Codecs and Software Patents - Part VII - Entering Phase II, the Battle Against Companies That Normalise Taxed (by Patents on Mathematics) Codecs
In the first six parts (links at the bottom; let's call them - collectively - phase 1) we wrote about the subject from a top-level perspective (alta vista) and then discussed more recent developments. As recently as this week we added to Daily Links this story about a video codec patent being challenged:
On May 2, 2025, Unified filed an ex parte reexamination proceeding against U.S. Patent 10,778,989, another patent monopoly owned by Malikie Innovations Limited, an NPE and entity of Key Patent Innovations Limited. The ‘989 patent, formerly assigned to Blackberry Ltd., relates to a rolling intra prediction video codec method based on the H.264/AVC/HEVC standards. Malikie Innovations has filed several other litigations funded by Key Patent Innovations Limited against networking communications, apps, and Wi-Fi devices.
Blackberry beame a patent troll.
Software patents being challenged is always a good thing, but it's not enough if you do it one patent at the time.
As we showed 14 years ago, Microsoft set up Nokia to become a patent troll in Europe, with focus on software patents on codes. All those years later we see Nokia occupying so-called (illegal) 'courts' where judges are salaried Nokia staff. It is an extension of the corruption at the EPO.
As an associate recalls it, Microsoft "dumped the useless, invalid patents on Nokia while gutting Nokia at the same time. The tactic has worked, Nokia has mistaken those waste products as 'assets' and politics, connived, and schemed for over a decade to try to turn them into economic value. Don't forget the board of directors' role in bringing in Microsoft's Elop and in giving him a more or less secret contract in which he gained a $25M bonus for selling Nokia *to Microsoft* and Microsoft only. AFAIK the law was broken, yet there was not even an investigation."
In the next few parts we'll deal with the impact on Free software, including the GNU Project. █
Previously