Bonum Certa Men Certa

Bias From Patents Maximalists Paints Google and Microsoft as Being in Patents 'Alliance'

Michael Bloomberg
Michael Bloomberg, patents maximalist and Wall Street's guardian



Summary: How a couple of companies in a dispute (Microsoft attempts to ban and/or tax Google's Android/Linux) get characterised as allies in plutocrats-owned media

Earlier this week the patent lawyers wrote about a notorious patent troll called Erich Spangenberg [1, 2, 3]. This alludes to an article we cited here beforehand and it says: "The New York Times has a couple of articles (here and here) today that focus on Erich Spangenberg, the CEO of IPNav, identified by RPX as the US’s most litigious NPE. There’s a lot of colour in both pieces, none of which will comes as a surprise to experienced operators in the IP markets. But in terms of new information there is very little; though one fact did stand out: the deal offered to Parallel Iron, an SME which got $250,000 from IPNav in return for a fixed-term exclusive licence to monetise its patents: “Parallel Iron would keep 42.5 percent of any settlement revenue and verdicts, with the rest split between IPNav and the lawyers it hired.” That strikes me as probably being a lot more than those patents would have a chance of generating were Parallel Iron to do the monetisation job itself."



The New York Times article was also mentioned by vocal patent critics:

The New York Times goes after patent trolls in a long review in the Sunday paper link here. Its author, David Segal, thinks he has found the worst offender, Erich Spangenberg, whose company, IPNav, even has a classy website, link here on which it claims to have "Monetized to date: $610,549,103" and makes its sales pitch to existing and prospective clients.


IP Nav was criticised by Troll Tracker, which uses some humour. These raiders/trolls are no laughing matter. This is extortion, akin to what Intellectual Ventures does at a much bigger scale. We should call for prosecution.

The same site as above (patent lawyers and boosters) spreads the dubious claim that Microsoft and Google have a lot in common when it comes to patents, bolstered perhaps by this sensationalist report/bizarre article calling it alliance between those two companies. Susan Decker, who routinely promotes this type of thinking, pretends that Google and Microsoft are in the same camp because they agree on something which just about every company agrees on. They "seek to curb litigation practices of firms demanding royalties," it says, but what is Microsoft if not exactly that? This summary is misleading, but the same poor reporting has spread elsewhere following the report from patent booster Bloomberg (a plutocrats with press ownership and Wall Street agenda). This is far from the first time we complain about pro-patents bias in Bloomberg. Even yesterday, to give a brand-new example, one could find another one of those ridiculous "Intellectual Property" reports, again reinforcing the fiction about Google and Microsoft sidling (right at the start). Shame on this ongoing attempt to lump together copyrights with trademarks and with patents. It's a deliberate way to legitimise patent monopolies and it has been going on in this paper/channel for quite some time. They also lump in patents with "Trade Secrets/Industrial Espionage " (scroll down to the bottom). Appalling. Readers should complain.

Looking at some actual realities, Microsoft is behind many such trolls and Microsoft itself acts like a troll. Why compare it to the victim, Google? Microsoft has been trying hard to embargo Google products and even filed antitrust complaints by proxy. Now there is this other weird motion to prevent Google from competing:

The Android market has really taken off in India with majority of Smartphones in the country running on Google’s Android platform. However, DNA and PTI has brought in a shocking news, which says that Telecom Minister, Kapil Sibal plans to ban Android in India, accusing the mobile OS to carry adult applications which are unsuitable for minors.


It is worth exploring if some pressure from Android rivals played a role here. In any event, here is another new development in Microsoft's patent fight against Android:

Microsoft, that devilish litigation machine, now wants to win by summary judgment in the Seattle RAND patent case against Motorola on the next question to be tried, whether Motorola violated a duty of good faith as to its RAND licensing commitments. Motorola, naturally, opposes [PDF]. It wants its day in court with a jury, not just this judge, who keeps beating Motorola up. At least in Seattle courtrooms, it seems Microsoft can do no wrong.


To describe Google and Microsoft as being in an "alliance" on patents is very deceiving. Microsoft engages in racketeering against Android, which really merits a jail sentence, not some fairy tale or an illusion of friendship. Bloomberg should grow out of its habit of deceiving the public.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Promoting Microsoft Windows With LLM Slop
What is the policy at BetaNews regarding LLM slop?
Alex Oliva, the Potential 'Successor' of RMS, Has a New Web Site
More freedom for Alex Oliva
 
Links 16/02/2025: Nostalgia for Physical Media and the US Government Actively Promotes Pro-Kremlin Politicians in the EU
Links for the day
Gemini Links 16/02/2025:Life, Cynicism, and languages
Links for the day
Links 16/02/2025: Oligarchs "Collect Your Data and Control Your World", Global Temperatures Shoot Up
Links for the day
Links 16/02/2025: "Microsoft Is Laying Off Employees" and Internal Dissent Brewing at Facebook Over Regime Complicity
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, February 15, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, February 15, 2025
Links 15/02/2025: Harms to Health, Public Domain, and More
Links for the day
Gemini Links 15/02/2025: On Autistic People, AuraGem Over HTTPS
Links for the day
The Cyber Show (C|S) Speaks of the "Rise of the Nerd Reich."
This 'Valentine Episode' is quite good
Azure is Turning 17 This Year, Still Losing Money and Staff
Hallmark of pyramid schemes, deriving "value" out of things that do not really exist?
Strong Momentum for the Free Software Foundation (FSF) as Winter Approaches Its End in Boston or in the Northern Hemisphere
FSF's founder, Richard Stallman, gives another talk in Italy in 9 days from now
The 'Drunken Plagiarists' Are Harming Journalism About GNU/Linux
They lessen the incentive to do real journalism abut GNU/Linux
Female Nazis and racist Swiss women
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Richard Stallman on RISC-V and Free Hardware
Invidious is under attack by Google
Links 15/02/2025: Erasing of American Science and Tesla SLAPPing Critics
Links for the day
IDG 'Reviews' of GNU/Linux Now Contain LLM Slop
It's typically ads or commercials... or sometimes spin disguised as news
Gemini Links 15/02/2025: Spectacles and "Before Sunset", Moving Domains Out of the US
Links for the day
Microsoft Has Only $17,482 Million Left, "Cash on Hand" Sank 40 Billion Dollars in 2 Years
Microsoft runs low on money in the bank
YouTube Layoffs Mean That YouTube is Still Losing a Lot of Money (Net Income or Profit Almost Definitely Negative)
In more recent years Google defunded many vloggers
In Gopher and Gemini Protocol People Abandon Services Based in the United States
There's no resistance whatsoever
Python and Microsoft: Pandas Should Have Known OpenDocument Format (ODF) and Microsoft Excel Are Different and Competing Things
now we're meant to think that in order to open ODF files we need some functions with "Excel" in their name
Not Only Windows, Surface, and "Hey Hi" PCs; Microsoft's Hardware Ventures Are a Dumpster Fire; HoloLens Mixed Reality Hardware Now Axed Altogether and Staff is Miserable
Microsoft is in a terrible state
Certificate Authority (CA) Let's Encrypt Now Down to TEN (0.3% of the Whole) in Geminispace
The number of capsules that use Let's Encrypt is, according to Lupa, about to fall to single-digit figures
Links 15/02/2025: University Price Hikes and Copyright Action Against Slop Companies
Links for the day
Slopwatch: All Those New 'Articles' Are Fake and Crafted by Chatbots (LLM Slop)
Google News is promoting these as "Linux" news; they're not even made by humans
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, February 14, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, February 14, 2025
Gemini Links 14/02/2025: Mysterious Friend and "Eight by Eight"
Links for the day
They Will Never Leave Linus Torvalds Alone, Rust is Just Another Way to Cause Instability and Infighting in Linux
We already identified the Rust "community" as troublemakers more than 5 years ago and we wrote about the evidence
Apple: Social Justice or Social Nationalism?
Remember to buy Apple, folks
Links 14/02/2025: Mass Layoffs at Sophos, Chatbots Failing Very Badly, "DOGE as a National Cyberattack"
Links for the day
Moving Away From Certificate Authorities (CAs) Like Let's Encrypt Means Taking Away From the US Government the Power to 'Censor' Sites by Revoking Certificates
Gemini capsule is cheap to run and easy (easier than a Web site) to maintain. More people disillusioned and frustrated with social control media flock to it.
BetaNews' Managing Editor Wayne William Took Charge of GNU/Linux Articles and His Articles Are Real (He Actually Wrote Them)
We are frankly relieved to see that Wayne William recognised the problem and did something about it
Links 14/02/2025: Publicity Rights Violated (ByteDance), Bribes to Trump Passed via Social Control Media 'Settlements' Again
Links for the day
Gemini Links 14/02/2025: Constitution, Cosmic DE, and More
Links for the day
Slopwatch: Anti-Linux Articles Published by Bots, Dominating Google News
So a lot of the Web is Microsoft chatbot-generated anti-Linux FUD
Links 14/02/2025: Measles Outbreak in Texas, Zelensky Warns Russia Will Attack a NATO Country
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, February 13, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, February 13, 2025