Bonum Certa Men Certa

The US Supreme Court Consults USPTO Director Michelle Lee Regarding the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) Which is Invalidating Software Patents With CAFC's Approval

The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) continues to concur with PTAB about 80% of the time and sometimes goes even further by invaliding patents that PTAB deemed acceptable

Punch



Summary: Software patents continue to get knocked out by the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) whose introduction of PTAB gave a helping hand to companies that are susceptible to abusive litigation (with bogus patents)

THE "AIA" reform, passed by Obama half a decade ago, has been good. It gave us the the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). PTAB invalidates a lot of software patents (thousands of them), sending out the message or signaling the demise of such patents in general, owing to Alice from the US Supreme Court.



"PTAB invalidates a lot of software patents (thousands of them), sending out the message or signaling the demise of such patents in general, owing to Alice from the US Supreme Court."As one can imagine and even expect, the patent microcosm is up in arms over this. It is trying hard to decapitate the USPTO and to shame the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) into slowing PTAB down (shame on Patently-O).

The other day, writing about AIA in this post, Patently-O took note of the US "PTO’s low-quality examination of software and business methods in the late 1990s and early 2000s."

"The problem was, all along, the granting of any patents on software and business methods, irrespective of so-called 'quality' (whatever that means, it's a distraction often used by proponents of software patents who look for excuses)."No, the problem isn't low-quality "examination of software and business methods." The problem was, all along, the granting of any patents on software and business methods, irrespective of so-called 'quality' (whatever that means, it's a distraction often used by proponents of software patents who look for excuses).

Based on another post from Patently-O, Michelle Lee is still in charge of the USPTO (don't believe villainous rumours and insults), which means that AIA/PTAB/reform is defended. Here is the relevant part:

After receiving party briefs in this case, the Supreme Court requested a responsive brief from the Michelle Lee in her role as PTO Director on the constitutionality of the AIA trial system. That brief has now been by the new acting Solicitor General Jeff Wall who handled a number of patent cases in private practice.


We certainly hope that the highest US court recognises that practicing companies love AIA (and Lee), whereas it's the parasites who attack everything. We've looked around for news about PTAB just before the weekend and all we found was stuff about IPRs, CAFC, and Alice:



There happens to be a new CAFC case (nonprecedential) which Patently-O covered by stating: "In its final written decision, the PTAB sided with the patentee – holding that IPR-challenged claims were not obvious. U.S. Patent No. 6,945,013 claims 18-20 (aseptic bottling at > 100 bottles per minute). On appeal, Nestle has successfully argued that Board incorrectly construed the claim term “aseptic.”"

"We certainly hope that the highest US court recognises that practicing companies love AIA (and Lee), whereas it's the parasites who attack everything."Patently-O tends to cherry-pick cases that help the patent maximalists, but that's nothing new. By contrast, Patently-O covered this case where CAFC was going further than even PTAB, invalidating patents on software in spite of PTAB tolerating these.

Here is the Cisco petition:

After the PTO initiated an inter partes reexamination, the patentee (Cirrex) dropped the original claims (1-34) and added new claims (35-124) of its ‘082 patent.[1] In its final decision, the PTAB affirmed the examiner’s decision that most of the added claims were invalid as lacking written description support. The Board did, however, find five of the claims patentable. On appeal, the Federal Circuit partially reversed – finding all of the claims invalid as lacking written description support.


PTAB, based on another such example, helps fend off patent trolls that go after a patent trolls feeder, Ericsson. "In a non-precedential decision," Patently-O showed, "the Federal Circuit has rejected IV’s procedural due process claim against the PTAB – holding that the PTAB is free to construe claims in ways that differ from any party proposal and without first providing notice of its off-book construction."

"If Lee was replaced by someone like Battistelli, they would be doomed for 'daring' to reduce the number of patents (or so-called 'production')."Notice the role of Microsoft's patent troll here (IV).

Software patents are generally dropping like flies as at PTAB, for instance, the "first quarter of this year saw the most inter partes reviews (IPRs) filed on record," IAM admits, citing data from Lex Machina again. Here is the relevant part:

But which law firms lead the way in terms of their performance at the PTAB? Some data providers, such as Lex Machina, provide fairly comprehensive breakdowns of how many reviews a firm has filed and how they have fared for their clients, by tracking things like the numbers of cases they have had instituted, the number that have been denied and the number that have settled.


We certainly hope that PTAB (similar to the appeal boards at the EPO) will see a growing number of petitions. If Lee was replaced by someone like Battistelli, they would be doomed for 'daring' to reduce the number of patents (or so-called 'production').

Recent Techrights' Posts

Michael “Monty” Widenius: It Started in 1983 With Richard Stallman (RMS)
The other co-founder of MySQL is a bit notorious for confronting RMS rather viciously
For the Second Time in a Few Weeks Microsoft Lunduke Makes False Accusations Against Senior Red Hat Staff to Incite a Despicable 'Troll Army'
Nothing that Microsoft Lunduke claims of says can be trusted
su lisa && rm -rf /home/ibm/power
Novell was ruined by another person from IBM, Ronald Hovsepian
A Record Demand at Microsoft: Demand to Cancel
What we're witnessing is a very ungraceful destruction of XBox
Richard Stallman is Going to Finland to Give a Talk Next Thursday
A day later he speaks in Sweden
 
Links 02/10/2025: 'Open' 'AI' Resorting to Gimmicks and Fake Funding, Europe’s ‘Drone Wall’ Discussed
Links for the day
Links 02/10/2025: Brave Passes 100M Users Milestone, Kodak Selling Its Own Film Again
Links for the day
Microsoft is Losing Europe
Hence all the "support" and "discount" offers that are limited to Europe
The Free Software Foundation Starts Fund-raising for 40th Anniversary
New pop-up 2-3 days ahead of the 40th anniversary event
Systemd Breaks Networking in Debian and Microsoft Staff Rushes to Make Face-Saving Excuses in LWN
Microsoft's bluca is already there in the comments, his Microsoft money pays for LWN to let him leave comments early
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, October 01, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, October 01, 2025
What the End of XBox Will Look Like: a Fiery Crash
XBox is the next Skype. It won't last much longer. Expect many more layoffs.
Gemini Links 02/10/2025: SMTP Pipelining and End of ROOPHLOCH 2025
Links for the day
Slopwatch: Plagiarism, Fake Articles, and FUD About Linux
not a day goes by without Google News feeding FUD from slopfarms
Gemini Links 01/10/2025: Chat Control and End of Life
Links for the day
Links 01/10/2025: Long Covid Risk Reiterated, "Bitcoin Queen" Caught
Links for the day
Links 01/10/2025: EA $55 Billion Deal is Debt and Slop "Raises Vishing Risks"
Links for the day
Bluewashing at Red Hat Means Redundancies
The man who sold Red Hat to IBM meanwhile became a Microsoft Mono booster
After Killing OpenSource.com, IBM ('Red Hat') and OSI Told Us OpenSource.net Would Replace It (But That Didn't Happen)
Now it's time to move on, perhaps tarnishing the "Open Source" label some more (for whatever sponsor wants this)
Linux is Not a Community Project, It's a Wall Street Product
The core goal should be freedom
Bad Actors Abusing the Free Software Community, Vandalising It Using Rogue Politics and Old Tactics
Oil giants have long attempted to do this; now, the digital equivalent of Big Oil does this in technology
Social Control Media Isn't the Future, The Federation or Fediverse Isn't Growing, People's Accounts Vanish for Good
users' accounts will get deleted, not just become inactive
IBM is Failing, This Helps Show Wall Street is Entirely Detached From Actual Commercial Performance
IBM is unable to grow, it's just constantly shrinking
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, September 30, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, September 30, 2025
Clerical Aspects of Publishing and Development
In Free software, the management aspects are considerably reduced
Slopwatch: Fake Articles and Google News Promoting "Linux" Spam or Bot-Generated Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt (FUD)
These slopfarms help misplace blame
Third Wave of Microsoft Layoffs in September, This Time Many in Liverpool Affected
Be ready for more waves of layoffs ahead of the so-called "results" in late October
Gemini Links 30/09/2025: Motorcycling in Central Oregon, Protocol Styles and the Flag of Sark
Links for the day
Links 30/09/2025: Death Sentences, Internet Censorship, and Internet Shutdowns
Links for the day
Gemini Links 30/09/2025: Social Control Media and ROOPHLOCH
Links for the day
Richard Stallman About to Give More Talks in Europe, Some Confirmed Already
In Göteborg
Links 30/09/2025: CERN in "Have I Been Pwned" and More Windows TCO Blunders
Links for the day
Microsoft Canonical is Selling Mass Surveillance and Back Doors as "Security for Ubuntu"
If you are looking for a GNU/Linux distro to use, just remember that Microsoft has Ubuntu in the bag
Justice for Wildlife
animals cannot speak to humans who hate animals
Cowboys Gonna Be Cowboys (on the Internet, They're Not a New Problem)
Boys will be boys
Cowboys of the "Left" and Cowboys of the "Right"
Don't believe the lie that this is some "leftist" thing
When Codes of Conduct Serve to Protect Criminals From Much-Deserved Scrutiny
CoCs are typically unfit for purpose because enforcement lacks context and suitable understanding of the full background (the "full story")
It Took the Open Source Initiative (OSI) 4+ Years to Address the 'Data Breach' or Data Protection Violation Reported to the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) in March 2025
We may never know the dialogue or its nature
Even Microsoft's Biggest Boosters (and Media Operatives) Are Turning Against Microsoft
Expect many more layoffs before the fake "results" next month
GNU Was Right 42+ Years Ago
Since then the abusive, user-hostile technology has spread like mushrooms
Old Isn't Always Inadequate
How many gadgets manufactured today (in 2025) will still work in 2075?
The Monkey Business of Rust People
Compatibility won't matter
Almost Half of the FSFE's Money (the Fake 'FSF', Misusing the Brand) Comes From Vodafone
That money always comes with strings, even if they're invisible to most of us
Microsoft Lunduke Spreads Deliberate Lies to Incite Online Mobs
Has he lost his reading comprehension skills?
Our 19th Birthday (in Just Over 5 Weeks From Now)
We meanwhile have ongoing, solid plans to cover patent-related issues when the FSF turns 40
British GNU/Linux Distro FydeOS Tops DistroWatch
That seems like a decent site and decent effort to keep an eye on
We'll Soon Have 75,000 GemText Pages
avoid many perils of today's Web
Google Used Free Software to Build a Monopoly. Now Google Kicks Free Software to the Curb
The "G" in "Google" does not stand for GNU. It never did. It's just another greedy company.
Gemini Links 30/09/2025: Retro Hardware, Federated Fragmentation, and Nex Server Written in C
Links for the day
4 More Days Till "4 decades, 4 freedoms, 4 all users"
We are now just 4 days away from the rare anniversary
Two Months After Merging to Hide GitHub Losses Microsoft is Doing It Again (This Time Windows)
Merging those two together is not a sign of strength but a tightening of budget
Speculations About the Next Large Wave of IBM/Red Hat Layoffs
the mass layoffs are likely to happen on week 3 or 4 in October
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, September 29, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, September 29, 2025