Bonum Certa Men Certa

The Next Task is Defeating European Software Patents Because the Media Certainly Isn't Doing Its Job

Copying press releases isn't journalism and these so-called 'webinars' give away their true agenda

EUIPO EPO CII



EUIPO EPO CII webinar



Summary: With the UPC out of the way it's important to ensure that the EPO quits granting and advocating patents on algorithms; this is still going on and it is illegal

WHILE there are definitely software patents in Europe, courts continue to reject these and the European Patent Office (EPO) won't be able to change that. The UPC is dead -- a subject we shall cover separately later today, revisiting the latest blows. The wannabe UPC chief is probably consuming a lot of wine this weekend. His career is over. At least he managed not to be arrested like his protégé who lacked connections at the top.



We've seen lots of software patents ("CII") promotion this past week, together with the EUIPO, where António Campinos came from. We took note of it just before it happened (around Tuesday) and basically it's about granting software patents on computer games (it's already hard at the USPTO). It's rather clear that today's EPO just doesn't really care about the EPC. It's just harvesting money, which it then gambles with.

The other day we spotted an old ally returning to the battle. Good to see him rejoining his old battle against software patents -- for we need more "fire power" (many got exhausted and it's being exploited by law-breaking officials). He wrote that "Nokia's choice of software patents asserted against Daimler exposes pretext for refusing to license automotive suppliers" and in the corresponding article he stated: "That kind of communication is, of course, implemented in software (it already has been for a very long time)."

Here's more:



PaRR's EU antitrust reporter Khushita Vasant received information from two sources according to which a third round of mediation talks--after the first two, held in January and February, failed--might take place between Nokia and Daimler as well as many (though not all) of its suppliers of telematics control units (TCUs). Knowing how these things work, I guess the situation is now simply one in which the European Commission remains hesitant, for purely political reasons, to take action, and is playing for time, as is Nokia, whose patent portfolio is going down the tubes with every month that passes.

Commissioner Margrethe Vestager is even way tougher than her famous predecessor in office "Steelie Neelie" was when it comes to enforcement against U.S. companies, but (so far, so bad) soft as a jellyfish on Nokia. She and Nokia might just hope that the patent infringement ruling scheduled by the Munich I Regional Court for April 9, 2020 would scare Daimler into a settlement. It's hardly a coincidence that the rumored new round of mediation talks has the same target date...

Regardless of that latest disgraceful development, I was taking a closer look at Nokia's ten patents-in-suit against Daimler from the perspective of whether there is a scintilla of doubt about Nokia acting abusively by refusing to license Daimler's TCU suppliers. There is not.

As Daimler's lead counsel in the German infringement cases accurately noted last fall, cellular standard-essential patents (SEPs) cover techniques that are essentially embodied in the baseband chip. From a car maker's vantage point at the bottom of the supply chain, that's a tier 3 product, which gets incorporated into a (tier 2) network access device (NAD; one might also call this a connectivity module, which in turn resides in a TCU (tier 1). In other words, TCUs already contain a whole lot more hardware than is actually needed to exhaust the patentee's rights by licensing the upstream.

[...]

The software that controls data transfers over a cellular model resides in a baseband chip. That's the mastermind of the whole operation. It determines what is sent out via the antenna, and it interprets what is received.

All ten of Nokia's patents-in-suit against Daimler could also be called "protocol patents": they describe how two ends of a wireless connection communicate--what A has to tell B to cause B to do something, or vice versa. It's like I say "hello, how are you?" and you respond "fine, how are you?"

That kind of communication is, of course, implemented in software (it already has been for a very long time).


"In today's blog post," he told me, "I've (again) criticized the EPO for violating the EPC by granting software patents."

We're saddened to see Nokia reduced to this. Once upon a time it supported GNU/Linux, but then it was infiltrated by Microsoft and was destroyed very quickly.

Nokia is in some sense a symptom of a rotten system. The EPO's sheer dysfunction extends beyond the offices and trickles onto these EPO exams. As MIP noted the other day: "With the qualification process for UK attorneys being reviewed, lawyers in France, Germany and the UK ask whether the European system also needs an overhaul [...] In-house lawyers say that parts of the “somewhat artificial” European Qualification Examination should be re-worked so that they better reflect everyday practice and make life easier for in-house teams."

With the collapse of the UPC interest in these exams may decline. Interest in European Patents will, in general, decrease. Semiconductor Today, following some press releases in Business Wire and elsewhere (even sites blocked in the EU), speaks of just one new European Patent are though it's a very big deal. For a change, however, this is about a European Patent on something physical. Yes, for a change. It says: "AKHAN Semiconductor Inc of Gurnee, IL, USA – which was founded in 2013 and specializes in the fabrication and application of lab-grown, electronics-grade diamond as functional semiconductors – has been issued a patent by the European Patent Office (EPO) covering its next-generation n-type diamond semiconductor system and diamond-based multi-layer anti-reflective coating systems (key components in military & aerospace sensor and detector applications), amongst other applications."

This is a puff piece, almost identical to the press release that said:

AKHAN Semiconductor, a technology company specializing in the fabrication and application of lab-grown, electronic-grade diamonds, announced today that it has been issued a patent by the European Patent Office (EPO). The patent covers AKHAN’s next-generation N-type diamond semiconductor system and diamond-based multilayer antireflective coating systems, key components in military & aerospace sensor and detector applications, amongst other use cases.


Compare the 'article' to the press release; this is the kind of 'journalism' we've come to expect about the EPO and about patents in general...

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: It Takes Us Up to Two Days to Respond to Customers Upon Escalation (and Sometimes Even More Than Two Days)
It not only does groceries but also many other things, even banking
People Don't Just Kill Themselves (Same for Other Animals)
And recent reports about Boeing whistleblower John Barnett
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
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
[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
Matthias Kirschner, FSFE analogous to identity fraud
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
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