Bonum Certa Men Certa

Software Patents Continue to Collapse, But IBM, Watchtroll and David Kappos Continue to Deny and Antagonise It

They even organise events to push their agenda

Lobbying for Watchtroll



Summary: The latest facts and figures about software patents, compared to the spinmeisters' creed which they profit from (because they are in the litigation business)

"L

atest [Section] 101 Statistics Show Improved Validity Prospects at Dist. Cts, Not CAFC or PTAB," said a patent attorney the other day, reinforcing our response to Mullin's article (titled "These three 2016 [CAFC] cases gave new life to software patents"). The reality in the US right now is undeniably bad for software patents, which are being chopped at PTAB's block and CAFC's block. Patent maximalists are trying to pretend otherwise and we repeatedly rebut their arguments, only to see these arguments resurfacing over and over again, courtesy of the usual suspects. If the lies are repeated often enough, then maybe prospective applicants (or clients in need of legal representation) will actually believe them.

"The reality in the US right now is undeniably bad for software patents, which are being chopped at PTAB's block and CAFC's block."The other day we saw this new article titled "Assessing USPTO's Memo On Software Claim Patent Eligibility"; we keep wondering if USPTO officials will become as rational and realistic as US courts. Right now they just strive to rubberstamp whatever they can and those who pay the price for it are both plaintiffs and defendants; only patent law firms profit from it.

“This method of presentation involves storing and processing applications or parts of applications at a user's local personal computer rather than at a remote server.”
      --PatentDocs
As a side note -- although an important note nonetheless -- we can't help but notice that IBM keeps trying to corrupt the system though its former Director, who had worked for IBM beforehand. IBM definitely used to be a (GNU/)Linux friend. Now it's just an Apple promoter/pusher and a malicious patent aggressor. Yes, IBM has been rather busy going after small companies using software patents. Some of these companies, seeing what a menace IBM is becoming, belatedly turn to PTAB in an effort to invalidate these patents of IBM. Here is one report about IBM's software patent that will quite likely be invalidated: "The '967 patent relates to a method for presenting applications in an interactive service featuring steps for generating screen displays of the service applications at the reception systems of the respective users. This method of presentation involves storing and processing applications or parts of applications at a user's local personal computer rather than at a remote server. This helps avoid possible server bandwidth issues that can be caused by the server being required to serve too much data to multiple users simultaneously. The '967 patent lists many applications that can take advantage of this method of presentation, including games, news, weather, movie reviews, banking, investments, home shopping, messaging, and advertising."

This is pretty trivial. It's akin to caching.

Now watch what David Kappos is cited as saying again. "US is losing the innovation war," he is quoted by IBM as saying, "to China" (where IBM finds buyers for its failing business units, notably Lenovo).

"Kappos is a paid lobbyist," Benjamin Henrion noted, "working for patent trolls such as Microsoft or IBM."

"IBM's Schecter would know," I replied, as "he's IBM's patent chief ^_^ so [he] has the 'receipts'..."

What we have here is IBM citing as 'proof' a former IBM staff who is now an IBM-funded lobbyist for software patents. Look how dirty (as in dirty play) these people are...

And as if the greater the number of patents, the better... who would be foolish enough to actually believe this?!

"China pushing for software patents," Henrion noted in relation to another Schecter tweet, "apparatus claims relating to software can contain both hardware and "program" components..." (links to "China Files A Million Patents In A Year, As Government Plans To Increase Patentability Of Software")

“Kappos is a paid lobbyist working for patent trolls such as Microsoft or IBM...”
      --Benjamin Henrion
China is their new bogeyman. One of these people added: "But USA keeps working on UN-patentability of software. What's wrong with this picture?"

Nothing is wrong with this picture. It's a good decision. End software patents, end patent trolls.

"China is plain wrong on this," Henrion wrote, separately noting (to Marietje Schaake regarding software patents in Europe) that it's "like the unitary patent lie that it won't affect software development."

On a final note, worth seeing is this rant from Watchtroll and 'gang' about end of software patenting (or demise thereof). "Stepping Back from the Cliff: The Year Congress Didn’t Cave to the Anti-Patent Lobby" says the title. They're currently taking stock of a terrible year for them [1, 2] -- a year which saw the demise of patent trolls. Watchtroll continues to attack PTAB for doing its job and we can't help wondering why IBM's Schecter treats this like some kind of ambassador for his cause. Does IBM really want to be so closely associated with Watchtroll, who even resorts to attacking judges?

For a more balanced summary of recent events, see "Year in Review: The Top-Five Legal Developments of 2016" (posted days ago). It has a section about software patents.

“...anti patent trolling would be better, even if trolling is considered pejorative.”
      --Benjamin Henrion
Those who are against software patents, notably people who actually write software, are not "anti-patent" as Watchtroll tries to put it. In fact, as Henrion put it, "anti-patent is a gross and blunt exaggeration here. [...] anti patent trolling would be better, even if trolling is considered pejorative."

Patent trolls, in the majority of cases, rely on software patents. Take the latter away to get rid of the former.

Recent Techrights' Posts

We Seem to Have Abandoned Science and Replaced Sound Policy With Private Patent Shareholders and College Dropouts Like Bill Epsteingate
Because of what they did there are now many people out there who reject all vaccines
Many IBM Layoffs, Centred Around Expert Labs US in Atlanta (Offer of "Relocation" Where No Such Option Exists)
So Techrights was assessing comments/gossip online and it was right about the Thursday cull
Richard Stallman's Next Public Talk is in Milan, Italy Next Week
Happy hacking
Why We'll Continue Covering EPO Abuses (Other Patent Offices as Well, as the Need Arises) for Many Years to Come
We're basically becoming Russia
These Feet Are Made for Walking
Humans are apparently so very clever that they decided to form a "progressive" consensus: feet no more
 
The Microsofter Who Kept Sending Threatening Post and E-mail to My Wife Has Been Joking He'd Work on Code for "Sexual Favours"
For one thing, for software professionals (like for landlords), this is outright illegal and you'd get arrested for it, and moreover it's no joking matter because there are many real victims of such sexual exploitation
Links 23/05/2025: Violent Attacks on the Press, VMware Price Hikes, Vista 11 Considered Unsuitable for Any Confidentiality
Links for the day
Gemini Links 23/05/2025: Balkan Tourism, UK Polls, Reticulum and Meshtastic
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, May 22, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, May 22, 2025
Back to Basics, Folks, "AI" (Plagiarism) is Symptom of a Dying Industry Looking for Whatever Prey It Can Devour
lousy/sloppy imitations
Liam Proven's Thoughts on "AI" Being a Scam No Different From Religions, Alternative Medicine, and More
"Is there anywhere outside of retrocomputing that doesn't have AI in it?"
Slopwatch: Slopfarms That 'Hallucinate' (Yield Falsehoods) Cited as Credible Sources and Microsoft Media Gaslighting Everybody
Part of the problem is, Google News
More Media Coverage and Photos From Richard Stallman's Presentation in Liberec (Czech Republic)
Here are some photos
The Microsofter Who Kept Sending Threatening Post and E-mail to My Wife Has Been Spooking Women for at Least Two Decades
censorship was the ultimate goal
Links 22/05/2025: Openwashing, Dumping Microsoft's Entrapment (Microsoft GitHub), and New Climate Disasters
Links for the day
Gemini Links 22/05/2025: Crimson Pro Font and CGI in Bash
Links for the day
IBM Goes to India, Fires People in the United States (Under the Guise of "Relocation" or Similar), Accusation of Bribery in the Company
LLM slop sites (some are pure slopfarms) from India say the IBM layoffs result in hiring "AI" (the "I" stands for India)
Links 22/05/2025: TikTok Laying Off Again, Microsoft-Backed Builder.ai Set for Bankruptcy, Scam Altman Uses 'Funny Money' to 'Buy' (Hire) Company
Links for the day
The Evolution of Microsoft's War on GNU/Linux
13 sins
OFTC Has Just Culled About a Third of Its Online Users
It's not the first time they purge or force offline many people/bots
My New Desk Arrangement (and More Breaks From the Keyboard)
all in all yesterday I devoted 4-5 hours to redoing and shuffling stuff
Central Staff Committee of the EPO Opposes Abuses Against EPO Staff, Challenging SuccessFactors Stunts
Europe became institutionally colonised
Gemini Links 22/05/2025: "Conspirituality" and Visiting One's Old University
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, May 21, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, May 21, 2025
Bigots and Lunatics Who Attack Microsoft Critics, Projecting Their Own Bigotry by Accusing Others of Imaginary Things (Which They're Innocent Of)
"In psychology, projection refers to assigning your negative traits or unwanted emotions to others without being aware you’re doing it."
"The Appeals Committee [at the EPO] Unanimously Stated a Formal Flaw in the Consultation of the General Consultative Committee (GCC) on the Reform"
It's a truly horrifying situation
Microsoft Killed the Term "Open Source" (by Bribing/Taking Over OSI, 'Linux' Foundation Etc.) and Now It Needs to Kill the Brand Linux (Because Windows Just Won't Run!)
Why else would Microsoft falsely describe Windows as "Linux" and "Open Source"?
Slopwatch: Liars for Microsoft, Plagiarism, and IBM Red Hat Markets Slop as "AI"
Today was a bad day news-wise
Links 21/05/2025: Climate Problems and Ceasefires No Longer Foreseen
Links for the day
Gemini Links 21/05/2025: "Shrimps of Doom" and "ASCII-graphs"
Links for the day
Links 21/05/2025: GitHub Becoming Slop, MElon as a Drug Addict Considered National Security Risk
Links for the day
Slopwatch: Slopfarms 'Think' Redis is "Linux" (RedisRaider)
Today we'll keep it short and to the point again
IBM Has Allegedly Just Sacked Mr. McKinsey (McK), Clay Cowan, Its Fourth CMO in a Few Years
To insiders he represented the company that's killing IBM or advising IBM on how to self-destruct
Gemini Links 21/05/2025: Trips, 4D Golf, and Writing Software
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, May 20, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, May 20, 2025