Bonum Certa Men Certa

CAFC Rules Against Software Patents But Witness With Horror the Silence From Patent Lawyers (Bias by Omission)

Only an article or two about the decision against software patents and two dozen or so about a decision in their favour

Status quo bias
Reference: Status quo bias



Summary: In an effort to protect software patents in the United States, where these patents came from in the first place (and continue to spread from), patent lawyers pretend not to see cases where software patents get invalidated and instead focus on the rare exception

The Supreme Court ruled against software patents two years ago. Things have changed thoroughly since then. Right now patent lawyers hope that another software patent/s case will reach the Supreme Court, which can potentially change course and reset the record (precedence).



"It doesn't seem as though anything that can change Alice is on the horizon."Patent maximalists (lawyers) watch closely as the Supreme Court picks up cases. To quote Professor Dennis Crouch's overview (he keeps updated this kind of SCOTUS zeitgeist): "It is now time to begin looking for an opinion in the Halo/Stryker regarding whether the Federal Circuit’s test for willful infringement is too rigid. Those cases were argued in February 2016. We can also expect a decision in Cuozzo prior to the end June 2016."

It doesn't seem as though anything that can change Alice is on the horizon. This is good news. The Cuozzo case we have already mentioned here earlier this month and last month. It's not going to change takeaways from Alice.

"They would rather ignore or hide it from the public/judges/clients."According to this new post, Enfish v Microsoft [1, 2] is already forgotten as CAFC rules against software patent, quite frankly as usual. It's only when it rules for software patents that there is typically a media frenzy, initiated by self-serving patent lawyers. To quote IP Kat: "The patentability of computer-implemented inventions has been in doubt in the United States since the U.S. Supreme Court decision Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank. However, the recent Enfish v. Microsoft case provided some hope to those who favor patentability of computer-implemented inventions. The Federal Circuit has issued another patent eligibility decision, TLI Communications v. AV Automotive, et al. Notably, both Enfish and TLI Communications are authored by Judge Hughes--and reach opposite results, but on different facts."

We actually found out about this two days ago. Patent Buddy showed that CAFC got back to killing software patents when he wrote: "(1/2)The '295 patent killed by the CAFC today w/101 has a priority date of 1996. Its a pioneer patent."

Are they already fixing the Enfish v Microsoft error? After less than a week? As Patent Buddy put it: "Federal Circuit Held Image Manipulation Claims Ineligible under 101/Alice Today: http://www.cafc.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/opinions-orders/15-1372.Opinion.5-12-2016.1.PDF"

"Such is the nature of media that is dominated by patent lawyers and their interest groups..."Will patent lawyers quiet down now that this decision is out? Or maybe not mention this newer decision at all? Were the celebrations short lived? So far we have found just one article about this decision (and we watch these things very closely). At the same time, in spite of this newer decision (against software patents), patent lawyers are evidently desperate enough to latch onto the older decision. They just wish to make software patents stay in the US. See for example what Michael D. Van Loy and Howard Wisnia from Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. have just published. Stinson Leonard Street LLP, likewise, cherry-picks the pro-software patents decisions, as usual. Gerard M. Donovan, Richard A. Graham, Amardeep (Sonny) Grewal and Marc S. Kaufman say that "Federal Circuit's Enfish Is An Important 101 Decision" because it serves their agenda and it's only a case like this which they are likely to cite in the future, not TLI Communications v. AV Automotive, et al.

MIP rightly called Enfish v Microsoft as it should. A "rare boost" is the way it got dubbed and MIP added: "The Federal Circuit has found software patents valid under Alice for only the second time, in Enfish v Microsoft."

Compare that to the many times CAFC ruled against software patents, including the latest decision. Where were software patents lobbyists/proponents/boosters when these decisions happened? They would rather ignore or hide it from the public/judges/clients. Such is the nature of media that is dominated by patent lawyers and their interest groups...

Recent Techrights' Posts

Comparing U.E.F.I. to B.I.O.S. (Bloat and Insecurity to K.I.S.S.)
By Sami Tikkanen
New 'Slides' From Stallman Support (stallmansupport.org) Site
"In celebration of RMS's birthday, we've been playing a bit. We extracted some quotes from the various articles, comments, letters, writings, etc. and put them in the form of a slideshow in the home page."
Thailand: GNU/Linux Up to 6% of Desktops/Laptops, According to statCounter
Desktop Operating System Market Share Thailand
António Campinos is Still 'The Fucking President' (in His Own Words) After a Fake 'Election' in 2022 (He Bribed All the Voters to Keep His Seat)
António Campinos and the Administrative Council, whose delegates he clearly bribed with EPO budget in exchange for votes
Adrian von Bidder, homeworking & Debian unexplained deaths
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Sainsbury’s Epic Downtime Seems to be Microsoft's Fault and Might Even Constitute a Data Breach (Legal Liability)
one of Britain's largest groceries (and beyond) chains
 
People Don't Just Kill Themselves (Same for Other Animals)
And recent reports about Boeing whistleblower John Barnett
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 18, 2024
IRC logs for Monday, March 18, 2024
Suicide Cluster Cover-up tactics & Debian exposed
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 19/03/2024: A Society That Lost Focus and Abandoning Social Control Media
Links for the day
Matthias Kirschner, FSFE: Plagiarism & Child labour in YH4F
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Linux Foundation Boasting About Being Connected to Bill Gates
Examples of boasting about the association
Alexandre Oliva's Article on Monstering Cults
"I'm told an earlier draft version of this post got published elsewhere. Please consider this IMHO improved version instead."
[Meme] 'Russian' Elections in Munich (Bavaria, Germany)
fake elections
Sainsbury's to Techrights: Yes, Our Web Site Broke Down, But We Cannot Say Which Part or Why
Windows TCO?
Plagiarism: Axel Beckert (ETH Zurich) & Debian Developer list hacking
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 18/03/2024: Putin Cements Power
Links for the day
Flashback 2003: Debian has always had a toxic culture
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
[Meme] You Know You're Winning the Argument When...
EPO management starts cursing at everybody (which is what's happening)
Catspaw With Attitude
The posts "they" complain about merely point out the facts about this harassment and doxing
'Clown Computing' Businesses Are Waning and the Same Will Happen to 'G.A.I.' Businesses (the 'Hey Hi' Fame)
decrease in "HEY HI" (AI) hype
Free Software Needs Watchdogs, Too
Gentle lapdogs prevent self-regulation and transparency
Matthias Kirschner, FSFE analogous to identity fraud
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 18/03/2024: LLM Inference and Can We Survive Technology?
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, March 17, 2024
IRC logs for Sunday, March 17, 2024
Links 17/03/2024: Microsoft Windows Shoves Ads Into Third-Party Software, More Countries Explore TikTok Ban
Links for the day
Molly Russell suicide & Debian Frans Pop, Lucy Wayland, social media deaths
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Our Plans for Spring
Later this year we turn 18 and a few months from now our IRC community turns 16
Open Invention Network (OIN) Fails to Explain If Linux is Safe From Microsoft's Software Patent Royalties (Charges)
Keith Bergelt has not replied to queries on this very important matter
RedHat.com, Brought to You by Microsoft Staff
This is totally normal, right?
USPTO Corruption: People Who Don't Use Microsoft Will Be Penalised ~$400 for Each Patent Filing
Not joking!
The Hobbyists of Mozilla, Where the CEO is a Bigger Liability Than All Liabilities Combined
the hobbyist in chief earns much more than colleagues, to say the least; the number quadrupled in a matter of years
Jim Zemlin Says Linux Foundation Should Combat Fraud Together With the Gates Foundation. Maybe They Should Start With Jim's Wife.
There's a class action lawsuit for securities fraud
Not About Linux at All!
nobody bothers with the site anymore; it's marketing, and now even Linux
Links 17/03/2024: Abuses Against Human Rights, Tesla Settlement (and Crash)
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, March 16, 2024
IRC logs for Saturday, March 16, 2024
Under Taliban, GNU/Linux Share Nearly Doubled in Afghanistan, Windows Sank From About 90% to 68.5%
Suffice to say, we're not meaning to imply Taliban is "good"
Debian aggression: woman asked about her profession
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 17/03/2024: Winter Can't Hurt Us Anymore and Playstation Plus
Links for the day