Bonum Certa Men Certa

Watchtroll and Patent Docs Do Anything They Can to Undermine PTAB, Even Adopting and Defending a Patent “Scam”

Allergan has a dodgy past (and past practices) going quite some time back

Pfizer Buying Allergan So It Can Pretend To Be Irish In Tax Scam Reference (2015): Pfizer Buying Allergan So It Can Pretend To Be Irish In Tax Scam



Summary: The patent "scam" of Allergan, which is attempting to hide its patents within an American tribe's belly so as to misuse its tribal/sovereign immunity, is still being promoted enthusiastically by anti-PTAB sites, which also resort to attacking politicians who formally prevent such attempted misuse of immunity

THE USPTO's reassessment of granted patents, owing to PTAB, is improving patent quality and significantly reducing the number of patent lawsuits.



Earlier today Watchtroll (never mind if it's Sunday) resumed its PTAB bashing. Robert Schaffer, Joseph Robinson and Gene Quinn gave more tips to that effect and so did Patent Docs, another PTAB-hostile site which earlier today advertised a conference "Exploring Oil States vs. Greene's Energy Group and the constitutionality of IPR proceedings" (Oil States decision will come soon).

It certainly looks like Watchtroll is trying to manufacture controversy around PTAB. With Michael Shore as a guest writer there, it's pretty clear what agenda the site has in mind. The same goes for Patent Docs, whose most prolific writer, Kevin E. Noonan, mostly writes pieces against PTAB while piggbacking the patent "scam" of an American tribe. Some days ago Watchtroll bashed expanded PTAB panels (we responded to this at the time) and those same panels are obviously disliked by people who dislike PTAB in general (no matter what substance the arguments may have) because they are patent maximalisms who do not tolerate patent quality. Noonan had a go at it (expanded PTAB panels) some days ago while Watchtroll tries to cook up another fake scandal.

At around the same time Noonan also did some 'lip service' to Michael Shore and his client, who are basically gaming the system in order to exploit tribal immunity (to overcome PTAB). To quote:

The Federal Circuit has granted the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe's motion for stay in inter partes review proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, in St. Regis Mohawk Tribe v. Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. In the Order, the Court notes that the


Not too shockingly, Watchtroll, where Michael Shore is a guest writer, wrote about this too (and almost at the same time). To quote:

The dispute between the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe and Mylan Pharmaceuticals arose when Allergan transferred the RESTASIS patents to the Tribe so a claim of sovereign immunity could be raised, which would divest the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) of jurisdiction. The Tribe filed a motion to dismiss the various inter partes review (IPR) proceedings instituted against the RESTASIS patents by the PTAB at the request of Mylan. In a controversial and questionable decision the PTAB panel assigned to the case refused to recognize the Mohawk claim of sovereign immunity. It has since been learned through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests that the three Administrative Patent Judges (APJs) assigned to the case engaged in off-the-record deliberations with supervising APJs, which on its face seems to clearly violate the Administrative Procedures Act (APA).


Well, Federal judges, politicians, PTAB itself and many others around the Web have already condemned what the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe and Allergan lawyers are hoping to accomplish. It has been called a "scam" many times, a judge called it a "sham", and several US politicians already work on formally banning the practice.

We're not sure if there's a loop of communication there, basically a sort of group that attempts to bolster the patent "scam" in the media. What we know for sure is that Watchtroll remains supportive of a patent "scam" which it perceives to be helpful to its anti-PTAB (anti-patent quality) agenda. Watchtroll already attacks some of the main politicians who tackle the issue, notably Senator Claire McCaskill, whom we wrote about several times before. To quote:

On March 7, 2018, Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO), along with Senators Pat Toomey (R-PA), Joni Ernst (R-IA), David Perdue (R-GA), introduced the Preserving Access to Cost Effective Drugs Act. The bill, which is also known as the PACED Act, is allegedly for the purpose of restoring “the power of the Patent and Trade Office and federal courts, and the International Trade Commission to review patents regardless of sovereign immunity claims made as part of sham transactions.”

While the definition of “sham transactions” might be in the eye of the beholder, this bill is clearly, and objectively, aimed at stopping the type of transaction Allergan entered into with the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe on the RESTASIS patents.


A couple of days later came another rant from Watchtroll, shaming technology firms as usual. "Myopia and hubris explain why tech elite lobby for a weakened patent system," said the headline. They dare calling "weak" strong patents, or a system that encourages strong/legitimate patents.

Then came Watchtroll with more bashing of politicians, having already bashed judges many times over the years. "The House IP Subcommittee: A Bunch of Fiddling Neros Watching the U.S. Patent System Burn" was the headline and it repeats debunked accusations of "panel stacking", which is just Watchtroll's attempt to manufacture scandals that do not (or barely) exist. To quote:

Informed observers of the patent system who watched the hearing would recognize that there was absolutely no attention paid by the House Judiciary leadership of the actual harms brought to bear by the PTAB on the U.S. patent system. The obvious anti-patent views of witnesses testifying before Congress was just further proof that panel stacking is not just an issue at the PTAB.


All in all, Watchtroll and Patent Docs remain determined to attack PTAB by any means possible, even by boosting a patent "scam", attacking politicians, smearing judges, and so on. Such is the nature of patent extremists.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Exposing Corruption and Crimes Against Women Isn't a Crime, It's an Imperative
When evil and greedy people are so desperate to silence you it typically gives you more motivation - not less - to do more of the same
New EPO Leaks: Replacing Patent Examiners and Classifiers With Deficient Bots (Without Even Asking for Permission)
Any consultation about it? Any media coverage? No.
Gemini Links 12/04/2025: Sigrblot and Conway Calamity
Links for the day
Gemini Links 11/04/2025: Microcosmographia Academica and Ada Language
Links for the day
 
Links 12/04/2025: "Part of the Problem" and "Facebook Is Just Craigslist Now"
Links for the day
The Consensus is Changing and Web Sites View LLMs as Evil, a Malicious Force of Plagiarism and a Source of DDoS
It's not about "AI" but about plagiarism of sorts
Slopwatch: Lots of Fake Articles About "Linux" Infect the Web, Google News Still Promotes These as 'News'
people who go to a site like google.com or Google News or even social control media (where users get links from Google) will be directed to read slop, i.e. pure garbage.
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, April 11, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, April 11, 2025
Links 11/04/2025: LLMs as Worthless Gimmicks, People in Trouble for Saying Too Much in (or Before) 'Cheeto Era'
Links for the day
Links 11/04/2025: "Getting Screamed At" and LLM Crawlers as Vandals Online
Links for the day
At the Root of the SLAPPs There Are Matters of GitHub Corruption and Microsoft Competition Crimes
Keep both eyes on the ball; this is about monopoly abuse and attempts to muzzle critics
Open Source Initiative (OSI) Privacy Fiasco in Detail: More on the Complaint, Which Also Points the Finger at Stefano Mafulli and Deb Nicholson
Focus on what they are attempting to distract from
"Linux" Foundation, Besieged by Microsoft, Isn't About Science But Against Science and Against Facts
(and for Microsoft Dogma, Microsoft Domination, Microsoft Money)
IBM Pays IDG's IDC to Market Proprietary Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Under the Guise of "Research"
Proprietary RHEL promoted by FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt or just plain fear-mongering)
Links 11/04/2025: Microsoft Mass Layoffs Again, Zelensky Doubles Down on Claim That Many Chinese Are Fighting for Russia
Links for the day
Slopwatch: A Sea of LLM Slop About SparkyLinux, Kubernetes, Ubuntu, and Linux Kernel
Welcome to the future? The future of the Web?
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, April 10, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, April 10, 2025
Gemini Links 10/04/2025: "Secret of Happiness" and Overthinking POSSE
Links for the day
Links 10/04/2025: NNCPNET Email Network, RSS Readers, and IRS as 'Immigration Enforcer'
Links for the day
IBM Layoffs in Markham (Canada) Apparently Still Happening
"Still going on... Got laid off today. TEL Canada, Band 9, 19 years with IBM."
Links 10/04/2025: Fentanylware (TikTok) Perils and Internet Shutdown
Links for the day
Microsoft's "Linux" Foundation Pays Writers to Publish Propaganda and Then LLM Slop Sites (Slopfarms) Repeat the Propaganda, Using Microsoft LLMs
consider the latest LLM slop
Once You Slop You Can't Stop and If You're a Serial Slopper Nobody Will Believe You Really Wrote an Article (Even If You Did)
It's a lot like, "if you're a serial liar people won't believe you even when you say some truth" (or "once a cheater, always a cheater")
Pressing Against SLAPPs (From Americans Who Strangle Women While Microsoft Pays Their Salaries) is a High Priority for Us
We also need to ensure that greedy firms/people that facilitate the SLAPPs get "disbarred" or "struck off"
Mozilla Firefox Already Down to 1% in Brazil
Don't people crave the surveillance and the slop?
Links 10/04/2025: Hardware, Politics, and Internet
Links for the day
Gemini Links 10/04/2025: Creativity and Agitation, Life in the USA, CSS Naked Day 2025
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, April 09, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, April 09, 2025
Alleged Layoffs at IBM Consulting in Australia
IBM loses many government contracts these days
The Rumours Were Likely True: Sixth Wave of Microsoft Mass Layoffs in 2025 (Days After "50" Anniversary and About 5,000 Layoffs)
5 hours ago, by Ashley Stewart