Gene Quinn (on the left) met Michelle Lee some years ago, but his site perpetually attacks her now
Summary: The pathetic tactics of advocates of software patents speak volumes and are a testament to the fact that they have lost their battle
THE EXISTENCE of software patents in the United States continues because 1) for a number of decades such patents were granted and have not yet been invalidated (or even challenged upon some party's demand) and 2) the patent office does not necessarily accept the courts' decisions, as it works based on guidelines that may be somewhat behind the times, so to speak. So let it be widely accepted that 1) just because a software patent exists does not mean that it would be potent upon litigation in a court and 2) it has gotten harder to be granted a software patent in the US, possibly hard enough to deter people from even pursuing such patents in the first place.
"Who would even be 'brave' enough to sue with software patents these days? Sometimes the plaintiff is compelled to pay not just its own legal fees but also the defendant's/defendants'."The patent microcosm, by which we mean a profession that gains from patents but nothing else, is viciously attacking the system in its current (reformed) form. It is attacking the reformers, for merely doing their job. The system have been gradually fixing itself and protecting itself from patent maximalists, so backlash is to be expected. Here is Watchtroll's latest, titled "The Transformation of the American Patent System: Adverse Consequences of Court Decisions". The ever-so-crude and out-of-touch Watchtroll tacitly admits that software patents are dying and it blames it on Alice, as usual. "At least some patents continue to issue," it says, "covering software related inventions each week by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and no one seriously believes software will become patent ineligible per se. But software patents are difficult to obtain, and in some Art Units they are extremely difficult if not nearly impossible to obtain."
The Director of the patent office, Michelle Lee, has been attacked quite a lot by Watchtroll recently [1, 2, 3, 4]. She is very likely to stay, so to Watchtroll the 'problem' which is patent sanity will simply not go away. When software patents are dead (completely and entirely) there may be no more Watchtroll. These parasites are fighting for survival now. Worthless software patents were bought by V-Nova, based on a bunch of press releases or superficial announcements published yesterday [1, 2, 3], but it doesn't say how much for. It may as well been a yard sale. Who would even be 'brave' enough to sue with software patents these days? Sometimes the plaintiff is compelled to pay not just its own legal fees but also the defendant's/defendants'. ⬆