Bonum Certa Men Certa

As Patent Extortion Increases, Best Strategy May be to Have Patent Trolls Sue Software Monopolies

Patent ad
"A Patent Caution Notice
which appeared on 2010-09-29
in the Times of India"
- By sankarshan



Summary: Another quick report on the malignant atrophy known as software patents and how it can be inoculated against

ABOVE the summary we put a wonderful new example of what patents -- including software patents in India -- may bring about. It's a reign of terror for software developers and the original can be seen in full size right here. Today in the news we learn about yet another software patent lawsuit, which proudly gets announced in a press release. Is this the future of so-called 'innovation'? Suing one's potential competitor rather than sharing and collaborating? Writing up some papers rather than typing down better code? It's really sad. Here in IDG's CIO "Advice" section we have a booster for software patents. That's the type of message that they get across:



I've worked with software patents on and off for roughly twenty years, but sometimes a different environment stimulates fresh thinking. In this case, as I sat there trying not to giggle while several teeth were ground to nubbins, it struck me that this experience resembled, in a surprising number of ways, the experience of software professionals working on patents. The dental analogy even struck me as potentially useful to IT executives trying to get their teams to work on patents. So what do patent and dental work have in common?

It's rarely as bad as you expect. It's very unlikely that you'll be jumping for joy as you walk into the office of the dentist or patent lawyer. More likely, you'll be dreading it more than it deserves. Neither activity is a goal you're pursuing, but more of an inevitable necessity for pursuing the larger goal of a healthy mouth or a prosperous software company.


IDG's pseudo-open source blog [1, 2, 3] has two of its Microsoft apologists/partners/boosters write about software patents today and yesterday [1, 2]. The latter one seems to be embellishing Microsoft's image, just as Microsoft lobbyists (aka "mobbiyists") do at the moment using stories like this one, which they conveniently take out of context (a rebuttal to it was mentioned just hours before this post).

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Apache Software Foundation, and the Computer & Communications Industry Association filed an amicus brief in support of Microsoft today, asking the U.S. Supreme Court for a ruling that would have a major impact on patent litigation.


This is about Microsoft trying to help itself. Here is an overview of posts about that. As Henrik Ingo put it, "When it hurts themselves, they start pushing against #swpats [software patents]. At least a little. [...] More trolls for MSFT, ORCL etc please!"

Recent Techrights' Posts

Abuse Inside the Polish Patent Office (UPRP) - Part IX: Minimum Wages For You (Experienced Scientist), Alicante/EU Paydays For Me (Unproductive, Corrupt Official)
Does UPRP maladministration extend to the false belief that qualified and experienced scientists can play the role of circus clowns?
"The Liberating Power of Simply Telling People the Truth."
'polite' bullying
Who Imitates Who? Plagiarist as Client (From Microsoft), 'Plagiarism' at the Law Firm?
let's revisit the subject
EPO's Central Staff Committee (CSC) Scrutinises the Man Who Illegally Grants (and Forces Others to Illegally Participate in Granting) Software Patents in Europe
EPO compels examiners to break the law in the name of obeying illegal "rules" or "orders"
The Latest Rumour Says The Next (as Correctly Predicted Before) Wave of Layoffs at Microsoft is 3 Weeks Away, "Larger Than the First Wave"
Step 2
TV Licensing Used to SPAM Your Postbox, Now It Does the Same to E-mail
First they ask for your E-mail address; then they start nagging you via E-mail
Our Priority is Still Tackling Software Patents and Corruption in Patent Offices
Meanwhile we got compliments on our recent articles, which means that they are effective
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We too have some slop issues; this past day this site and the sister site had to answer about 2.5 million requests (not counting Gemini Protocol) and it's slowing things down for everybody
 
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Either you support Prince Mohammed bin Salman or you're a nazi
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This takes patience, sure, but at the end most evildoers face the consequences for their actions
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Will those systems respect users' freedom?
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Yesterday the Central Staff Committee at the EPO spoke about another "reform" at the Office
Over at Tux Machines...
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How many people need to die for these people to get their massive salaries?
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Abuse Inside the Polish Patent Office (UPRP) - Part VII: Washing Their Hands After Corruption and Abuse
"Tragedy or comedy?"
Culling Bad RSS Feeds of Bad Sites
Not throwing out the baby with the bathwater
If 'Microsoft v Techrights' is Dealt With by a 'Microsoft Court' (or a Court Outsourced to Microsoft)
More on that later
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technology is fast becoming dysphoric