Bonum Certa Men Certa

US Patent System Utterly Broken and Threatens Expansion to Europe

Patent globalisation

Acropolis
Acropolis



Summary: Why the US-centric system (multinationals-serving), which ties together patents and courts for increased protectionism, is not at all designed to maximise productivity and how it is threatening to achieve gradual globalisation, with Europe as the next stop (through UPC/Unitary Patent)

The patent lawyers correctly point out that "A substantial number of patents being enforced today are involved in parallel proceedings."



"Invalidity would apply to a vast majority of these cases had the USPTO not been greedy and corrupt (seeking increased profit, lowing bars/standards to get there)."That is because the system (patent and juridical) is broken and notoriously wasteful. This is good for patent lawyers. "In a case decided today," say the lawyers, "the Federal Circuit says that the PTO's invalidity decisions trump prior Court Decisions."

The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) is doing nothing to address large-scale lawsuits (many defendants) and ridiculous patents, so this is hardly fixing the system. Invalidity would apply to a vast majority of these cases had the USPTO not been greedy and corrupt (seeking increased profit, lowing bars/standards to get there).

Recently, PTAB [1, 2, 3] destroyed some software patents and the lawyers take a look at it too. They also consider gene patents (after the recent SCOTUS ruling), noting that Myriad [1, 2, 3] is on the attack again:

In AMP v. Myriad, the Supreme Court ruled that the process of isolating naturally occurring DNA is insufficient to transform the natural phenomenon into a patentable invention. At the same time, the court ruled that a manmade cDNA version of naturally occurring human DNA is patent eligible.


What if those patents were simply not granted in the first place? There is no proper oversight ensuring the patent system can't go astray. That's why there is so much litigation (collateral mess) in the US and Europe is under threat of inheriting this collateral mess.

According to this, "The EU Presidency is planning an IP event in Vilnius, 8-9 October, stay tuned! http://bit.ly/10Dz8XN" (when patents are described as 'IP' it usually means broadening their scope and power).

Another tweet from the same pro-'IP' site says it "Wouldn't put money on anything to do with #unitarypatent or #UPC. But it will happen at some point ..."

Why? Evidence shows there are still big barriers. All that these things would achieve is saturation of patent trolling in Europe.

"All that these things would achieve is saturation of patent trolling in Europe."Following German action to ban software patents for good [1, 2, 3] there is more of the same as "Germany calls on EU to ban 'patent box' tax breaks". To quote The Guardian: "Germany's finance minister called on Tuesday for a ban on the so-called "patent box" tax break offered by Britain, Netherlands and some other EU members, which he says results in unfair competition for foreign investment."

Stuff like the above, the 'cult' of patents, is "why #patentTrolls are coming to #UE with #UnitaryPatent and #UPC," says Gérald Sédrati-Dinet. We have warned about it for years. There is still time to stop it, preventing software patents in Europe.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Blizzard/Microsoft Unions Grow Ahead of Mass Layoffs at Microsoft, Apparently Starting Next Week (as Many as 30,000 Workers Laid Off by Year's End)
Microsoft already fired about 5,000-6,000 workers this year by our estimates; that's not counting resignations compelled through pressure (i.e. pushed, did not jump) and contractors
"Victory Day" - Part II: Abject Defeat to Hypocrites and Objectionable People Who Strangle Women Whilst on Microsoft's Payroll
Someone is going to have to pay for this; it won't be us
Rust Propaganda Now Amplified by Slopfarms Powered by Microsoft LLMs, Encouraging the Outsourcing of GNU/Linux Distros to Microsoft/GitHub/NSA (and a Shift Away From GPL/Copyleft)
Moving to Microsoft GitHub and adopting unfinished, untested code for highly critical bits
IBM is Rotting With "Zero Internal Jobs" and Many PIPs (Performance Improvement Plans) on the Way, Typically a Fast Track Towards Layoffs Without Severance
At risk of giving air(time) to tribal sentiments, the internal joke at IBM is that to IBM "AI" stands for "All Indian"
The Gerstnerisation of Microsoft: Seventh Wave of Microsoft Layoffs (Over 20,000 to be Cut) Allegedly Going to Start Shortly, Probably Start of Next Week, Microsoft Spreads Chaff and Noise Before the Big Axes Fall
we might be looking at about 50,000 people that Microsoft gets rid of this year
 
Gemini Links 10/05/2025: Germany Considers Smartphone Ban in Schools, Right to Repair Bills
Links for the day
Gemini Links 10/05/2025: Git Server and Great LLM DDoS of 2025
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, May 09, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, May 09, 2025
Links 09/05/2025: Inflation Rising and Rights to Protest Curtailed Some More
Links for the day
Gemini Links 09/05/2025: Good and Evil, LLMs Made the Web Worse Yet Again
Links for the day
European Patent Office (EPO) Faked "Revenue Expansion" by Granting Loads of Invalid, Illegal Patents; Staff Still Wants to Know Where That Money Went
Only about 30% of the EPO's patents are for EU entities/people
Links 09/05/2025: TeleMessage Blunder, More Distractions From Impending Mass Layoffs at Microsoft
Links for the day
GNU (and the FSF) Still Changing the World
Today, in 2025, GNU powers almost everything
Military-Grade Anti-Linux Microsoft Propaganda Using Microsoft LLMs in Fake 'News' Sites (Slopfarms)
This is part of a pattern
Links 09/05/2025: Analog Computer and First time at FOSDEM
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, May 08, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, May 08, 2025
Links 08/05/2025: Mass Layoffs at Google Again, India/Pakistan Tensions Continue to Grow, New Pope (US) Selected
Links for the day
"Victory Day" - Part I: That is the Day Microsofters Who Assault Women Pay for Their Actions in Foreign Land (Using "Guns for Hire" Who Attack Their Own Country for American Dollars)
Adding a friend from Microsoft to the docket didn't help
Rust is Starting to Seem More Like Microsoft-hosted "Digital Maoism", Not a Legitimate Effort to Improve Security
Maybe this is very innocent, but they seem to have taken a solid, stable program from a high-profile Frenchman and looked for ways to marry it with GitHub, i.e. Microsoft/NSA
Gemini Links 08/05/2025: Practical Gemini Use Case, Shutdown of the Blanket Fort Webring
Links for the day
Links 08/05/2025: "Slop Presidency", US Government Defunds Public Broadcasting
Links for the day
Lasse Fister, Organiser of Libre Graphics Meeting, Points Out the Code of Conduct is Likely Violated by the Same People Who Promote Codes of Conduct (and Then Bully Him Into Cancelling a Keynote)
I am starting to see Lasse Fister as another victim
LLM Slop Attacks Not Only Sites of Free Software Projects But Also Bug Reporting Systems (Time-wasting, in Effect "DDoS")
Microsoft, the leading purveyor and promoter of slop, is a cancer
The Richard Stallman (RMS) "European Tour" Carries on In Spite of the Nuremberg Incident
Some people spoke about how they saw yesterday's talk
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, May 07, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, May 07, 2025