07.31.17
The War on CAFC, on Alice and on Patent Reform is Getting Ugly
Summary: Gene Quinn’s attack site, Watchtroll, continues its long tradition of attacking people who actually create things, in order for patent parasites like himself (and patent trolls/bullies) to gain at the expense of those who create things
THE USPTO has begrudgingly evolved after Alice, but as we showed on numerous occasions earlier this month, the patent microcosm is lobbying the USPTO and even hiring (i.e. bribing) former USPTO officials to help the lobbying. It’s truly nefarious and politicians need to be made aware of it.
“IBM, we must add, should be utterly shamed of itself for associating with this site — a supposedly ‘informed’ site that has called techies “idiots”, even in the headlines.”Watchtroll is one of the worst culprits in all this; it is making the patent microcosm look like a bunch of bullies. “Bullies of any kind don’t want their victims to speak out,” one person explained to us last night — a fact that we know having covered these matters for over a decade. It has gotten so bad that Microsoft extortion or blackmail with patents seeks to gag/silence/bribe the victim. As part of the settlement, for example, the victim is obliged to put on a happy face and issue a press release to that effect. We have seen that since the 2006 Microsoft/Novell deal. We saw that in 2016 with Xiaomi (patent settlement over Android and maybe Chrome OS too).
Focusing on Watchtroll for a moment, never forget its many attacks on Michelle Lee — attacks which were largely based on ‘conspiracy theories’ they had come up with and all sorts of ‘fake news’ intended to make her look bad. She eventually resigned. The USPTO is without a leader now.
“What has the patent microcosm succumbed to?”IBM, we must add, should be utterly shamed of itself for associating with this site — a supposedly ‘informed’ site that has called techies “idiots”, even in the headlines. Malicious firms like IBM (GNU/Linux-hostile now) would resort to supporting Watchtroll because all they have left now is patents (and lawsuits).
Yesterday, Watchtroll outdid itself (having already attacked judges); it now goes on the attack against PRACTICING firms and techies who dare warn about software patents, trolls etc.
It’s almost purely ad hominem, e.g.:
Tom Lee, a software engineer at geodata firm Mapbox, took time during his testimony to voice his concerns on “bad patents” and “patent trolls,” adding that it was “particularly galling to see efforts to weaken the inter partes review (IPR) system.”
Why does Mapbox’s viewpoint on patent litigation echo in the halls of Congress given the fact that it doesn’t appear that it has faced abusive patent litigation? In fact, it almost looks like there is no merit to Lee’s statement that “Mapbox has had multiple experiences with patent trolls: non-practicing entities who file meritless lawsuits that are cheaper to settle than to defend.” Mapbox certainly hasn’t had multiple experiences with lawsuits; going back to January 1st, 2000, Mapbox has been sued just once in a patent case according to data collected from Lex Machina’s legal data analytics service.
The comments are even ruder. They are linking to previous attacks from Watchtroll, e.g. attacks on Mark Cuban (calling him an “idiot” right there in the headline).
What has the patent microcosm succumbed to?
They only alienate themselves and make themselves new enemies (except IBM, which seems perfectly alright with such behaviour). █
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