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Novell Uses More Software Patents to Market Itself

Summary: Novell uses intellectual monopolies to make business

IN A PRESS release that we mentioned earlier today, Novell is seen bragging about dozens of patents on 'cloud computing'. Many thanks to a reader for noticing the following part:

Based on more than 60 cloud-related patents and patent applications, the Novell€® Cloud Security Service enables Cloud Providers and Software as a Service (SaaS) vendors to ensure their offerings meet the strict security and compliance standards required by global businesses.


This is typical.

To be fair here, IBM is also playing those sorts of games with software patents. Yet two negatives don't make a positive (unless they are multiplied).

In other news about software patents, it is argued that even video games are now being polluted by them. It's Microsoft again.

A bunch of folks keep submitting various versions of this story about how Microsoft has apparently received a patent on join-leave in split-screen multiplayer games. We see so many of these sorts of stories these days, it's getting a bit tiresome to talk about them, but no less disappointing.


The weird Microsoft-attributed patent which we mentioned yesterday is receiving coverage at The Inquirer right now.

The problem was fixed and the patent is now owned by Kawneer. Sadly Microsoft never actually owned the rights to the butt clamp and has missed out on the licensing rights.


More than anything, this incident probably serves to show how messy the USPTO really is.

"Software patents have been nothing but trouble for innovation. We the software engineers know this, yet we actually have full-blown posters in our break-room showcasing the individual engineers who came up with something we were able to push through the USPTO. Individually, we pretty much all consider the software-patent showcase poster to be a colossal joke." —Kelledin, PLI: State Street Overruled... PERIOD

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