Bonum Certa Men Certa

Watchtroll Has Redefined "Trolls" to Mean Those Who Oppose Software Patents (and Oppose Trolls), Not Those Who Leverage These for Blackmail Alone

"EFF Trolls the Patent Office with ‘Save Alice Campaign’" (image below)

EFF Trolls the Patent Office with ‘Save Alice Campaign’



Summary: The controversial change to 35 U.S.C. €§ 101 guidance is being opposed by the public (US citizens who oppose American software patents), so patent maximalists like Janal Kalis ("PatentBuddy") and extremists like Gene Quinn (Watchtroll) want us to believe that the public is just "EFF" and cannot think for itself

AT THE end of last year we promised ourselves not to feed the (Watch)trolls, but here they go again, not with the typical attacks on judges; rather, this time around they're claiming that all these comments, personally submitted to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) from people against software patents, are just "EFF" (they're not) just because EFF issued a call for participation in a blog post (as did Watchtroll and others). It's about the €§ 101 guidance water-down attempts by Iancu.



Gene Quinn wants us to think that because the EFF told people who oppose software patents and patent trolls to write to the USPTO it therefore means that any comment submitted to that effect came from EFF. Janal Kalis insinuated so explicitly and Watchtroll says it's a form of "trolling" even if he himself does it all the time (so does Dennis Crouch, who urges people to push/nudge SCOTUS in trolls' direction).

"To put it in plain terms, USPTO officials asked for input; patent maximalists told people to send such input and so did the EFF. But the patent maximalists now call the EFF a "troll" for doing so (as if it is harassing the USPTO)."Does the blog post from the EFF make them "Trolls"? Really? So opposing software patents is "Trolling"? That's inverting the meaning of the term and never mind if the USPTO itself asked for such input and advertised the address to write to...

To put it in plain terms, USPTO officials asked for input; patent maximalists told people to send such input and so did the EFF. But the patent maximalists now call the EFF a "troll" for doing so (as if it is harassing the USPTO). Hypocrisy much? What gives? In relation to Janal Kalis (very vocal patent maximalist) we pointed this out as recently as yesterday, comparing it to the conspiracy theories about Google.

"It's looking really grim for software patents in US courts."From what we could gather, based on the tweet from Kalis, almost all the comments were against €§ 101 changes and in favour of Alice. Software patents are widely being opposed. It's easy to see why Watchtroll is upset and why Quinn took another job, stepping down from "editor" position after two full decades.

There's a better post titled "As USPTO Oversight Hearing Approaches, Some Questions On Eligibility" and it's indirectly related to the above. Josh L. (CCIA) said this about the new €§ 101 guidance yesterday evening:

The new €§ 101 guidance makes two major changes to examination for subject matter eligibility. First, it requires examiners to classify abstract ideas into one of three categories: mental processes, mathematical formulas, and methods of organizing human activity. Claims directed to an abstract idea not in one of these categories are to be allowed. Second, it bars examiners from considering whether a given claim is directed only to an abstract idea plus routine and conventional technology if the claim is “integrated into a particular application.” If a claim is integrated, but using conventional technology, the guidance would require an examiner to allow the claim. Both changes represent departures from previous examination practice and both appear to present the potential for conflict with case law. CCIA has commented on these disparities, and suggested that the USPTO clarify the guidance to ensure that it helps examiners comply with case law. However, there’s no guarantee the USPTO will make any such changes—for example, the USPTO recently declined to make any changes in response to public comments on the 2018-2022 Strategic Plan.

Given the possibility that the guidance will remain unchanged, it’s important to consider how it might have been applied to patents that we know have been invalidated under €§ 101 in a district court. A recent set of arguments in Delaware provides a set of three patents of just that type.


In the US, more so in 2018 and in 2019, a lot of patents are now presumed invalid and the damage cannot be undone for decades to come (expiry takes 2 decades). Later today in our daily links we'll include articles about new court decisions/case outcomes to that effect. It's looking really grim for software patents in US courts.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Thankfully We've Made Copies of More Interesting Data From statCounter
If statCounter (the Web site or the 'webapp') vanished overnight, we'd still have something left of it
More Silent Layoffs at IBM/Red Hat
when the media counts such layoffs or presents tallies the numbers are very incomplete
 
The Cocaine Patent Office - Part I: António Campinos Brought Corruption and Nepotism to the EPO, Then Came the Cocaine
High-level manager at the European Patent Office (EPO) caught in public with cocaine, the Office has some answering to do
Purchasing/Possessing Computers Isn't the Same as Controlling Computers
Let's strive to put computers back under the control of their users, no matter who purchased these (usually the users)
Gemini Links 27/10/2025: Alhena 5.4.3 and Fixing Bash
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, October 26, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, October 26, 2025
Links 26/10/2025: Microsoft Spies on Gamers, Open Transport Community Conference
Links for the day
Links 26/10/2025: LLM Slop / Plagiarism Programs Continue to Disappoint, CISA Layoffs Threaten Systems
Links for the day
Gemini Links 26/10/2025: Gemsync and Joining the Small Web
Links for the day
India.com a Click-baiting, SEO-Spamming, Slopfarming Heap
They do this almost every day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, October 25, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, October 25, 2025
Without XBox Consoles, XBox is No More, It's Just a Brand (More Rumours of Microsoft Ending XBox, Then Laying Off Lots of Staff)
All signs indicate that Microsoft wants to "exit" the XBox business (not brand), but it does not want to publicly admit this as it would alarm staff and shareholders
Gemini Links 25/10/2025: Portugal, Midnightpub, and "Tech Right Admins"
Links for the day
Almost 2026 Already (When We Turn Twenty)
In just over a year the site will turn 20
When "Sponsored Feature" in The Register MS Means Ponzi Scheme Promotion From the Communist Party of China (CPC)
the promotion of a financial scam
Week of EPO Leaks: Workers of the EPO Are Getting a Pay Cut While Prices Rise Fast
More to come in the next few days
Microsoft is Finally Giving Up on XBox, The Chief Says the Grapes Are Sour Anyway
Microsoft loses hundreds of dollars on each XBox that it sells
Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity, UbuntuPIT, and Various Slopfarms Propped up by Google News
Why can't Google News do better than this?
Links 25/10/2025: Two New Smokescreens for Scam Altman and ‘TikTok USA’ Remains in Limbo
Links for the day
Bad faith: can't change Debian Social Contract (DSC) without unanimous consent of every joint author
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Confirmed: Very Close Friend of Bill Gates and Microsoft's Biggest Patent Troll Nathan Myhrvold Flew the Lolita Express (a Gateway to Pedophilia), According to Bill Gates-Sponsored Seattle Times
There is no speculation or any "conspiracy theories" here;' those are verified facts
Gemini Links 25/10/2025: "The Highest Leader of The Global Civil Society Community", SSL Certificates Causing Bitrot
Links for the day
Links 25/10/2025: Target Layoffs and "Shutdown Sparks 85% Increase in US Government Cyberattacks"
Links for the day
"Big Data" Was a Big Lie
Remember "Big Data"? Remember "Data Scientists"...?
statCounter Has Been Broken for a Long Time
Considering the huge proportion of Web requests that come from LLM bots (more so this past year or two), statCounter may struggle to justify the operating costs
Techrights Anniversary Party on November 7th
Let us know if you need any accommodation-related arrangements
Trends That Must Alarm Microsoft and Mozilla
Expect Firefox to no longer be supported by various sites in the US
Why Microsoft Became the Layoffs Leader
The corporate media is projecting or signalling its own dishonesty when it tells us that Microsoft is a very "valuable" company while the data shows Microsoft is also a "market leader" in layoffs
Speaking for Ourselves and Letting the Facts Speak for Themselves
we've already published over 50,000 pages
For Second Time in a Day The Register MS Takes Money From Private Companies to Sell a Ponzi Scheme
Do not have empathy for those who have zero empathy towards you
IBM is Misleading IBM Shareholders
IBM is still all about vapourware and buzzwords
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, October 24, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, October 24, 2025