Bonum Certa Men Certa

The Patent Microcosm Resorts to Fake News and Misinformation in a Desperate Effort to Convince Trump to 'Pull a Reagan' (Patent Maximalism)

Dirty tactics from the meta-industry of litigation and virtual (immaterial) 'assets'

Paul Morinville sickened



Summary: "The swamp" which is patent maximalists attempts to portray patent sanity as a "swamp", then lobby the US government to bring back the Reagan era of endless patents on everything

THE USPTO seems like it's staying as it is, but "the swamp" of Watchtroll just keeps attacking Michelle Lee [1, 2, 3, 4, 5].



Mr. Mullin from Condé Nast has produced an article about this, including the attempts by IAM, Watchtroll and other mouthpieces for patent maximalism to install Rader (basically a crook) as USPTO Director.

This is how Watchtroll is promoting a crooked man:

A patent blog that closely watches USPTO internal politics, IP Watchdog, raised the question earlier this week. Reports last month from Politico and The Hill indicated that Michelle Lee, a former Googler who was appointed in 2014 and is favored by the tech sector, would stay on under the administration of President Donald Trump.

Those reports, published right around Trump's inauguration, seem much less reliable now. IP Watchdog reports that Lee continues to be seen on the 10th floor of the Madison building, where the USPTO director's office is. Yet others continue to advocate for themselves, and on February 3, Lee canceled a scheduled speaking appearance in San Francisco. Since at least February 6, the Commerce Department's website has listed the position of USPTO Director as "vacant" (screenshot by IP Watchdog).


Mullin has been too gentle there with his words. He hardly even mentions Rader's scandals and maybe he decided to omit what would come across as seemingly impolite. But it's absolutely essential that people are made aware of Rader's scandals and don't let him ruin the USPTO in the same way he ruined CAFC (still recovering).

"...it's absolutely essential that people are made aware of Rader's scandals and don't let him ruin the USPTO in the same way he ruined CAFC..."In a separate article, Mullin shows that patent trolls are down, but not out (or dead), at least not yet. Software patents are now being used by some troll called Blackbird Technologies. We already mentioned this article last week and now it's TechDirt that writes about it. To quote: "Joe Mullin over at Ars Technica has the story of a patent troll, Blackbird Technologies, which was founded by (of course) two patent attorneys to buy up patents and shakedown companies with legal threats. Blackbird Technologies has now sued Netflix, Soundcloud, Vimeo and a variety of other companies over US Patent 7,174,362, issued in 2007 (filed for in 2000) on a "method and system for supplying products from pre-stored digital data in response to demands transmitted via computer network.""

This is a result of low patent quality. These are software patents. They should never have been granted in the first place. President Reagan lowered patenting standards to the point where the USPTO got filled to the rim with nonsensical patents, then came the patent trolls and exploited this (the first to do so, Ray Niro, is dead now, just like his firm). What Watchtroll et al want Trump to do now is 'pull a Reagan' and appoint a crooked patent maximalist, undoing all the progress that has been made under Lee.

"What Watchtroll et al want Trump to do now is 'pull a Reagan' and appoint a crooked patent maximalist, undoing all the progress that has been made under Lee."Edward Lanquist Jr., a "Guest Blogger", mentioned "National Inventors Day" the other day in the corporate media. This day is not about inventors but about patents, at least to him (the headline says, "National Inventors Day helps stress the importance of patent law"). What we have here is a bunch of patent law firms hijacking the word "inventor" to lobby on patents. To quote: "President Ronald Reagan proclaimed Feb. 11, 1983, as the first National Inventors Day to recognize the achievements of inventors who have contributed so much to our economy. Feb. 11 is the birth date of Thomas Edison, who held more than 1,000 patents. As we recognize the accomplishments of inventors and encourage future inventors, we should also take this moment to look to the current and future state of invention and our patent system."

Lanquist then attacks the status quo by interjecting his agenda: "Software is patentable. Regularly, someone tells me, “According to the Supreme Court, software is no longer patentable.” This belief is held by many, including CEOs, CTOs and persons involved in technology transfer and development. While some software is not patentable, the broad pronouncement that no software is patentable is just wrong. Software patents continue to be allowed and issued. Additionally, though current software patentability is not as broad as it once was, that will likely change. The patent system swings between broad and narrow protection. Patent protection may now be narrower, but history dictates that it will swing back. Decisions made now to not investigate software patentability will likely be viewed as mistakes later."

"This is fake news, or lobbying disguised as some sort of news."Actually, Lanquist seems to be little more than an undisclosed shill. There is no disclosure in the article, but a quick lookup reveals that he "practices patent, trademark and copyright litigation, intellectual property counseling and trademark prosecution."

Why did the publication not mention this? This is fake news, or lobbying disguised as some sort of news.

Over (or down under) in Australia, patent attorney Mark Summerfield continues to bemoan the death of business method patents. This is his latest:

Is This The Exact Day That IP Australia Turned on ‘Business Method’ Patents?



[...]

One thing that is immediately notable is that it appears to have been getting ‘harder’ to obtain a patent in Australia during the period prior to mid-2009, with the proportion of applications lapsing or rejected rising from around 20% to a little over 30%. However, this trend seems to have abruptly reversed with lapsed/rejected rates falling below 2006 levels by the end of 2013. I do not presently have an explanation for this apparent break in the data, and would welcome any suggestions. (Additionally, if you are interested in an analysis of the break establishing its statistical significance, see the Appendix at the end of this article.)


Patent maximalists will attempt to do whatever they can to patent everything under the sun. It means money for them and it's clear at whose expense. We need to fight back, or else we risk going back into the dark ages of patent trolls, software patents, and 'legalised' extortion.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Lovers and Haters
Always beware hate preachers and demagogues (or how they frame issues or whose fault they distract from)
 
Links 25/09/2025: More European Airports Shut Down Due to What Seems Like Russian Drones
Links for the day
Gemini Links 25/09/2025: Amiga Revived and Hackers (UTF-8)
Links for the day
Purchasing Concert Tickets in 2025 in Manchester: The "Modern" Experience
I recently spent a couple of days here testing the "terrain" in order to better understand how large public venues, for concerts rather than sporting events like football, currently "work"
Links 25/09/2025: French Unions Want Another Strike, Super Typhoon Ragasa Kills Many
Links for the day
Microsoft 'Secure Boot' and Shim as Barrier or Obstacle to New GNU/Linux Users Trying to Escape Microsoft
Just as intended all along
Focusing on What People Have in Common Instead of Killing and Cancelling One Another
Men and women of both "wings" stand to gain a lot by working together on common interests
'Cancel Culture' Isn't About Enforcing Ethics (and It's Done by People on the Right, Not "The Leftists")
Smarter folks would leave social control media
Russia's Attack on Europe (and NATO) Will Worsen Censorship and Corruption in Europe
Can we still debate issues that predate the invasion of Crimea?
Lawyers Should Permanently Lose Their Licence (and Worse) for Using Chatbots in Legal Work
They not only waste people's money and time. They pollute the literature with falsehoods. They commit perjury. [...] Brett Wilson LLP sent the Judge nearly 1,000 pages of material (mostly mine, copied without proper permission) shortly before a short Hearing, which lasted less than an hour
GAFAM and MATA (Mythical, Metaphor) as Explained by analognowhere.com
They're instruments of suppression that sponsor the oppressor
We've Already Mentioned Who Nowadays Funds Garrett's SLAPP Against Us (Not Garrett), Let's Examine Who Sponsored His Litigation Partner (Other Than Microsoft Salaries There's a Buddy of Bill Gates)
it's alleged that the Serial Strangler from Microsoft got money from him
Florian Müller: Using Software Patents to Attack Software Developers, Agitate Against Patent Reform
He also promotes attacks on the German Constitution and laws
Reliance on Typepad Seems to Have Doomed the Voice of Software Patents and Patent Maximalists in PatentDocs
Follow the money
UEFI 'Secure Boot' is Potential Mayhem to the Environment (Older and Leaner Distros Stop Working)
creating new problems, disguised as "solutions" to problems that do not exist
Sometimes 'Cancel Culture' Backfires Badly
There's no such thing as "too much" coverage
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, September 24, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, September 24, 2025
Links 25/09/2025: Jimmy Kimmel Returns to Air (With Limitations) and London Stansted Airport Latest to Have Incident (Fire)
Links for the day
Slopwatch: Fake Articles, SPAM With Slop, and Google News Directs People to Read Slopfarms
why does Google News insist on still linking to prolific slopfarms?
Gemini Links 25/09/2025: New Game for Gemini Protocol, Eleven, and Network Solutions Woes
Links for the day
Punching People Doesn't Work
It makes nobody any safer
Look Ma, No "Cloud"
So far this year we've had an almost perfect uptime
Links 24/09/2025: Autism Blame-Shifting and Typhoon Ragasa Enters China
Links for the day
Buying From Oneself is Not Business Success
This isn't at all a joking matter even if you already laugh at the whole thing because your pension, savings etc. are tied to this scam at some level
This is How Microsoft's XBox and Entire Consoles (If Not Gaming) Ventures Will Ultimately Die
Ensure you can blame "Tariffs" (politics)? If not "hey hi", the fashionable go-to excuse when businesses fail?
What They Really Hate David Heinemeier Hansson (DHH) for
Nothing to do with code
Smart People Won't Buy 'Smart' Cars
Imagine trying to sell someone a house (proper home) while insisting that it'll need to be demolished 5 or 10 years later, then rebuilt again from scratch on the same vacant lot
The Relationship Between IBM Red Hat and Microsoft, Visualised
This metaphor goes a long way (projects, collaborations, and outsourcing
The Complaint About Brett Wilson LLP - Part III - Spying on Reporters' Families, Chaining Cases for Microsoft Employees Who Demand Censorship of Facts (Even Politely Expressed)
the time seems right to wrap up this introductory series
The Complaint About Brett Wilson LLP - Part II - UK SLAPPs for Americans, SLAPPs for Profit
Brett Wilson LLP has a track record of this kind
Cloudflare Gives Us All Another Reason to Boycott Cloudflare
If Cloudflare wants to use its vast surveillance network (which is what it does as a CDN) to foist paywalls and maybe something worse (like DRM on top), then Cloudflare should be more widely rejected as a company
Links 24/09/2025: "NASA Moving Out of Entire Buildings as It's Gutted" and Purge of Online Critics (Opposing Fascism Becomes Unlawful)
Links for the day
Science is Under Attack
Oligarchy prefers a dumbed-down population
Someone Expiring Certificates on the Day of the 9/11 Attacks is Not Someone I Would Want Controlling My PC (or Deciding What's Authorised for Booting)
"social justice warriors"
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Has Reportedly Failed People With Wrong Advice
At the moment the SRA has a PR blunder
The Man Suing Brett Wilson LLP and Gervase de Wilde (5RB)
Now he's probably using the (almost) 200,000 pounds he's supposed to receive to sue Brett Wilson LLP and former colleagues/partners
More Microsoft-Red Hat Cross-Pollination as the Company Loses a Managing Director
some people move from Microsoft to Red Hat and some do the opposite
Slopwatch: A World Wide Web That's Rotting for Companies That Won't Even Exist in a Few Years
some of the junk Google News is promoting
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, September 23, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, September 23, 2025
Links 24/09/2025: Qt Creator 18 Beta, Microsoft Cannot Bail Out "ChatGPT" Anymore, China and US Intensify Censorship
Links for the day
Gemini Links 24/09/2025: Gemlogs and Politics
Links for the day
Links 23/09/2025: Japan Limits Uses of Skinnerboxes ('Smartphones') With Toxic "Apps", Fentanylware (TikTok) Tapped by "MAGAts"
Links for the day
Brett Wilson LLP Has Just Been Sued (by Their Own Clients!)
Vladimir and Alla Yanpolsky sued Brett Wilson LLP in BL-2025-001167 at the end of last week
Mayday: Optus emergency calling crisis
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 23/09/2025: Massive Data Breach, Slop Versus Productivity, and Vista 11 Update Breaks Things Again
Links for the day
Code of Censorship
Extortion is peace
The Free Software Foundation (FSF) Has Un-cancelled the Best People, Just in Time for the Big 4-0
Mr. Oliva should have been there all along (since 2019)
Most "Modern" Technology Makes You Slower and Dumber
Because proprietary software makes you worse off
"What Comes After Free Software?" Wrongly Insinuates We've Reached the Goal (Prison is Not the Goal)
The oil tycoons use similar tactics against environmentalists, giving them fake "wins"
Making More Work Space
I learned the hard way that less is more in circumstances where more means distraction
MAHA is a Lie, Public Officials Never Valued Citizens' Health (They Still Value Private Businesses, Their Sponsors)
Reject demagogues
Free Software Foundation (FSF) Has a New Press Kit for the Weekend After Next Weekend (40th Anniversary)
miles better than social [sic] media [sic] quips, moderated by narcissists and oil tycoons.
Microsoft Had Two Waves of Mass Layoffs This Month (That We Know of) and It'll Get Worse for Microsoft Soon
Will the axe fall again by month's end?
Gemini Links 23/09/2025: Happy Equinox, Photronic Arts, and Perception Cognition
Links for the day
Lessons We've Learned After 17 Years of American Hosting
GAFAM is "all-in" with the "Trump agenda"
Back to Normal Now, We Plan to Do More In-Depth Series (or Multi-part Stories)
Articles (or series thereof) that contain philosophy are important to us
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, September 22, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, September 22, 2025
Microsoft Media is Panicking Amid Mass Layoffs Every Month, H-1B Fees, and "Seattle’s Tech Scene in Trouble"
In "late stage Microsoft", copyleft becomes proprietary
The Next Wave of IBM/Red Hat Layoffs Being Discussed Already
Red Hat is sort of disappearing the way Tivoli did
New Techrights Turns 2
Today starts the third year of the SSG-based Techrights