we showed that mostly Asian media had the 'nerve' to mention Microsoft silently shutting down its 'AI' lab
More Gains for GNU/Linux, Based on Web Surveys
the Steam site shows rapid growth for "Linux" this month
 
Microsoft's Trouble in Africa and Asia
A new all-time high for GNU/Linux
Brett Wilson LLP Reported to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA)
The saddest thing in all this is that law firms can maintain high standards shall they wish to
Links 03/04/2025: Tariff Pains and C.D.C. Cuts
Links for the day
StatCounter: Microsoft is Masking a Disaster, It's Way Behind DeepSeek Already and Interest in LLMs Has Waned
it turns out the money "raised" for "Open" "AI" may not even exist at all
Links 03/04/2025: SoftBank Money for Microsoft "Open" "AI" Probably Doesn't Even Exist, Wikimedia Foundation Blasts LLM Nuisance While Microsoft Admits Demand Has Shrunk
Links for the day
Gemini Links 03/04/2025: Patch Panel and Pictures
Links for the day
Islamic Republic of Iran: GNU/Linux at All-time High This Month, Windows Falls to 12%
Vista 10 is up this month despite being "end of life" (EoL) soon
Indonesia: All-Time Highs for GNU/Linux
What's noteworthy right now is the growth of GNU/Linux
statCounter Says GNU/Linux Usage is Up Again (Internationally)
some preliminary April data
Only on April 1st Can the Free Software Foundation Associate With Microsoft's Open Source Initiative (OSI)
We saw some pranks that day linking the FSF to Microsoft (e.g. "endorsing" Windows)
IBM Gets Rid of Kelly Chambliss as Mass Layoffs Reported in IBM Consulting, IBM Loses Key Contracts/Graft
IBM Consulting has been in disarray lately
Slopwatch: Anti-Linux Articles, Not Even Written by Humans
Why aren't Web sites more vocal about this problem?
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, April 02, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, April 02, 2025
Links 03/04/2025: Apple Fined Over Secret Surveillance, "Elegant Writer For A More Civilized Age"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 02/04/2025: Books and Cold Tea
Links for the day
Links 02/04/2025: More Layoffs, Nokia Again Takes Advantage of Illegal and Unconstitutional Patent Court With Nokia Staff as 'Judges'
Links for the day
Links 02/04/2025: Seizures and Returns to Windows of 24 Years Ago
Links for the day
LLM Slop Helps Obscure and Distort News About Layoffs (IBM, GAFAM)
It's hard to find accurate information
Links 02/04/2025: Microsoft Developers Are Threatening to Go on Strike, World Backup Day Noted
Links for the day
Gemini Protocol Has Growing Appeal (the Web Got Too Bloated and Full of LLM Slop)
For any "data plan" with bandwidth limits or "tiers" it would be cheaper to use/browse Geminispace
The Web Can Survive LLM Slop, But Only If We Collectively Shun and Discourage Serial Sloppers
Doing nothing ought not be a possibility
Amid Secret Shut-downs and Mass Layoffs at Microsoft (4 Waves of Layoffs in 3 Months of 2025) Some Microsoft Staff Expected to Go On Strike
workers going on strike
Gemini Links 02/04/2025: No more on Mastodon and Gemini Mention Script in Go
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, April 01, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, April 01, 2025
My Motion Disbarring or “Striking Off” Brett Wilson LLP for Enabling Violent Americans Who Try to Crush Microsoft Critics in the United Kingdom by Multiple SLAPPs
"Guns for hire" (for Microsoft people who received Microsoft salaries)
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Hijacked Again by Patent Litigation Industry, as President Cheeto Prioritises Aggressors
The "mafia" has taken over the "industry" and the Federal system (justice and constitutions trampled upon)
Ubuntu Slop and FUD Manufactured With LLMs and Funded (by Oneself) 'Studies'
Slop and FUD are ruining the Web
Gemini Links 01/04/2025: Games and More
Links for the day
Links 01/04/2025: Apple Fined $162M for Privacy Abuses, Disinformation Online a Growing Concern
Links for the day
Why We're Reporting Brett Wilson LLP for Apparently Misusing Their Licence to Protect American Microsofters Who Attack Women
For those who have not been keeping abreast
Newer Press Reports Confirm That Microsoft Shuts Down 'Hey Hi' (AI) Labs Despite All the Hype
The "hey hi" (AI) bubble is not sustainable
Links 01/04/2025: Mass Layoffs at Eidos and "Microsoft Pulls Back on Data Centers" (Demand Lacking); "Racist and Sexist" Slop From Microsoft
Links for the day
Stefano Maffulli and His Microsoft-Funded OSI Staff Are Killing the OSI and Killing "Open Source" (All for Money!)
This is far from over
Gemini Links 01/04/2025: XKCDpunk and worldclock.py
Links for the day
50 Years of Sabotage and a Gut Punch to Computer Science (and Science in General)
Will we get back to science-based computing rather than cult-like following?
Techrights Headlines as Semaphore
"If you are hearing this, thank you"
3 Months in 2025, 4 Waves of Mass Layoffs at Microsoft, Now Offices Shut Down Permanently
"A recent visit by the South China Morning Post confirmed that the office was dark, unoccupied, and had its logo removed."
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 31, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, March 31, 2025