Bonum Certa Men Certa

Patent Trolls Are Still a Problem, But Microsoft Remains One of the Biggest Patent Trolls (Non-Practicing in Mobile)

Related: Patent Trolls of Microsoft and Ericsson Are Trying to Tax Everything, Especially Linux Devices

Summary: How Microsoft, together with non-practicing entities such as Intellectual Ventures and the nearly-defunct Nokia, continues to tax Android/Linux using patents -- even in areas where Microsoft does not operate anymore

Patent trolls are still using as their principal source of ammunition patents granted by the USPTO. Most of these patents are software patents. Their arsenals vary in terms of size, but since nobody can sue a troll (nothing to sue over), one patent may be enough for the trolls to operate without risk of retribution (notably countersuit). Use of patents in bulk, moreover, overwhelms the defendant with "targets", raising the cost of a legal fight and rendering out-of-court settlement more attractive an option (see Microsoft v Samsung in 2015). That's just what Microsoft does to discourage legal challenge. Sometimes Microsoft simply attacks indirectly, via some well-funded, e.g. by Microsoft and Bill Gates, patent troll (it has plenty of such tentacles, including an in-house one).



"It's a global problem because many businesses operate in the US, even if they're not based in the US. This makes them susceptible to lawsuits."The problem of US patent trolls isn't compartmentalised. It's a global problem because many businesses operate in the US, even if they're not based in the US. This makes them susceptible to lawsuits. That includes companies in the far east -- just about as far as it gets from the US.

There are many articles about trolls, but not about software patents. We'll soon cover some of these articles and add our remarks on them. A new article, this one behind a paywall in Australia, says that "Patent trolls trawl for business" and starts as follows:

What better way to start the new financial year than with a cautionary tale about vexatious litigation.

There’s only one thing I fear more than getting the facts wrong and that’s getting embroiled in legal action, which I’m sure is the same for most professionals.


I have heard of quite a few companies that suffered from patent trolls. There are many thousands of such companies out there; some don't speak about it for fear of retribution from trolls. They just pay the 'protection' money and try to move on. They also don't want to signal that they'll willing to shell out cash for trolls, as that too can make them an attractive target.

"Microsoft is trying to impose bundling (e.g. of Microsoft 'apps' inside Android) using patent threats, with forced sales of patents to soften the appearance or the nature of additional payments."When the term "patent troll" is used many typically think of small entities, but not giant trolls such as the Microsoft-connected Intellectual Ventures or even the Microsoft-connected Nokia, which Microsoft now uses to relay patents to relatively big patent trolls. Microsoft is trying to impose bundling (e.g. of Microsoft 'apps' inside Android) using patent threats, with forced sales of patents to soften the appearance or the nature of additional payments. We wrote about it some days ago in relation to Nokia and a couple of days ago we stumbled upon the obligatory revisionism from IAM (the voice of patent trolls) -- the same sort of revisionism it repeated endlessly after Microsoft had done it to Xiaomi. Regarding patent shakedowns by Nokia and Microsoft, this is what IAM wrote:

In last year’s Microsoft agreement, the 1,500 patents transferred quickly became the deal’s headline figure, an indication that Xiaomi wouldn’t shy away from major acquisitions as it sought to catch up to more established smartphone companies. It was seen as a measure that might allow the Chinese company to move ahead in its timeline for introducing mobile devices to the litigation-heavy markets of North America and Europe.


All that really happened was, Xiaomi paid Microsoft and in addition to that it was compelled to preload Microsoft 'apps'. It was, as we explained at the time, yet another patent 'settlement'. It was extortion. Microsoft was trolling. But it keeps embellishing the story (PR) over time....

We need to start recognising that patent trolls don't need to have size as a criterion; rather, it's the nature of their behaviour. In that sense, Microsoft is one heck of a patent troll these days. Its mobile business is virtually non-existent, so Microsoft just goes preying on companies that distribute Android. It wishes to make billions of dollars by just threatening companies with litigation.

"...Microsoft is one heck of a patent troll these days. Its mobile business is virtually non-existent, so Microsoft just goes preying on companies that distribute Android."Not too long ago an article was published about the "growing disparity between NPE [trolls] and practicing entity patent damages" -- an article based on a so-called 'study' from PwC, a paid liar for Battistelli*.

Can we trust anything PwC says about patent trolls (referred to by euphemisms)? "PwC’s 2017 Patent Litigation Study highlights a number of interesting US trends," Managing IP wrote, "including the increasing gap between NPE and practicing entity damages and the top 10 awards ever..."

Well, by criteria such as "practicing", Microsoft now qualities as a patent troll because it's not practicing in the area of mobile. What will it take for more people to recognise that Microsoft too has been reduced to "patent troll" status (and a profitable one at that)? _______ * There is a lot to be said about the above, including the fact that EPO apologists keep referring as an authority to an EPO-funded 'study' which we repeatedly wrote about in the following past articles:

Recent Techrights' Posts

Seductive Mirage or Allure of Complex, Proprietary Coffee Machines (or Similar White Elephants)
Software is a lot like those things
Sloppy Reporting About Slop, or How The Register MS Lowers Its Standards
Maybe the management isn't even aware of this
IBM's Strategy: Cull 'Expensive' Workers, Replace Them With Cheaper Ones
So far we saw not even one rebuttal or challenge to the claim of Red Hat layoffs scheduled for tomorrow
The Goal of Coopetition Assumes You're Friends
it will never work with Microsoft
 
Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity, Brian Fagioli, and Other Serial Sloppers
Maybe Microsoft wants to dub this "Web5"
Gemini Links 10/08/2025: Residents Management Company, Automation, and Politics
Links for the day
Links 10/08/2025: AOL Ending Dial-up
Links for the day
Links 10/08/2025: Webrings, “AI Sunglasses” and “AI Eyeglasses”, US Administration Intensifies Attacks on Science and Research
Links for the day
Sometimes Newer is Worse
We generally need to reject this dumb notion that "old" means bad
The Code Used to Make Techrights Fits on a Seventh of a Floppy Disk (or 100KB When Compressed)
For the sake of comparison I've just downloaded the latest version of WordPress. The ZIP file is 27.2MB in size, or ~27,200KB.
What They Tell Young Programmers
Coding in 2025
Simpler is Better When Simple is Enough
Over-complicating things to "sell" new versions is so 1990s
Links 10/08/2025: From Social Control Media to Prison, New Examples of Windows TCO
Links for the day
If You Attack Somebody Too Much You Legitimise and Strengthen That Somebody
at the end those attacks add up to a "martyr" status
The Man Who Helped Microsoft Kill Linux is Trying to Delay Our Lawsuits Against Him
By conservative estimates, and based on court documents submitted by them, they're prepared to spend over a million dollars on lawyers, fighting against me and my wife
Gemini Links 10/08/2025: Gen Con 2025 and Framework Laptop
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, August 09, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, August 09, 2025
The Register MS (Microsoft) or The Register AI (Slop)?
What a slopfest!
Is Red Hat About to Give the Boot to GNOME People Who Helped Microsoft 'Secure' (Monopolised) Boot?
It was always a dumb idea to play along with Microsoft's hardware mischief
Sales of Windows on PCs (Windows Licences) Go Down
Microsoft has a big problem in its hands
The Hype That Microsoft and The Register MS (Among Others) Promote Helps Stage DDoS Attacks on Free Software Sites
Microsoft is, to put it bluntly, pure evil
Links 09/08/2025: Putin Allegedly to Visit Alaska (Which He Deems Part of Russia), Mike Tyson Sued for Copyright Infringement
Links for the day
Slopwatch: Linux Journal, LinuxSecurity, and Google News With Its Slopfarms of Choice
SEO spam, made with LLMs
Follow the Money: The Register MS Gets Paid to Promote "Hey Hi" Ponzi Scheme/Hype, Some Fake 'Articles' Might Be Composed by LLMs Already
paid to promote slop
Gemini Links 09/08/2025: Rethinking Aliases and Posting on Gopher vs. the Web
Links for the day
Links 09/08/2025: Apollo 13 Astronaut Jim Lovell Dies, Slop Future Bleak
Links for the day
After Shutting Down Studios, Divisions, Applications (e.g. Skype) Microsoft is Also Shutting Down 'Apps'
Cuts all around as layoffs persist this month, Microsoft tries to get many people to resign, and debt skyrockets
Most of Geminispace Can Probably Fit on a CD-ROM or a DVD (the Textual Part)
If one excludes very large capsules and ones that contain non-textual contenty
Eventually UEFI 'Secure Boot' Will be Dropped (Users Will Demand Its Removal and Boycott Its Pushers)
we expect OEMs will just listen to users
The Register MS: We Know Slop is a Bubble and Mindless Hype, But We Get Paid to Participate
Call out the culprits
Hate Mail From Anonymous Cowards
if this persists, we'll need to escalate
There Are Probably Over a Million Pages in Geminispace
there are two many limitations which merit a mention when it comes to assessing magnitude
Informal Open Letter to the Lawyer of the Microsofters (on Who's Funding the SLAPPs Against Techrights)
Whenever I ask about the funding they try to change the subject and act all aggressive
Microsoft Lunduke is Just Provoking People for Provocation's Sake
Be forewarned and remember where this guy came from: Microsoft
Besieged by Plagiarists Who Play With LLMs and Image Fusions
We really need to exercise or use our collective voice to oppose Serial Sloppers
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, August 08, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, August 08, 2025
Gemini Links 09/08/2025: Water Painting and Political Violence
Links for the day
Slopwatch: LLM Sloppers in Google News, LinuxSecurity, and More
they also perpetuate some falsehoods as the LLMs lack any comprehension
Links 08/08/2025: China King of Plastics and US Dictator Plans to Meet Russian Dictator
Links for the day
Gemini Links 08/08/2025: Cracking a Family Member's Password and Overdose of Slop
Links for the day
Red Hat's Latest Talent Hunt, Day Ahead of Mass Layoffs, is Yet Another Microsoft Executive
Red Hat will apparently commence mass layoffs early this coming Monday
Links 08/08/2025: "Quit Facebook" and High Cost of Microsoft/Windows Shown Again ("BlackSuit")
Links for the day
Good Morning, Readers of The Register MS
Things The Register MS could (but does not) cover this morning
Why Gemini Protocol Has a Bright Future
Maybe Gemini Protocol's promise becomes more appealing as the Web turns to slop and bloat
It's a Lot Easier to Participate in the Unethical System Than to Oppose Injustices in It
Going after powerful and high-budget interests is never easy
Microsofters Filed Two SLAPPs Against Us, Now They Cannot Keep Up With Judges' Orders
For over 4 months already their facilitator in London has been under investigation by British authorities because of what's being done to my wife and I
Censorship Regarding Red Hat Layoffs
Talk about this? They'd rather not.
Struggling to Cut Costs, Microsoft Continues Shutting Down and Cancelling Stuff This Month
There are August layoffs at Microsoft
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, August 07, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, August 07, 2025
Fake 'Linux' Articles, Written by Bots to Take Traffic Away From Real Articles
LLM slop helps replace information with junk or misinformation
When Google's Googlebombing of "Gemini" Was Not Enough; They Now Also Googlebomb "Gemini Space"?
We know GAFAM not only worries about Gemini Protocol but also attempts to 'infiltrate' Geminispace
The Register MS Promotes Microsoft Slop, Assumes All Readers Use Microsoft Windows
Microsoft really dominates the site
Gemini Links 08/08/2025: KDE/Qt Development and What's Missing From "Retro"
Links for the day