Bonum Certa Men Certa

Unless Physical, Inventions Are No Longer Patent-Eligible in US Courts, But USPTO Ignores Precedence

Unless you can actually see the supposed invention, it's likely just code and thus invalid under Section 101/Alice

Coding



Summary: Even though the ability to enforce software patents against a rival (or many targets, especially in the case of patent trolls) is vastly diminished, the US patent office continues to grant these

THE US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) ruled against software patents in the summer of 2013. Things have changed profoundly since then. Each year it seems like the system -- mostly but not limited to the legal system -- is becoming more hostile towards software patents. They're just not worth the time and money anymore.



"We're talking about trolls and serial litigators here. They suffer badly and some have gone out of business (good riddance!)."Software patents are not officially dead. Moreover, there's a threat of them coming back, for circles that are hostile towards software development try to prop them up again. Every single week we write about several of their concurrent attempts, ranging from legislative/lobbying to subversion/entryism. For them, it's likely a fight for their very survival. We're talking about trolls and serial litigators here. They suffer badly and some have gone out of business (good riddance!).

The reality of the matter is, companies like Apple patent all sorts of malicious software that's being celebrated in their fan sites. They don't want the public to think of it as software, but since this particular domain is my professional domain it's clear to me that it's pure softwar which they patent and the USPTO tolerates this. Here is another new example, this time from Virtual StrongBox, which was mentioned here before (last month). They patent pure software. It's mathematics. They just phrase things in a way that's intended to dodge or work around Section 101. Here we see another case of nonsensical, meaningless buzzwords like "technical effect". A translation says "when software solves a technical problem you are definitely in the area where a patent is possible" (page in Spanish). The EPO is equally culpable here. How about this new example? The USPTO is once again granting software patents -- something in the realm business methods/mathematics (abstract).

To quote this article:

Pittsburgh entrepreneur Mike Wagner is best known for his high-growth company which specializes in optimizing carrier pricing in real-time. Now, Wagner’s Target Freight Management has introduced a new technology to an industry with the announcement of their patent for Freight Innovation Density Analytics - or FIDA.


That's mathematics. The USPTO facilitates a race to the bottom if it permits this kind of grant. Here is another new example, where software gets patented under the guise of the buzzword "deep learning". There's a gold rush for software patents under the guise o buzzwords like "AI", "machine learning" and so on (I know how these things technically work and implemented them in the past; it's purely mathematics/statistics).

In the next post we shall take a closer look at technology giants that amass software patents and misuse these against competitors (we say "misuse" because these patents are likely patent-ineligible, but it's expensive to prove so).

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