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

Rewriting Things in Rust
How far would you go?
What Microsoft Reputation Laundering (With a Weaponised Law Degree) Looks Like in a Foreign Continent
You would expect this in uncivilised and primitive countries
Slopwatch: LLMs 'Write' Fake or Distorted 'News' About "Linux"
LLM slop disguised as news
Weeks After Microsoft Bankruptcy in Russia the Company Shuts Down in Pakistan, Too
Last month Windows' share in Pakistan fell to an all-time low
 
Links 05/07/2025: Hungary and US Defecting to Russia, "Google's Hotseat Hypocrisy"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 05/07/2025: 4th of July 2025 and "Zig Roadmap 2026"
Links for the day
How to Combat the Exploitation and Abuse by Microsoft GitHub
Not to mention corruption and crimes against women
Bryan Lunduke is Actually Sending His Audience to Attack People
"[Lunduke] is actually sending his audience to attack people."
Even The Right Wing is Rejecting Bryan Lunduke
no wonder he became so irrelevant and marginal
Microsoft's MSN Helps Microsoft Spread Lies About the Layoffs' Scale (Well Over 25,000 People Laid Off This Year)
There seem to be monopolies on lies and on truth
The Death of X Has Been Greatly Exaggerated (by Compromised Media)
X.Org Server is alive and well
In 2025 Everything is "AI". Remember Blockchains?
Talk about what companies and things (services, products, software) actually do, not the labels they use
Julian Assange Has Been Free for a Year
Julian Assange and I disagreed on some things
Monopolies and Scalping
Monopolies gravitate towards price hikes
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, July 04, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, July 04, 2025
Microsoft's August Layoffs Wave: "August is Confirmed for Additional Performance Based Cuts"
"August is confirmed for additional performance based cuts from the recent connects along with additional organizational cuts."
Links 04/07/2025: Google Replaces the Web With Slop, "AI Might Kill Us All"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 04/07/2025: Mindfulness and F1
Links for the day
Rob Musial's June 2025 Additions of Malware in Proprietary Software
Via the GNU Web site this week
Links 04/07/2025: Microsoft's H-1B Visa Applications Show Another Crisis Unfolding, Many More Deep Cuts and Shutdowns Revealed, Complete Microsoft Exits
Links for the day
Gemini Links 04/07/2025: A Day To Remember and "Stop Killing Games"
Links for the day
Crime and Corruption at Microsoft GitHub Cannot be Covered Up by SLAPPs in Another Continent
We'll write about this for a long time to come
Slop Videos Are Disappointing Garbage, Nothing New, Just Brute Force up on Display or a Pedestal of Slop
Slop videos aren't a new thing
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, July 03, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, July 03, 2025
The War on Local Storage (People Hosting Their Files Locally and Privately)
There's nothing wrong with controlling one's computing
What Digital Independence Means
Independence in the digital realms means abandoning platforms like GitHub, not just rejecting proprietary software
NVidia is a Bubble
they temporarily see fortunes and wrongly assume perpetuity thereof
Fedora Does Not Care About Diversity and Inclusion, It's About Optics (Corporate Image)
any notion of inclusion is superficial and misleading
Don't Buy the Excuses for Microsoft's Mass Layoffs
Back in the 90s, Microsoft bought a lot of companies to get and stay ahead
Happy Independence Day to Our American Readers
Maybe tomorrow will be a good opportunity to explain to American people - in terms of concepts, not brands - which tools respect their independence
Slopwatch: Linux Journal, Linuxsecurity, and Google News Getting Even Worse (More Slopfarms Added Which Attack Linux With Bruce-Force SPAM)
Google News is part of the same problem
Links 03/07/2025: More Cuts and Cancellations at Microsoft Revealed
Links for the day
Gemini Links 03/07/2025: Favourite Child and Launching WikiGem
Links for the day
GNU/Linux is Replacing Microsoft Windows. But We Need to Eradicate Microsoft, It's a Hub of Crime.
I have been writing about Microsoft since the 1990s when I was in school
Mystery Surrounding the PCLinuxOS Sites and PCLinuxOS Magazine
Let's hope this isn't something major
People and Companies Do Learn Some Lessons From Their Mistakes (Stubborn Ones Don't)
Brett Wilson LLP is an example of one that would rather drown in mistakes
Links 03/07/2025: 'Hey Hi' Slop Ridiculed Some More and Microsoft's Layoffs Tally for 2025 Reaches About 29,000 in Just 6 Months (Almost 5,000 Per Month)
Links for the day
Microsoft Staff Harassing Women, Strangling Women, Telling Women to Kill Themselves and Worse? Not a Problem!
Two women have left Brett Wilson LLP
The Slopfarms Are Losing the Plot (and Google is Propping Up Rogue Sites)
Google is part of the attack on the Web, on information, and on technology
New BetaNews Realises There's No Potential or Future in Slopfarms, Prior Editor Wayne Williams is Back
They realise that slop (so-called "AI") cannot replace humans
Claims That Microsoft Looks for Staff That Works More and Gets Paid Less (or Can Only Code by Grabbing Other People's Code, Under the Guise of "AI")
People can form their own opinion
Richard Stallman Was Right About Reasons Not to Use Microsoft
last updated 2017
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, July 02, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, July 02, 2025
Gemini Links 03/07/2025: No to Cloudflare and Small Web July
Links for the day