Bonum Certa Men Certa

UPC and Patent Trolls: The Connection Revisited

Lesser explored aspects of so-called 'unitary' hogwash

Napoleonic Europe



Summary: Looking back at a New Scientist article (a year before Benoît Battistelli's EPO literally paid the New Scientist for puff pieces) which criticised the strengthening of Europe’s patent laws

UPC lobbying/promotion/meddling by EPO isn't a particularly big scandal compared to other EPO scandals, but it definitely worth noting, especially considering last night's senseless self-serving propaganda which later made it into Twitter.



The UPC and the "East Texas" patent troll problem are not far apart. Yesterday we shared a cautionary tale, having done so before regarding the Eastern District of Texas.

"Referring to your recent articles about the "East Texas" patent troll problem," one reader told us, "you might be interested in the following critique of the UPC which appeared in the New Scientist last year" (under the headline "Strengthening Europe’s patent laws will weaken them").

This one particular article from New Scientist, unlike some others, is not sponsored by the EPO.

To quote the relevant parts:

Europe's high-tech firms are threatened by patent reforms that will expose them to one of the worst features of the US system, says a patent expert

[...]

Under the EUP, a system of national patent courts will be set up. The verdict of any such court will be valid and enforceable in all countries that have ratified the treaty. It is, of course, important that their decisions are correct, unbiased and have a high standard of integrity. After all, when a court concludes that a patent has been infringed, the consequences can be serious. In 2006, for example, US company NTP obtained an infringement order against the maker of Blackberry mobile devices. The settlement cost Blackberry more than half a billion dollars.

So it is not a good omen that the signatories to the EUP include Bulgaria and Slovakia, two countries that are ranked very low in the World Economic Forum’s rating of judicial independence. Of 142 countries, Bulgaria is ranked 104th and Slovakia 116th. To put this in perspective, Zimbabwe is ranked 118th.

Why does this matter? When a patent holder initiates legal action, they generally get to choose the jurisdiction where the proceedings will take place. This creates an incentive for courts to gain a reputation for being favourable to patent owners, so as to attract business.

This “forum shopping” is already a real problem. In the US, the notorious Eastern District of Texas court is significantly more likely then other US patent courts to find in patent holders’ favour. Unsurprisingly, it is a popular venue for patent litigation. There is little to stop Bulgarian or Slovakian courts becoming the European equivalent.


This is the kind of thing we have been warning about. When software patents strike (as has just happened in Texas again) we are always reminded of one of the biggest failures of the US patent system. Last night we found in the news two new articles, "Activision Sued Over Fantasy Sports Software Patent Infringement" and "Patent owner sues EA, Activision, Zynga, and more over sports games". To quote the latter: "Texas-based Virtual Gaming Technologies, LLC is suing a number of game publishers over patents it holds relating to fantasy sports and, more specifically, realtime reports of sports information in games."

It's basically a patent troll attacking a lot of companies, located in different places, in one fell swoop. Do we want these in Europe as well? Of course not.

Recent Techrights' Posts

If You Don't Control Your Online Platform, Then Someone Else is Controlling You
be (or become) independent
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Has a Policy on Racism and Sexism
In then future we'll show the misogyny and racial slurs
Links 22/09/2025: Murdochs Might Join Fentanylware (TikTok) 'Investors' (Masters), United Kingdom Recognises Palestinian Statehood
Links for the day
The 50-Pound Note Experiment and the "War on Cash"
Britain is actually seeing a rebound in cash payments, and it's not a temporary phenomenon
 
What Scares Them the Most is Independent News Sites That They Cannot Control and Censor
Wikileaks was a good example of this
Oracle Started This Year With Slop. Then It Stopped.
Passing fads are like this
Distros That Run on PCs Made 20 Years Ago and Don't Use Systemd
Betas for now
The Complaint About Brett Wilson LLP - Part I - Abusing British Women on Behalf of American Men Who Abuse American Women
Transparency is important to us, so we've decided to make this series
Slopwatch: Google News and the Evident Slopfarm Infestation
This is what people get about Linux when they query Google for Linux
Gemini Links 22/09/2025: Esperanto Music History and Apps For Android
Links for the day
Links 22/09/2025: More American 'Censorship' (Retaliation for Journalism), Cheeto "Might Be Losing His Race Against Time"
Links for the day
The Blob Slop
Give me more words, give me some text
Slopwatch: Blaming the Victims for Microsoft's Failures and Plagiarising Phoronix
That's what Google has been reduced to: slop and slopfarms
Links 22/09/2025: Breaches, Windows TCO, and Arrests
Links for the day
Gemini Links 22/09/2025: Rabbit Hole and DeGoogling Fairphone
Links for the day
Links 22/09/2025: Russian War Planes Invade NATO Airspace While Dihydroxyacetone Man Escalates Attack on Free Speech Because of Critics
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, September 21, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, September 21, 2025
Links 21/09/2025: "Hey Hi" (Hype) Under Fire, Fakes Identified; Tesla Burns Family
Links for the day
Google's Software is Malware and Malware in Mobile Devices
Originally posted by Rob Musial
Links 20/09/2025: Hegemony Coming to a Close, Luigi Mangione Ruled Not Terrorist
Links for the day
Gemini Links 21/09/2025: "Charlie Kirk Was a Hateful Piece of Shit" and Slop Code Attempted by Microsofter
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, September 20, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, September 20, 2025
Gemini Links 20/09/2025: Snowy Photos and utism is a Spectrum
Links for the day
Microsoft-Sponsored Xenophobia and Nationalism
IBM is very similar in this regard
Vintage is Sometimes Better
Why can't we get back to "simple" if (or where) "simple" means better?
Climate Breakdown Means We'll be Publishing More, Not Less
Press freedom will be a common, recurring theme
Our 5-Year Geminispace Anniversary is Coming Up
I still remember when Gemini Protocol was quite new
It's Right to Point Out Violence From the Right
Violence is a recurring theme
Tentative Summary of Things to Publish in Project 2030
I'll still be in my forties by then
Web Browsers That "Do Hey Hi" (AI)
State-of-the-art plagiarism or "autocomplete on steroids" (not coined by us, nevertheless a nice description) don't have much/any prospect
Links 20/09/2025: Hardware Projects in View, Some Independent Publishers About Russia Prosper After Cheeto Cuts Funding
Links for the day
Gemini Links 20/09/2025: Options and TV Time Machine
Links for the day
Links 20/09/2025: Retrocomputer, Antique Phone Experience, and More
Links for the day
Links 20/09/2025: Internet Shutdowns, Media Censorship, and Climate Worries
Links for the day
About 700 New Gemini Capsules in 13 Months (or 54 Per Month)
4.8K would represent a 20% increase
Rust People: Drain the Swap, You're Holding It Wrong
Does Rust make sense?
Techrights the Name Turns 15
About 6 weeks from now we turn 19
Microsoft is Running Out of Time and Floating Fake Figures, Fake Projects, Fake Narratives, Fake Excuses
Also, a lot of Microsoft's "revenue" claims are circular financing (i.e. Microsoft buying from itself, which means Ponzi-like fraud)
Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity, linuxconfig.org, and Plagiarised Phoronix
Many articles out there are nowadays fake
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, September 19, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, September 19, 2025
Gemini Links 20/09/2025: Navigating the Pressures of Modern Life and SpellBinding Accidentally Wrote Another Gemini Server
Links for the day