Bonum Certa Men Certa

Patenting Bar Raised by US Courts, But the Patent Microcosm (Now Infesting 'Bloomberg Law' and Other Media) Fights Back With Deception

Bloomberg Law hires people with a solid journalistic background to become reporters, but they're speaking to the wrong people (patent maximalists and the likes of IAM, not engineers who practice the underlying concepts)

Malathi Nayak on Coons



Summary: Misleading language and bad advice dispensed by the legal 'industry' demonstrates strong resistance to the principles of patent quality (limiting patent monopolies to what actually justifies such monopolies)

"Blockchain this, blockchain that..."



We live in an age of hype and marketing. Not to mention law firms that keep 'name-dropping' novelty-sounding things they have no technical grasp of.

"OIN seems to believe that the solution is to hoard yet more such patents, but in reality the goal should be to void them all."Many of today's patents disguise themselves as "blockchain", but actually they're software patents that should be seen as patent-ineligible. OIN seems to believe that the solution is to hoard yet more such patents, but in reality the goal should be to void them all. It might be enough to petition PTAB a few times to informally invalidate -- by extension -- many similar patents (in the same domain).

Malathi Nayak, writing for Bloomberg Law (Wall Street media's coverage of legal matters is very often tilted in favour of lawyers' interests), has just perpetuated this hype ("Blockchain Patent Race Is on, but Hurdles Await"). To quote:

A wide array of corporations, including Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Bank of America, are lining up to enter a potentially lucrative club: one that allows them to own patents on blockchain technology.

But getting past the patent office’s velvet rope won’t be easy.

Blockchain inventions — from digital currencies to super-fast, secure trading systems — often cover software and financial service-related technologies. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has a track record of leaving applicants out in the cold if they seek patents for presenting other types of software or financial services inventions that are too abstract or obvious.


All these US (granted by the USPTO) patents are likely bogus because they're software patents (it's a bubble with hype on its side). But Bloomberg Law then persisted; it went further and continued to spread this kind of "propaganda" (throughout this week). There's no such thing as "Blockchain Patent Attorney," but here they are with "It’s Not Easy Being a Blockchain Patent Attorney" (retitled since). It's pure hype intended to market software patents which are almost literally worthless. To quote:

Blockchain tech might be poised to revolutionize how companies like Bank of America operate and cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin trade. But inventors trying to patent their ideas in the field—and stake their claim on future profits—are facing hurdles at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO).

“Though there’s been a surge of these patent applications, winning or scoring these patents on these technologies won’t be easy,” Bloomberg Law reporter Malathi Nayak said in a recent podcast episode of Code & Conduit.

Bloomberg Law data shows a wave of new applications have hit the patent office in recent months, but only a fraction have won patents.


This is basically more from the same person, Nayak.

"One can count about half a dozen synonyms for software patents above (they also explicitly say "software patents")."We need to call out such misuse of hype and sometimes buzzwords (like "AI"). Examiners are being fooled by these. Watch this new buzzwords galore about an upcoming event: "Topics will include internet and mobile litigation, international IP, privacy and data security, Cloud/SaaS, patent litigation, blockchain and cryptocurrency, software patents, digital marketing, the Internet of Things, connected privacy, and the practice of IP law."

This is typical. One can count about half a dozen synonyms for software patents above (they also explicitly say "software patents"). Suzanne Monyak has just published this 'article' (more like an ad) which says "Hsiao came to the firm from Brown Rudnick’s Boston office, where he worked in intellectual property litigation related to high-tech medical and software inventions as a patent associate."

When they say "software inventions" they mean software patents, i.e. something which is being phased out.

"...patent quality is being improved, the bar is being raised by the courts (more so than by the granting authority, USPTO)."As we'll show and discuss this coming weekend, software patents are as weak as they can be in the US. It's getting worse for them over time. That's because patent quality is being improved, the bar is being raised by the courts (more so than by the granting authority, USPTO).

When the patent microcosm speaks of "strong patents" (or "STRONGER" at a legislative level) they mean the exact opposite. Andrew J. Maas and David Winwood say they want more low-quality (rubbish) patents -- that's what they mean by "stronger patents". Mind the image of the very top (from Nayak), including the brands/bodies named and the word "Stronger". These are patent extremists' circles, IAM included.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Social Control Media Relies on Advertisers, So It'll Always Be Hostile Towards Free Software
Sales, sales, sales
Fragmentation of Data
Life is too short to "hoard" data
Jamie Zawinski Complained About Wayland, Then Decided to Give It a Go, Now Complains Again About Wayland
Ask IBM (Red Hat) why it's worth throwing so much away just for Wayland fanaticism
Russia Set to Ban Facebook?
If WhatsApp is made to "leave", that means Facebook or "Meta".
Taking Stock of a Good and Productive Week
We shall now be taking a break, unpacking the new hard drive (8 TB), and making backups of everything
Ageism in Tech
Your protocol is "old"...
 
The Best Tools Are the Simplest Tools
There's a hidden message here about the merits of sticking with X
Ofcom Online Safety Group Speaks of Protecting Women Online, Will Brett Wilson LLP Ever Listen?
They've essentially became like the Taliban's "burka police"
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, July 20, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, July 20, 2025
In Defence of "Spinning Rust"
Just because something is "old" (or older) doesn't mean it ought to become extinct
Using Free Software to Prepare Legal Documents
LibreOffice is openly complaining about OOXML as an obstacle
Tech and Technology Are Not the Same Anymore
"Are you into tech, Sir?"
Our Articles About SLAPPs Receive Recognition and Interest
This week we shall continue writing about the 3 lawsuits we filed
Are You Served?
For many people, advocacy of Free software and GPL enforcement are assumed to be happening
Conspiracy or grooming? Alex Jurado, Voice of Reason compared to Outreachy
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 20/07/2025: Security Breaches and Former 'Open' 'AI' Engineer on Hype and Culture Issues
Links for the day
Links 20/07/2025: Fending Off BRICS and US Government Attacks Its Own Media (Like China and Russia)
Links for the day
Framed by social control media: Alex Belfield, Voice of Reason
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 20/07/2025: Summertime and OCC25 Wrap-up
Links for the day
Slopwatch: Planet Ubuntu, LinuxSecurity, and More
former "Linux" blogs which basically became slopfarms
Links 20/07/2025: More GAFAM Lawsuits, Layoffs, and SLAPPs
Links for the day
Nice Recovery (From Actual Fire) by PCLinuxOS, New Version of PCLinuxOS Released, Now Top of DistoWatch
PCLinuxOS is a community-driven distro
More Microsoft Shutdowns That Mostly Slipped Under the Radar
Remember what happened to books 'sold' by Microsoft?
Microsoft Lunduke Still Fighting Cancel Culture With... Cancel Culture
There will be no "winners" in such 'debates'
The History of Daily Links and Politics
"I support Wayland, but I also support abortion..."
Microsoft is at 0% "Market Share" in Most Areas
Depending on the taxonomy chosen, there may be dozens of categories other than desktops and laptops
"The moment MSFT stock fails to start tumbling, that’s the beginning of another corporate giant going under."
There are far more layoffs at Microsoft than at Intel, but you would not get this impression based on Wall Street media
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 19, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, July 19, 2025
Gemini Links 19/07/2025: Git For Authors and Filtered Antenna
Links for the day
UEFI 'Secure' Boot Abuses by Microsoft to be Brought Up in the UK High Court in 3 Months
we'll seek compensation
Next Year It'll Be Half a Decade Since the Fall of Freenode (and IRC is Still Doing OK)
Our IRC network is still accessible using the exact same software that ran in Windows 3.x
Lupa Will Soon Know of 3,100+ Active Gemini Capsules
And some people in the "Small Web" try to tell us that Gemini is dying?
The Slopfarms Are Taking Real News Articles and Replacing Them With Lies Generated by Machines
Bluntly speaking, Fagioli is nothing short of an online scammer
Links 19/07/2025: Techtarget to Cull 10% of Staff, New Threats to Free Press in the US (Home of Dangerous and Violent Stranglers From Microsoft)
Links for the day
Gemini Links 19/07/2025: "Climate Justice” and Forking Programs
Links for the day
What Wayland and Microsoft/IBM systemd Have in Common
focus on what IBM (Red Hat) is pushing while running over critics.
Linux Already Has About 60% of the "Market"
"When mentioning the client side," opines an associate, "it is essential to recite the list of other markets where Microsoft is negligible or a no-show. It is repetitive to do so, but it needs saying -- often."
In Norway, Android/Linux Has Just Hit All-Time High (First Time Since 2020), GNU/Linux Already Very Prevalent
Despite its small population size, Norway gave us Qt and many other things
Finland (and NATO) Must Move to GNU/Linux and Dump Microsoft Even Faster
"Microsoft is not a technology problem, it is a staffing problem."
Microsoft's Mass Layoffs Very Wide-Ranging, Media Focused on Gaming Though Microsoft Mass-Firing Lawyers and "AI" Staff (Contradicting Its Supposed "Investment" in "AI")
Microsoft plans to fire almost half a thousand people in legal roles
2012 Article About the Free Software Foundation Blasting Canonical/Ubuntu Over Adoption of "Secure" Boot (Microsoft's Remote Control Over GNU/Linux Since PCs' Power-on)
By Katherine Noyes (article has since then became 404, not found)
The Microsofters We Sued Helped Microsoft Make GNU/Linux 'Expire' This Year
"Linux and Secure Boot certificate expiration"
linuxconfig.org Joins linuxtechlab.com and Others, Becomes a Slopfarm With Fake Linux 'Articles' (LLM Slop)
They contain "linux" in their domain names, but they are just slopfarms
Links 19/07/2025: Microsoft Cuts in China and Wall Street Journal Sued for Reporting on Jeffrey Epstein
Links for the day
Debian Can Dump Blind Users Because I am Not Blind
the sort of mentality we're up against
Fascistic Policies Got 'Normalised' in 'Public Office'. Let's Not Let the Same Happen in 'Tech'.
Political discourse typically guides what's "normal" and what "good citizens" should believe/feel
The European Patent Office Cannot Attract Proficient Patent Examiners Who Master Their Domain
They are enablers and facilitators of corruption
Yes, Your Mastodon Instance Will Also Shut Down
Few people run a one-person instance in the Fediverse
The Demise of GAFAM Necessitates Greater and Broader Awareness
Morale at Microsoft is really bad
Free Software Foundation Reaches 75% of Funding Goal
Not bad for this "Fosschild"
Slopwatch: 7 New Examples of Fake 'Linux' Slop Pieces (Plagiarism With Misinformation)
Serial Sloppers need to be shunned
Links 19/07/2025: Kapo-berg Settles, Software Patents Challenged
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, July 18, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, July 18, 2025