Bonum Certa Men Certa

OOXML Software Patents and Other Serious Problems with the USPTO

“Other than Bill Gates, I don’t know of any high tech CEO that sits down to review the company’s IP portfolio.”

--Marshall Phelps



After a jolly time in Redmond, in addition to some bits of Microsoft propaganda which were absorbed there and then published in the world's press [1, 2], Brett Winterford finally delivers a more balanced article that includes a realistic perspective on the big problem that is OOXML. Among the OOXML problems that are mentioned in this article (mainly second-handed):

"Smaller players and non-IT firms--those who are not and perhaps cannot be in close business deals with Microsoft--are potentially at a disadvantage in not having either a relevant competing patent portfolio to bring to negotiations, or the legal resources to assess the level of risk," Vaile said. "This is why a truly global open standard ideally needs to be dealt with in a way that removes obvious sources of uncertainty for smaller participants as well."


Microsoft will of course continue to deceive. It will try very hard to deny that software patents are at play (Microsoft calls these patents "IP"). The company continues to rely on decision-making figures being naive enough not to understand what is being agreed on. Brian Behlendorf's words on this are fascinating and they come 'third-hand', so to speak, via Glyn Moody.

The World Economic Forum is a fairly disgusting dance of power and money, but even in this context intelligent observers can learn something useful. For example, here are Brian Behlendorf's thoughts on the problems of getting people to understand and engage with true openness:

On the downside: twice, I mentioned ODF vs. OOXML in conversations with people, and each time, there was a lack of awareness of the issue. I really don't want to embarrass them so I won't name names, but they were people who really should have known; one was a leader of a business that has been around for years and has serious document management and longevity issues, the other a government official who was charged with preserving his country's culture but sadly non-technical.



In other software patent news, consider the one-click shopping patent (already mentioned in [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13]) and witness the inventor's (or developer's) dilemma. [via Digital Majority]

A couple of months later, I got dragged into the case via subpoena. Now I was an unpaid material witness. Because I was the actual developer of one-click ordering, not just an expert poring over old documents and publications, I would have to testify at least about what I knew.

One-click ordering is as simple as the checkbox that you see on most Web sites to "keep me logged in". The server sends the browser a "persistent cookie" that the browser returns every subsequent time the user requests a page, even if the computer has been restarted in the interim. That way the server (online store) can identify the browser (customer) and re-use the payment and shipping information from the previous order.

I was asked "Why didn't you patent this yourself, if you developed it first?" My reply was "It only took me an hour to build; if I went down to the patent office after every hour of programming, I wouldn't get very much done."

Fortunately, the case was settled and I never had to appear in court. I decided that maybe next time it would be smarter to take the money and get paid for the work.


Also of interest is the following sighting of a patent troll asking for advice, or at least something which is akin to it because there are clients involved.

My law practice is in California and I work in various areas including civil litigation, business and real property law. I am currently expanding my soft IP practice (i.e. software licensing, website language, trademark, etc.), which is what I studied in law school back in the '90s. As I'm picking up software development clients, the issue of software patenting is coming up. The patent attorney I typically refer out to tends to be reluctant to recommend software patenting because his typical patent application processing time with the USPTO is about 5 years, which tends to extend beyond the expected lifespan of the typical software application. Copyright has its limitations and I have seen many references to software patenting in LInkedIn discussions. What are your experiences and pros/cons relating to software IP protection? What is your reaction/response to the USPTO's slow patent processing?


If this is the reality in countries where software patents are valid, then being a software developer is being part of a complicated nightmare. It's amazing. It's a maze.

USS Towers - sinking
USPTO a self-sinking ship

Recent Techrights' Posts

Writing and Coding Isn't Always Enough
Last year we had to assume a role we didn't have before: litigants
Autumn Has Come
Autumn should be exciting in all sorts of ways; it'll also mark our anniversary
IBM Has Taken Control of GNOME
Don't expect a successor to be found any time soon
 
“Sideloading” Never Killed Anybody
There are many online discussions this week about the misnomer "sideloading"
Slopwatch: Google News as FUD Vector Against Linux and Plagiarism Enhancer, Serial Slopper (SS) Uses LLMs to Googlebomb "Linux"
Slop destroys the Web not just by screwing with search engines and helping plagiarists. It's also responsible for de facto DDoS attacks...
Links 01/09/2025: "Attacks on Science" and China's "Soft Power" Grows
Links for the day
Links 01/09/2025: Fresh Backlash Against Slop and "Norway’s Electricity Crisis is About to Hit Britain"
Links for the day
Links 01/09/2025: Catching Up (Mostly via Deutsche Welle), "Windows TCO" Effect in UK
Links for the day
Gemini Links 01/09/2025: Linguistic Barriers and "Web 1.0 Hosting"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, August 31, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, August 31, 2025
The UEFI 9/11 - Part IV - External Interference
They all seem to be playing a role in crushing Software Freedom and self-determination for users
Links 31/08/2025: Baggage Claim Scams, an Insurrectionist’s War on Culture, and a Sudden Robotics Hype
Links for the day
Gemini Links 31/08/2025: Reviewing Netsurf and Slightly Less Historic Ada Design
Links for the day
Links 31/08/2025: Google Gmail Data Breach and LF Puff Pieces for Pay
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, August 30, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, August 30, 2025
This is What Google News Has Become
Moments ago
The Slopfarm WebProNews Has Turned Google News Into a Laughing Stock Full of Plagiarism by Slop
If Google News dies of neglect, that's one thing. It's starting to seem like active neglect by Google is a form of participation.
Do What is Moral, as What's Legal Isn't Always Moral
Do what's objectively moral, no matter the costs and the risks
Slopwatch: Google News Assisting Plagiarism and Anti-Linux FUD, Serial Slopper Rips Off Linux-Centric Journalists
This makes the Web a much worse place and lessens the incentive to do journalism
Links 30/08/2025: NVIDIA Fakes Results to Hide a Bubble Already in Implosion Phase, Data Breaches Galore, Important Win for Workers' Union in Canada
Links for the day
Representing and Speaking for Animals
If I ever choose to take this matter to tribunal with animals-centric NGOs on my side, it'll get some press coverage for sure
The UEFI 9/11 - Part II - Campaign of Censorship and Defamation Against Critics
In dictatorships, humour serves an important role. It's tragic.
In Kazakhstan, Yandex Estimated to be 20 Times Bigger Than Microsoft
Bing is measured as down this month
Shutterstock Not Enough? The Register MS Uses Slop Images in Articles (Seemingly More and More Over Time)
Cost-saving trajectory amid office shutdown?
Gemini Links 30/08/2025: Games, PostmarketOS, and Slop
Links for the day
Links 30/08/2025: Imgur Uproar and Many Ukraine Updates (Mediazona Reports Over 200,000 Russians Died for Putin)
Links for the day
How Not to Build Software
code forges that need a Web browser perhaps fill some 'niche' demand
GAFAM and "MATA"
The use of dark humour there hopefully helps illuminate what a lot of "modern" technology became like and how it interacts with human civilisation (to what ends and whose gain)
Birds Are Not "Pests and Vermin", Privacy is Not a Crime, and GNU/Linux is Not 'Hacking Platform'
I could not help but think of Free software analogies
The Sites Should Be Very Fast Again
That issue is now resolved
Flying in 2025
worse than ever before
Activists, Including Technical Activists, Need Not Pursue Affirmation
Techrights doesn't play or participate in a "popularity contest"
The UEFI 9/11 - Part III - Chaos is Scheduled to Happen Second Thursday of September (No Matter What the Microsofters Tell You)
The clock is ticking
Downplaying the Impact of "UEFI 9/11" is a Losing Strategy
we won't publish much whilst on holiday
Government Sites Should Run Free Software
Not proprietary bloatware with buzzwords
LLM Slopfarms Take No Breaks
When people run sites by bots they don't need to worry about "breaks"
GNOME Having a Meltdown Again
Thanks and farewell to Steven Deobald
Gemini Links 30/08/2025: Low Tech and Hunchbin 1.0.6
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, August 29, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, August 29, 2025