Bonum Certa Men Certa

IBM’s Patent Aggression Celebrated by Law Firms, Condemned by Technical People

2016: IBM Comes Under Growing Scrutiny for Increasingly Acting Just Like a Patent Troll Amid Layoffs

Ginni Rometty



Summary: The predator which IBM has become under Ginni Rometty is rightly perceived as a dangerous parasite; sites of the litigation 'industry', however, treat IBM like some sort of champion, giving it speaking positions, media platforms and anything else it needs to espouse supposed virtues of software patents and shakedown with such patents (low-quality or bunk patents in large numbers)

THE decline of IBM led to a rush for patents. IBM has long dominated the USPTO 'charts', having pursued some of the most laughable patents (widely mocked by technical people on the Internet over the past 2 decades). Some of these patents were voided and let go of by IBM after they had caused a negative atmosphere (bad press).



But don't think that IBM is being condemned by the "litigation community"; to them, IBM is some sort of "hero", having "proven" that "monetisation" with "intellectual property" still "works".

Ellie Mertens, a New York-based contributor to a patent maximalists' site, wrote that "IBM’s win in its first patent suit to go to jury trial in 20 years may make efficient infringers think twice before rejecting licensing agreements, its lawyer John Desmarais says..."

"The 'patent troll in chief' is now being celebrated by the patent trolls' lobby, IAM."So only amplifying IBM's side of the story? As usual? "A jury awarded IBM $82.5 million in damages on July 27 for Groupon’s wilful infringement of four of IBM’s patents that relate to enabling e-commerce," Mertens added. Did Mertens pursue Groupon too for a comment? It's hard to tell because of the paywall. The Chicago Tribune wrote about this too (by Christopher Yasiejko), as did a lot of corporate media. We gave some examples of coverage when we mentioned the calls for an IBM boycott.

The 'patent troll in chief' is now being celebrated by the patent trolls' lobby, IAM. Days ago it wrote: "We are thrilled to have @IBM's Cynthia Seal join us as a speaker for this year's Patent Licensing (San Francisco, September 18). Get your ticket today to hear her discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly of #PatentLicensing."

Guess who covered the IBM aggression for IAM. It was patent extremist Richard Lloyd. This is what he said under the biased headline "IBM counsel hails big win against Groupon as another sign that the US patent pendulum is swinging back" (again amplifying the aggressors' messages, never the defendants'). To quote:

The lead counsel representing IBM in its recently decided case against Groupon has characterised the company's court victory on Friday in the dispute as a “shot in the arm for all licensors”. John Desmarais was speaking to IAM shortly after the verdict was handed down by the jury in the Delaware federal district court, which ruled that Groupon had willfully infringed on four e-commerce patents owned by the tech giant and ordered it to pay $82.5 million in damages.


Cynthia Seal and John Desmarais. These are the sorts of people whose side IAM is taking. Maybe IAM and IBM are similar not only in the acronym sense.

"Technical people aren't so gullible, however, so they can see IBM for what it has really become."As we noted before, the patents in question (those used against Groupon) are highly dubious. So are these patents, just mentioned the other day in a tweet which said: "Where #blockchain meets #drones: #IBM #patent US9875592B1: "The drone may perform an authentication procedure by scanning the person (or people) through visual, audio, biometric, or other means, and may send a signal to grant or deny access.""

That's yet another software patent, but they 'dress that up' as "blockchain".

Anyway, our main concern is that the media got stuffed by IBM, its lawyers, its front groups, and so-called 'journalists' who rather than study the underlying facts merely asked some law firms (patent maximalists) in order to relay the narrative IBM wants. Technical people aren't so gullible, however, so they can see IBM for what it has really become.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Our Three Lawsuits Against Microsofters Are About to Become a Lot More Relevant to GNU/Linux
The Master will easily understand why Garrett has been attacking me since 2012
Slop Is Not Intelligence and It Does Not Enhance Productivity
Like voice dictation, which cannot tell the difference between "sheet" and "shit"
 
The Free Software Foundation (FSF) Has a New Slogan for Its 40th Anniversary
The freedoms are what's most important
Microsoft is Trying to "Pull a Nokia" on GNU/Linux as Desktop/Laptop Platform
We all remember that rather well, don't we?
LLM Slopfarms gbhackers.com, "Cyber Press" and CyberSecurityNews Are Drowning Google News (and Shame on Google for Feeding and Facilitating Them)
All are run by the same people
Links 23/07/2025: Droplets GUI Patent Monopoly Challenge, Nokia Leverages Illegal Patent Court Against Rivals
Links for the day
Gemini Links 23/07/2025: Community in Geminispace and Challenges With Old Computers
Links for the day
Links 23/07/2025: Slop Patents Tackled, Slop Copyright Misuses Tackled by Politicians
Links for the day
Links 23/07/2025: Retreating From Transparency on Jeffrey Epstein, We No Longer Have Press Freedom
Links for the day
Gemini Links 23/07/2025: Piano and Food
Links for the day
New and Old
On Ageism in Tech
EPO Crimes Are Spreading to the British Court System
Society is now paying the price for failing to tackle crimes at the EPO
It's Time to Dump SharePoint and Here's What to Use Instead
Nextcloud, ownCloud, Bookstack, MediaWiki, and MediaGoblin
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, July 22, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, July 22, 2025
Brett Wilson LLP Has Gone Silent
Sometimes silence says more than nothing at all
Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity, Planet Ubuntu, and LinuxTechLab
some slopfarms show no remorse and they don't value their reputation at all
Links 23/07/2025: Book Bans, Storms, and Kangaroo Court for Patents Commits More Unlawful Acts of Overreach
Links for the day
Gemini Links 22/07/2025: Thinkpad and Pinephone
Links for the day
Links 22/07/2025: "Blog Restart" and Microsoft Clobbered by “ToolShell"
Links for the day
Global Warming and Global GAFAM Energy-Wasting
Burn more money (borrowed, loans), then hope the waste will somehow translate into profit?
No Compliance With the European Patent Convention (EPC) at the European Patent Office (EPO)
It's about preventing competition against this autocracy
Blue-Collar Trolls vs White-Collar Trolls
Examples of white-collar trolls
Apple Vision Pro Failed So Badly That Its Sales Are About 2,000 Times Smaller Than iPhone Sales
What's left for Apple to offer other than hype?
To Millions of People "Year of the Linux Desktop" Was Some Time in the 1990s (Bootable GNU/Linux as a Complete Operating System is Over 33 in Age)
In some sense, "year of the Linux desktop" was 33 years ago
Make No Assumptions (or Demands) About the Screen Resolution Used by Other People
There are usability aspects, aside from accessibility aspects
Why Wayland (and XWayland) Won't Solve the Key Problem It Proclaims to be Tackling (the Same Is True for Rust)
The problem isn't Wayland per se but the false promises and efforts to force everybody to move to it whilst insulting or demonising everyone who won't play along
They Don't Tell Us that 'Digitalisation' (Now Sold as "Hey Hi") Just Means Customers Become Unpaid Staff and Are Made Accountable
People are being conditioned to associate technology with something undesirable, at times even unbearable
Diplomatic Immunity Should Not Exist for Anybody
The EPO in its current form gradually 'normalises' the end of European democracy
Brett Wilson LLP Stopped Sending Me Papers When I Showed It had Sent Me Over 5 Kilograms of Legal Papers
A week ago we lodged our third lawsuit
Microsoft Mass Layoffs and Shutdowns Became the New Normal at Microsoft
Microsoft mass layoffs became a topic of everyday media coverage since May
Amazon Web Services (AWS) Has Layoffs and Microsoft Gaming/Entertainment Division Has an Uncertain Future
it's good to see all those horrible things crashing and burning
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, July 21, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, July 21, 2025
FSF "Raised Almost $139,000 During This Summer Campaign"
"Thank you for making a stand against dystopia!"
Gemini Links 22/07/2025: VPS Exploited and Fear of View
Links for the day
LLM Bots vs Techrights
Slows things down a bit
New Publication Sheds Lights on Abuse of Workers at the European Patent Office (EPO)
Put in simple terms, they're killing the Office, harming remaining staff, try to hire rubber-stampers
Links 21/07/2025: Hardware, Health, and Imperialism
Links for the day
Gemini Links 21/07/2025: "When Buying Isn't Owning" and "CMS Special Edition"
Links for the day
Links 21/07/2025: Indie Web and Toxic Politics
Links for the day
[Meme] Microsoft Lawyers Throwing Stones in Glass Houses
threatened me with bankruptcy
Google "AI Overview" is Not AI and Not Overview
do not be misled; what Google does isn't smart, it's just ripping off the sites it already crawled for as long as 27 years
Making the Case to Dump Microsoft and GAFAM for National and Digital Sovereignty
"Sovereignty is difficult"
The Tactics of the Opposition (Microsoft Lunduke): Associate With K00ks, Throw in Vaccines to Muddy the Water
Who stands to gain from this?
Europe's Second-Largest Institution (EPO) and Largest Patent Monopoly Office Needs More Transparency, Not Less Transparency
In the EPO, what good are elections when one candidate literally bribes all the voters?
How Not to Report News About Microsoft
This pattern of misreporting is so widespread that it's hard to believe it's not intentional
Computer Science is Under Attack, They Want Everyone to be a Consumer
If people can no longer acquire Computer Science education and real Computer Science experience, they will not know how to control their own digital destiny or emancipate the very same universities that now control the syllabus and instead of teaching Computer Science encourage the outsourcing of systems
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"
Social Control Media Relies on Advertisers, So It'll Always Be Hostile Towards Free Software
Sales, sales, sales
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, July 20, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, July 20, 2025
Fragmentation of Data
Life is too short to "hoard" data
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