In the US, Patent Laws Are Up for Sale
Rebranded again (2023-2024) as "PREVAIL Act" by the usual suspects:
OWING to 35 U.S.C. § 101, patents granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on software are often thrown out by courts, more so after Alice (at SCOTUS, 2014). An inter partes review (IPR) can throw out such patents without even going to court, thanks to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). Well, the patent litigation "industry" does not like that. It threatens the "volume" of lawsuits. It also discourages the pursuit of software patents.
So what to do? Bribe some politicians to change the law and try to bypass SCOTUS, the highest court in the US.
To its credit, the Linux Foundation, even with Microsoft as a top sponsor, opposed this latest bill (incarnation of the same old crap with another name/title). As a reminder, Microsoft front group 'FSFE' (it is not allowed to use the name "FSFE"; basically it's an identity thief) says nothing about patents, whereas the FSF issued a statement on this matter about a week ago.
Watchtroll and other patent extremists (profiting from litigation) celebrated (some more cautiously) that "Senate Committee Advances PREVAIL Act", stating that after some delay: "In a tight 11-10 vote, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved the PREVAIL Act (Promoting and Respecting Economically Vital American Innovation Leadership Act) that would make substantial changes to Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) proceedings. The bill addresses perceived anti-patentee imbalances in the current inter partes review (IPR) system. However, a number of Senators raised concerns and were seeking assurances about a negative impact on generic drug prices. The Bill as adopted by the Judiciary Committee included a friendly amendment by the Bill's co-sponsor Sen. Coons that attempted to address some of the drug-pricing concerns by expanding the scope of who can file IPR/PGR petitions."
Remember who pays Coons to do this. This is lawmaking as a "product" on sale to bidders. This problem is a lot bigger than just patents.
It not only discourages investment in software (risk if being sued out of existence by patent trolls that never wrote code). It encourages a non-productive 'industry' which dooms the nation in pursuit of destructive financial gain. █