Bonum Certa Men Certa

The Anti-PTAB Brigade is Willing to Embrace Radical Elements Just to Get Its Way

The lobby against the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) continues to compare judges to murderers and invokes Trump motto/slogans for resurgence of trolls

Make Patents Great Again



Summary: The toxic language, the bogus narratives and the venom against PTAB is getting increasingly unbearable and untenable, especially because it seems like the USPTO's leadership, the Supreme Court and just about every corner of the Establishment stands behind PTAB and guards it

THE triumph of PTAB, necessarily improving patent quality at the USPTO, is undeniable. The anti-PTAB brigade, which resorted to even sending me threatening letters, isn't getting its way. It tried all sorts of things to sabotage PTAB (threatening words, smears, legal action, price hikes, misuse of tribal immunity, lobbying and so on). But PTAB continues to break new records. Demand for PTAB is growing.

"How would IAM like it if we called it "mass murderer"? Or "Nazis"?"IAM 'magazine', part of the anti-PTAB brigade (for obvious reasons), carries on with the usual. Adam Houldsworth published this blog post yesterday -- a post with a loaded headline that says "PTAB not such a death squad" ("not such"?). So the patent trolls' lobby perpetuates the insulting narrative that compares patent judges to a firing line/squad because they cull out wrongly-granted patents. How much longer need we explain why this analogy is offensive? How would IAM like it if we called it "mass murderer"? Or "Nazis"?

Here's what Houldsworth wrote:

A new US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) study has provided an improved insight into the outcomes of administrative validity challenges made against Orange Book-listed pharmaceutical patents at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). Among the report’s key findings is that, while petitions against FDA-approved drug patent rights have enjoyed similarly high institution rates to petitions against other kinds of patents, Orange Book rights have a far greater survival rate than others when challenges reach a final written decision.


Notice that they also use words like "survival"; the anti-PTAB brigade almost invariantly uses words like "kill" and "survive" to describe PTAB's actions. So when a patent aggressor or troll has a patent challenged it is "under attack" or merely "survives" the "kill"; the victim or the defendant is thereon portrayed as an "attacker" looking to "kill" patents. Narrative reversals like these are very common in war terminology/lexicons.

Incidentally, days ago IAM also published an article titled "Can Andrei Iancu make patents great again?" and by "great again" they mean ending PTAB or helping patent aggressors. What's so great about that? The patent extremist Richard Lloyd (the most overzealous of the IAM bunch) fails to understand that IAM, by saying/reciting the "great again" motto, basically associates itself with fascists.

"Narrative reversals like these are very common in war terminology/lexicons."Iancu would be wise not to associate with IAM in any way, but this summer he'll give a talk in an event set up by IAM.

Speaking of false narratives (regarding PTAB), watch what IP Watch published yesterday. Here's what's outside the paywall (many of these Web sites, including IAM, broaden their paywalls these days):

The United States Supreme Court is likely to affirm the constitutionality of US Patent and Trademark Office inter partes reviews when it rules in the closely watched matter of Oil States Energy Services, LLC v. Greene’s Energy Group LLC, according to Michael Best & Friedrich intellectual property attorney Marshall Schmitt. The end result of the decision, however, is hard to predict, he said.


If you only ask the patent microcosm for its opinion on Oil States, it will call the expected slam-dunk for PTAB IPRs “Highly Uncertain”. That's nonsense however. Expect the Justices to support IPRs, maybe even unanimously.

"It's not like we're dealing with rational people here but with extremists drunk on power."Judging by what an anti-PTAB site wrote yesterday, it looks like Iancu will defend PTAB, which is good news and a relief (if true). To quote the relevant bits:

The PTAB Bar Association has a committee called “PTAB Appeals” that scheduled a meeting on April 5, 2018 to discuss various topics with sitting judges at the PTAB. This meeting was set up in part because of interest in Chief Judge Ruschke to meet with practitioners to discuss ex parte appeals. Ex parte appeals is the less-discussed and less-focused on aspect of what PTAB does. The two-hour meeting was at the USPTO in Alexandria, VA and covered a lot of ground including Section 101.

At this meeting, Chief Judge Ruschke was optimistic about newly appointed director Andrew Iancu. According to Ruschke, Iancu has stressed that the USPTO has to do a better job of applying Section 101 in a more consistent, straightforward manner. And Iancu sees the corpus of decisions coming out of the PTAB as an important clue to this.


Defending PTAB from patent extremists won't be easy. I'm already receiving threats for merely reporting on this. It reminds me of the numerous threats the EPO sent me for merely reporting its abuses. It's not like we're dealing with rational people here but with extremists drunk on power.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Microsoft Problems in Europe Even Before the Cheeto Tariffs
The case of Romania, Europe's notorious Microsoft fan
Oman in 2025: GNU/Linux Growing to 5%
what can Microsoft do about it except sabotage the PCs?
Microsoft Shares Collapse Again (Down $101), Fifth Round of Microsoft Mass Layoffs in Less Than 100 Days in 2025
disaster
 
Microsoft Windows in Jordan: From 99% Down to 10%
This is becoming more "normal"
Open Source Initiative (OSI) Privacy Fiasco in Detail: A "Deep Dive" Into the Complaint at the California Privacy Protection Agency
There are many facets to it and it may be the first complaint of several
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, April 07, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, April 07, 2025
Gemini Links 07/04/2025: Stock Market, Galène, and DMT Entities
Links for the day
During the Weekend We Said Fedora DEI Requires Proprietary Software, Now the Chat About It Is No Longer Accessible Over the Open Web
is this just a coincidence and an habitual change in Element?
Links 07/04/2025: US Measles Fatalities and China Launches HDMI and DisplayPort Alternative
Links for the day
Links 07/04/2025: More Cuts to Science Funding, Snail-speed Internet in Germany
Links for the day
Gemini Links 07/04/2025: Leasehold and Safe Gifts
Links for the day
In Some Countries, Laptops and Desktops Become a Dying Breed (Even Before Tariffs), Windows Has Nowhere to Go
expect more GNU/Linux on new and existing laptops
When the Credibility or 'Quality' of Clients Ceases to Matter, It's About Helping Rich Companies Like Microsoft Censor Critics (No Matter the Risks)
Bad ideas typically result in undesirable outcomes
UAE: GNU/Linux and Android at Record Levels, Windows at New Lows and Falling Below Apple
Even iOS is measured as bigger than Windows this month
Links 07/04/2025: Reddit Occupied (Social Control Media Controlled by Oligarchy), Demise of Globalisation Ongoing
Links for the day
Windows Has Fallen to All-Time Lows in Switzerland Since GNU Celebrated 40th Anniversary (GNU’s 40th Birthday in Biel, Switzerland)
GNU/Linux has been doing well in Switzerland
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, April 06, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, April 06, 2025
Links 07/04/2025: Leaving Gemini/smolweb and Mastodon Migrations
Links for the day
In Iraq, Windows 3.1 (Percent)
There's also zero
One Person's Take on Jef Spaleta, the New Fedora Project Leader
"With a little searching, I wonder what else may be found regarding Microsoft."
Links 06/04/2025: Flood, Cool Gemini Capsule, and Long Form
Links for the day
Links 06/04/2025: Science, Politics, and Pricier Goods
Links for the day
LLM Slop Has Virtually Killed unixmen.com and Many Other Sites
There's no longer any incentive to write real articles in there
Sharp Declines for Microsoft Windows in Bangladesh (Pop. ~175,000,000), Big Gains for GNU/Linux
Microsoft Windows has been having a really hard time in poor countries
Links 06/04/2025: Fake Reviews, Privatisation Heists, and "AI" as Smokescreen for Impoverishing Humans
Links for the day
Taking a Moral Stand Against Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) and the Worst Offenders/Facilitators
Any other stance would sidle with moral depravity or moral hazard
Links 06/04/2025: Many New Acts of Repression and Elements of Financial Depression
Links for the day
In Qatar GNU/Linux Rose From Under 1% to Over 4% in Two Years (or Over 5% If Counting ChromeOS)
It's a big improvement compared to what we saw last year
LLM Scrapers Are a Nuisance, But They're Also a Reminder It's Time to Make Your Site Static
Perhaps the best protection is the ability to endure surges
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, April 05, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, April 05, 2025
Links 06/04/2025: Attacks on Education, Fake Patents, and Fake (Illegal) Patent Courts
Links for the day
France: Apple and Microsoft Down, GNU/Linux Up to New Record Levels
How will tariffs against France impact things in the coming months?