Bonum Certa Men Certa

The Evil, Truly 'Evil' Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) and the Courts Have the Audacity to Verify/Disprove Patent Validity

J Nicholas GrossSummary: The concept of patent justice seems rather elusive to those who make a living out of pretending not to grasp it (like Mr. Gross on the right); US patent caselaw, however, continues to improve over time

TECHRIGHTS spent well over a decade complaining about USPTO patents that had been wrongly granted, leading to invalidation attempts. Prior to PTAB this was a lot harder. This meant that patent justice was hard to find unless one had deep pockets (court battles are extremely expensive, especially with appeals taken into account).

"They just don't care about patent justice, only patent maximalism (maximising litigation and extortion opportunities)."Patent trolls typically rely on software patents. They also depend on dodging actual court battles where validity of patent can be questioned/challenged (before PTAB only courts could do this). This is why trolls' proponents like Watchtroll, IAM and so on protest against PTAB so much. They just don't care about patent justice, only patent maximalism (maximising litigation and extortion opportunities).

The Droplets case was recalled by Watchtroll on Friday. James Yang wrote:

Droplets, Inc. v. ETrade Bank

In Droplets, Inc. v. ETrade Bank (Fed. Cir. 2018), ETrade filed a petition for inter partes review against U.S. Patent 8,402,115 (‘115 Patent) which was owned by Droplets, Inc. ETrade was attempting to invalidate the 115 patent because Droplets (patent owner) alleged that ETrade was liable for patent infringement.

The ‘115 Patent was the last patent in a family lineage of four patent applications. See diagram below. The Franco PCT is based on the 917 provisional.

[...]

When reviewing a patent for a noninfringement opinion, do not assume that the prosecution was done properly. As discussed in this case, even though the 115 did not claim priority back to the Franco PCT, the examiner did not use the Franco PCT which would be the best prior art reference against the 115 because presumably at least certain portions were identical to each other.


We already wrote about such noninfringement opinions. Expect sites like Watchtroll, IAM and so on to resort to judge-bashing, lobbying of Iancu etc. We'll give some examples later today. Another CAFC case has already just been covered by Watchtroll, taking note of a patent which became unenforceable:

The invention disclosed in the ’993 patent, at issue in this appeal, involves heating water on demand during the fracking process instead of using preheated water. Mr. Hefley, the sole named inventor and founder of Heat On-The-Fly, LLC (“HOTF”), filed the earliest provisional application on September 18, 2009. Prior to the critical date of September 18, 2008, Mr. Hefley and his companies performed on-the-fly heating of water on at least 61 fracking jobs using the system described in the ’993 patent application and collected over $1.8 million for those services. Although Mr. Hefley discussed the requirements of the on-sale bar against patent eligibility with his business partner, he did not disclose any of the 61 fracking jobs to the Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”). The patent issued on May 8, 2012.

Energy Heating LLC (“Energy”), one of HOTF’s competitors, began using its accused process of heating water in 2012. After HOTF raised the possibility of a patent infringement lawsuit and Energy lost a business contract, Energy sought a declaratory judgment that the ’993 patent was unenforceable for inequitable conduct, invalid as obvious, and not infringed.

The district court granted declaratory judgment, finding the patent unenforceable for inequitable conduct, and denied Energy’s motion for attorneys’ fees under 35 U.S.C. €§ 285. The Federal Circuit affirmed the court’s finding of inequitable conduct but vacated the denial of attorneys’ fees and remanded on that issue alone.


Proponents of patent maximalism, typically a bunch of law firms, aren't happy about this status quo. Mr. Gross, an attorney who writes for patent trolls, recently unleashed a bunch of rants against PTAB, such as this (regarding Section 101):

Bad 101 decisions continue to multiply like viruses at PTAB bc, as they say: "the decisional mechanism courts now apply is to examine earlier cases... and which way they were decided" https://e-foia.uspto.gov/Foia/RetrievePdf?system=BPAI&flNm=fd2016005922-04-26-2018-1 … Since 90% decisions are adverse, system is rapidly being poisoned


No, the system is actually being repaired for those who want to mind their own business, creating things rather than suing. Is that so difficult to understand? Here he goes again (regarding Section 101, as usual):

See, this is the additional collateral crap PTAB is now pulling when CAFC affirms using Rule 36... citing Morsa as approving rejection of claims on targeted advertising, bc CAFC too lazy to do review on merits and explain fine distinctions in 101: e-foia.uspto.gov/Foia/RetrieveP…


He says that "PTAB continues bastardizing [Section] 101 caselaw", but he actually means applying, not "bastardizing":

PTAB continues bastardizing 101 caselaw, including Diehr, to reject claims on "controlling a torque output of an electric machine of an electrified vehicle during a vehicle creep condition" e-foia.uspto.gov/Foia/RetrieveP… Mess continues unabated


And again Section 101:

Like hundreds of other small innovators, Invidi gets their patent application on targeted asset delivery system nixed by PTAB as "abstract idea" e-foia.uspto.gov/Foia/RetrieveP…


Mr. Gross also took note of Microsoft having its software patents thrown away (Section 101):

LinkedIn bought these patent applications years ago; this is one of 1st of many on "fact checking" technology to be reviewed and rejected by PTAB under 101: they have a long road ahead: https://e-foia.uspto.gov/Foia/RetrievePdf?system=BPAI&flNm=fd2017001329-04-30-2018-1 …


Then the obligatory IBM example (Section 101 invalidation):

IBM Can't Win at the PTAB; The PTAB Reversed the Examiner's 101 Rejection But Instituted a New 101 Rejection of the Same Claims: https://anticipat.com/pdf/2018-04-30_13396177_178276.pdf …


Notice the profound impact of Section 101. Without even going to court, various parties actively work to eliminate software patents of patent aggressors.

"It puts engineers/programmers back in control, at the expense of parasitic lawyers who got accustomed to exploiting/taxing them."What's not to like?

Well, when one does litigation for a living (and let's face it, that's what the above people do) this whole "PTAB thing" is a living nightmare. It puts engineers/programmers back in control, at the expense of parasitic lawyers who got accustomed to exploiting/taxing them.

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
Matthias Kirschner, FSFE analogous to identity fraud
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
 
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
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