09.12.18
Gemini version available ♊︎The Belated Demise of Propaganda Sites of the Litigation ‘Industry’
Source: January’s report
Summary: Sites that promote the interests of Big Litigation (patent trolls, patent law firms etc.) are ebbing away; in the process they still mothball the facts and push propaganda instead
THE USPTO may be claiming all sorts of records, but US patent courts actually saw 50% more 'action' half a decade ago. The legal certainty associated with US patents has simply nosedived since, partly owing to SCOTUS, whose decisions were taken into account by the Federal Circuit. The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) inter partes reviews (IPRs) also invalidated many US patents outside the courts.
“The legal certainty associated with US patents has simply nosedived since, partly owing to SCOTUS, whose decisions were taken into account by the Federal Circuit.”Bizarre and outright stupid patent applications continue to be filed (example from yesterday), but that does not mean that these patents — if/once granted — have any real value except perceived value, especially when assessed in bulk (companies that just amass lots of crap patents which they assume never get reassessed at any point in the future).
The one encouraging aspect of the collapse of the patent litigation ‘industry’ (it’s not really an industry but a parasite) is that its think tanks and propaganda outlets are rotting away. Good riddance. One such propaganda outlet is trying to tell us that there’s a patent litigation resurgence, but it’s based on distortions. And “according to data pulled from Docket Navigator on September 7 2018,” Managing IP says that “US district court patent litigation rises 20% in August” (that’s the headline). Rises compared to what? August needs to be compared to August last year, not July. Surely Sanjana Kapila knows that? From what’s outside the paywall:
Data pulled from Docket Navigator reveals US district court patent case filing increased in August over July, with PersonalWeb extending its lead as the year’s top plaintiff
August and July are quiet months (people are on holiday) and for any meaningful comparison one must assess the same months (in different years). See the very clear fluctuations in the above graph (same source/data, previous years).
But such is the nature of propaganda being crafted and it’s obvious who pays for it. Just check the sponsors of the publication and its events, subscribers, etc. They call themselves “media”, but this so-called ‘media’ organised UPC propaganda events, sometimes with the EPO involved. They’re propagating lots of false predictions (basically just pure lobbying and lots of lies about desirability of UPC) and now we know that UPC is already dead. Team UPC, however, is fantasising about trying it all over again, this time differently. Guess who promotes these talking points…
Managing IP writes: “If the UPC agreement is amended for Brexit, it could open up the system to non-EU member states. Olivier Corticchiato at Nestle in Switzerland says that is an important possibility for his company.”
It cannot just be “amended”. Ratification in pertinent states then needs to be redone. UPCA is a mess.
“As the patent litigation ‘industry’ collapses funding for its propaganda outlets will dry up, too.”We expect Managing IP to continue with this nonsense, so we’ll monitor it closely and correct it. IAM is now hiding behind paywalls (made a lot more aggressive a fortnight ago) in order to dodge scrutiny (i.e. pointing out the lies it keeps repeating). Watchtroll too seems to be rotting away. In January the number articles there was 106. Last month it already dwindled down to 72 (gradually over the months). And now they’re looking for a writer, perhaps realising that the site is losing steam and even moving away from the subject of patents (to totally unrelated things, sometimes not even copyrights and trademarks). We reckon they just don’t get much traffic anymore and at the current pace, there will be no more than 60 article by month’s end (for September).
It is all pretty much expected. As the patent litigation ‘industry’ collapses funding for its propaganda outlets will dry up, too. Watchtroll has been reduced to little more than attacks on judges, on courts, and on politicians who aren’t pro-litigation. The whole thing has become so farcical that only a Trump 'stooge' can actually appreciate it. █
ᶃ Gemini Space
This post is also available in 
Content is available under CC-BY-SA