Bonum Certa Men Certa

The Patent Microcosm and Its Ludicrous New Narrative/Tale That Patent Reform is a Plot of Large Corporations

An inversion of narratives in patent reform

https://twitter.com/patentsales/status/857989537586225152

Summary: Tackling the misconception that it's somehow the billionaires and oligarchs/megacorporations who are pursuing patent reform in the United States, rather than many small companies that are suffering from patent trolls (whom they cannot afford to defend against in a court of law)

THE US COURTS, unlike the USPTO, are eager to be tough on patents. They demand proof that patents granted by the USPTO are in fact eligible and they put the burden of proof increasingly on plaintiffs (or petitioners in the case of PTAB).



"A lot of that boils down to pure nonsense and gossip, not facts."The above tweet matches a pattern that we've observed for a number of months. Patent maximalists try to paint their side as the "small guy" and in doing so they create conspiracy theories about Michelle Lee and Google, about corporate ties to reform, and so much more. A lot of that boils down to pure nonsense and gossip, not facts. The above person, who obviously does not want his/her (sur)name known, seemingly pretends that only those 5 companies call for patent reform (they don’t). That's pure nonsense. The text of the above is reproduced as follows (in case the original tweet gets deleted): "I’m going to keep tweeting this table to remind people how untrue these 5 sound when they cry injury and the need for more patent reform"

I've already argued with him/her about it, but it seems pointless. S/He maintains his/her position on this and so do sites like Watchtroll. They pretend they stand for inventors -- the very thing their stance keeps harming the most.

"They pretend they stand for inventors -- the very thing their stance keeps harming the most."The account above is called "patentsales" -- the very same thing that large corporations like doing. Recall IP3 for example [1, 2]; IAM blogged yesterday that "[t]he news, which was announced today, follows last year’s original IP3, which saw a group of companies from diverse industries come together to build on an initiative that Google had originally undertaken in 2015. This year’s version of the platform will only be available to AST’s 30 members, who include Ford, Google, IBM, Microsoft and recent joiner Uber."

IAM's report/blog is titled "Fixed-time patent-buying programme IP3 back again for 2017; but this time it’s different" (remember who's behind IP3).

Meanwhile, over at Watchtroll, they promote the notion of "intellectual property as a driver of innovation" (that's the headline) while leaving critical bits aside until late in the report. To quote:

In questioning, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) decided to advance the patent troll narrative and found a perfect sounding box in Eron to do so. “Patent trolls can use weak patents to extract monies,” Klobuchar said. Eron assented, noting that, while she was not an expert in IP laws, her understanding was that low-quality patents hurt Intel’s resources, diverting them from innovative R&D and towards litigation defense. “We do have a problem with patent trolls,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) would later add. “I don’t buy this idea that big guys are trying to squeeze out the small guys, a lot of times they’re looking for those smaller guys to scale up,” Tillis said, noting that app stores are filled with services being brought to the market on platforms provided by larger developers like Google and Apple.



What do they mean by "larger developers like Google and Apple"? Or "those smaller guys"?

There is one main difference between those "larger developers" and "those smaller guys"; one group can afford taking the trolls all the way to the court and invalidate the patent/s in question, whereas the other group cannot.

"For those who allege that United for Patent Reform is some kind of front for Google, Apple etc. watch the complete list of companies they stand for."United for Patent Reform, which recently defended Michelle Lee for her tough stance on trolls, is quoting Mytheos Holt as saying that "[p]atent trolls “exist purely to register patents and then accuse actual inventors of violating them”" (links to an article we mentioned 2 days ago). It later tweets (with photo) "I stopped innovating. I stopped creating." --Small business owner Eric Rosebrock on the result of his fight with a patent troll" and also tweets: "Thanks to Darrell Issa for coming to the screening of The Patent Scam today, and for being a champion in the fight to fix patents every day" (we also mentioned "The Patent Scam" 2 days ago).

For those who allege that United for Patent Reform is some kind of front for Google, Apple etc. (that's the new talking point), watch the complete list of companies they stand for. Here is a current screenshot from the front page (list of backers).

United for Patent Reform



Yeah, those few massive companies... it's only them behind patent reform. If anything, some of them are behind patent trolls (Microsoft for sure, in a big way) -- the very opposite of patent reform.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Instant Bluewashing at Confluent: Mass Layoffs Alleged at IBM
So the main question is, did IBM just fire 800 people?
British Justice Minister Sarah Sackman Blasts Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA)
The "legal industry" is due for "some reckoning"
 
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, March 17, 2026
IRC logs for Tuesday, March 17, 2026
Microsofters' SLAPP Censorship - Part 14 Out of 200: Men Who Strangle Women (and Worse) Trying to Force Us to Write Public Apologies to These Men
For those who never before saw a SLAPP, they basically make many demands
"Vibe-forking" and Why It'll Ultimately Fail (Hype on Top of Hype)
Code made with LLMs sucks; converting solid, human-tested code into slop only complicates matters and increases risk
Updates About Richard Stallman's Free Software Foundation
After all those years (a decade) and in spite of phony scandals many people out there still respect him
LLM Slop With "Linux" in the Domain Names
This is becoming a pain and a problem also in the arts and in software engineering
The EFF Has a Bug, Fixing This Bug is Likely Not Possible Anymore
"the EFF's continued existence impairs the arrival of a replacement organization, one which will actually champion digital rights."
Sophie Brun, Raphel Hertzog & Debian sexual conflicts of interest
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 17/03/2026: Microsoft Windows Broken by Samsung, Afghanistan-Pakistan War Escalation
Links for the day
Gemini Links 17/03/2026: Newcomers and False-Positive 'Slop'
Links for the day
Héctor Orón Martínez & Debian shadow candidate pressure on Sruthi Chandran
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 17/03/2026: American Fentanylware (TikTok) Investors Implicated in Kickbacks, "Big Oil Knew It Was Wrecking Louisiana’s Coast"
Links for the day
For Third Time in a Week The Register MS Runs Google SPAM That Paints Google as an Ally of Women (Which is False, They're Womanisers)
What does that make The Register MS to women?
GAFAM Deprecating Old Videos ("Content") by Removing the Support for Their Format for No Good Reason
"Security" is not a valid excuse
Credit/Debit Cards Have Long Been Called Plastics, Over Time They're Becoming More Like Pure Plastics
They cost less than a dollar to manufacture
The European Patent Office (EPO) Holds a Public Demonstration Tomorrow and It'll be Live-streamed
The EPO's workforce was meant to be capable of speaking many languages and have extensive experience in the sciences
People Who Attacked Techrights Also Attacked My Mother
Picking on old ladies because you don't like Free software advocates is never OK
Little Community Element Left in CentOS
CentOS, unlike Fedora, was meant to be long supported and solid
Social Control Media is Cancel Culture (Companies Like Facebook Also Punish/Ban Accounts for Mentioning "Linux" and Lobby for Anti-Linux Legislation)
The masters of Social Control Media decide what ideas can and cannot be expressed
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 16, 2026
IRC logs for Monday, March 16, 2026
Someone at Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) is Censoring the Birthday Greetings to Richard Stallman
Some people remember
The European Patent Office (EPO) Illegally Transitioning Into 'Gig' 'Economy' Equivalent (a Shop for Patent Monopolies in Europe)
for scabs aka SEALs
At Least Six EPO Strikes Next Month (Yes, Six!)
The pressure intensifies over time
Several MPs Blast Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) for Inaction and Ineffective Action This Week
"Four MPs have written to the SRA"
Microsofters' SLAPP Censorship - Part 14 Out of 200: The Abusive Cases of the Serial Strangler From Microsoft and His Litigation Buddy Garrett Did Cause "Serious Harm"
claims were de facto abandoned at the trial
Today's Discussions About How IBM Pushes Workers Out
The corporate media keeps trying - baselessly and in vain - to paint everything that happens with the "hey hi" brush
Linux Teck (linuxteck.com) and Ubuntu PIT (ubuntupit.com) Are Botspam
now they just keep experimenting by trashing their sites and reputation
Links 16/03/2026: Moscow Experiencing Cellphone Internet Outages, "Salman Rushdie Is Tired of Talking About Free Speech"
Links for the day
Links 16/03/2026: Arctic Security and 'Mr. Nobody Against Putin'
Links for the day
Gemini Links 16/03/2026: KN95 Skins and CSS Surprises
Links for the day
Debian is Dying for Some of the Same Reasons IBM's Fedora is Rapidly Dying
Prioritising CoC censorship, not communities
The Register MS is Again Femmewashing GAFAM (Which Makes Widows) in Exchange for Money
This is a moral issue because they betray or harm women and prop up authoritarian regimes
Gemini Links 16/03/2026: AB 1043, Lagrange Android Beta 47, and Poetry
Links for the day
"Slop-forking" or "Vibe-forking" as the New 'Noble' Plagiarism
New Cloudflare Slop Project?
EPO "Cocaine Communication Manager" - Part VII - Cult Mentality, Mobbing, Nepotism
Does the EPO actually believe in the law?
2026 Microsoft Layoff Rumours
Surely if we had properly-functioning media, then someone would investigate this rather than rely on official statements from Microsoft and WARN notices
EPO Strike This Week
contact your national representatives about it
Gemini Links 15/03/2026: "Create Opportunities for Good Things to Happen", DOSbook, and Bitcoin Criticism
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, March 15, 2026
IRC logs for Sunday, March 15, 2026
Pirate Praveen Arimbrathodiyil & Debian denouncing volunteers, hiding romances
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock