Bonum Certa Men Certa

In the Face of Malicious Lobbying, High Tech Inventors Alliance (HTIA) and Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) Protect PTAB

We too want -- and need -- to protect PTAB

High Tech Inventors Alliance members



Summary: A new push by the patent microcosm to eliminate PTAB and marginalise Section 101 (which helps suppress software patents) is quickly met with opposition from concerned politicians and groups that represent actual technology companies

OUR USPTO coverage is somewhat behind in the sense that less important stories we shelve until more information becomes available. We have been watching for a while the lobby against PTAB. It's more or less clear who's behind it and we wrote about it earlier this summer.



"The term "PTAB" (or "IPR") typically means "your patent is about to be thrown away..."""PTAB" has become a very scary word to trolls, patent maximalists and the likes of them.

The term "PTAB" (or "IPR") typically means "your patent is about to be thrown away..."

They know it. They shudder.

"On remand," said a PTAB opponent the other day, "the PTAB will need to reevaluate the scope of the claims and then determine whether the recited prior art discloses the requisite particulars."

"...the patent microcosm, Watchtroll in particular, would have us believe that PTAB deems about 90% of all US patents invalid."PTAB is seemingly everywhere these days! It deals with more patents than courts do. It definitely invalidates a lot of patents and Watchtroll's "swamp" now actively engages in active smears or activism against PTAB. The tone of their messages in Twitter, for example, is truly despicable. Watching the responses to them from software patents opponents (FFII, Red Hat etc.) is worthwhile, but we don't wish to link to that. It would just "feed the trolls", as the old saying goes (where the term "troll" refers not necessarily to Internet trolls but potentially to patent trolls).

As one can imagine, IAM is into that too. Patent maximalist and IAM 'lobbyist' Richard Lloyd (pro-patent trolls, overtly pro-software patents) hates recent SCOTUS decisions and rants about them in public, saying (in the headline) that these "could severely harm American businesses" when the very opposite is patently true. IAM, in this particular case, is just copy-pasting Shaked & Co, a legal firm rather than a firm that actually makes something. Such great 'reporting' by IAM... more like the usual lobbying.

"PTAB does not always eliminate patents; it just looks into the ones that are among the worst or are actively being used to unjustifiably sue companies."Putting aside all those rants from the patent microcosm, what we find in progressive sites are articles like this one from 6 days ago. It correctly states that "if the PTAB is invalidating a lot of patents, it seems to be because there are a lot of invalid patents being granted and challenged."

Exactly. But the patent microcosm, Watchtroll in particular, would have us believe that PTAB deems about 90% of all US patents invalid. Outrage over a bogus 'scandal'?

Here is more context:

Now, these months were selected because they had particularly high rates of PTAB judges changing their mind. In other months, the numbers are different, and generally more claims are cancelled. But this fact suggests that, contrary to the rhetoric, PTAB judges are perfectly happy to find a patent valid—if it’s actually novel and non-obvious. It’s only when a patent is invalid that it gets cancelled.

In other words: if the PTAB is invalidating a lot of patents, it seems to be because there are a lot of invalid patents being granted and challenged.


PTAB does not always eliminate patents; it just looks into the ones that are among the worst or are actively being used to unjustifiably sue companies. See this new press release that says: "Last Thursday, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board ("PTAB") denied Ford Motor Company's ("Ford") attempt to have six of Versata Software, Inc.'s ("Versata") patents reviewed for legitimacy—cementing their significance in revolutionizing the automotive industry. To date, Ford has sought nearly 30 challenges to the underlying patents of Versata's software, all of which have been dismissed by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ("PTO")."

"...PTAB has been good at applying Alice to patents which were granted before Alice (2014), thereby removing threats to innocent software companies or companies that merely use software."So sometimes PTAB proves that it's not hostile towards every patent (even a questionable or questioned patent). PTAB is just doing its job, which is similar to the job of the appeal boards in Europe. PTAB is a valuable tool that helps assure patent quality. Patent offices are notorious for granting lots of patents for financial gain or goals. So PTAB acts as somewhat of a safeguard.

As we noted here before, PTAB has been good at applying Alice to patents which were granted before Alice (2014), thereby removing threats to innocent software companies or companies that merely use software.

Watch this article titled "Betting on Facial Recognition Breakthrough, Advanced Discovery Patents AI Software" (published about a week ago also in Law.com). Since this is my domain, it is clear to me that it's all about software patents. All of it! These are pure mathematics so even if granted, such patents would likely be deemed invalid by a court or PTAB (the latter is cheaper). Now that Alice repeatedly prevails (the lobbyists won't manage to squash it) we need someone to apply the test and squash patents before they reach the courts (necessitating legal bills).

"Now that Alice repeatedly prevails (the lobbyists won't manage to squash it) we need someone to apply the test and squash patents before they reach the courts (necessitating legal bills)."There are of course those so-called 'bills' which bill themselves as "STRONGER Patents", but they actually strive to accomplish the very opposite (allowing shallow patents, not high-quality patents). "The chances of that bill being passed are remote," IAM admitted the other day, having subtly promoted this anti-PTAB bill. To quote:

Half of the group's members (Adobe, Cisco, Google and Salesforce) also belong to United for Patent Reform, the group of big tech, retail and other businesses which was set up in 2015 to seek broad-based reform of the US patent system. Two others, Dell and Oracle, were originally part of the group but are no longer listed as members.

[...]

He pointed out that the USPTO and the courts continue to confront some of the most pressing issues facing the patent system, including possible changes to IPRs. The Supreme Court is set to address the constitutionality of the review process later this year in the Oil States Energy Services case, while pressure is growing on the USPTO from some sectors to lessen the impact of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) – something that the SCOTUS decision in Cuozzo made clear the next permanent director of the agency would have the power to do.

[...]

The focus, however, increasingly appears to be in areas such as reform of patent eligible subject matter or changes to IPRs that the HTIA member companies oppose. The STRONGER Patents Act, which was recently introduced in the Senate, proposes a series of measures that are largely unpalatable to big tech. The chances of that bill being passed are remote, but it does draw attention to possible reforms that have largely been ignored by other proposed legislation.


That reference to the High Tech Inventors Alliance (HTIA) is important. The group says in its Web site (announcement on Friday) that "[l]ow-quality patents harm our patent system and stifle innovation, economic growth and American jobs" [via] and here are the politicians who support it:

The High Tech Inventors Alliance (HTIA) applauds Chairman Bob Goodlatte for focusing on how low-quality patents harm our patent system and stifle innovation, economic growth and American jobs.

HTIA was formed so that our member companies have a strong voice when advocating for a healthy patent system. Our companies represent a big slice of the innovative world. They employ 447K employees, including many of the world’s best computer scientists and engineers. Their contributions in technology and commerce have transformed society in countless ways. They spent $63B on R&D last year, they hold 115K U.S. patents, and they have a collective market cap exceeding $1.75 trillion.

In 2011, the America Invents Act created the Inter Partes Review (IPR) program, which has effectively helped to weed out bad patents from the system in a very cost effective manner. IPR strengthens the U.S. patent system by improving patent quality. It is a key reason that patent troll litigation dropped in 2016 compared to 2015. With this track record, diluting IPR at this time is both unnecessary and unwise.



Josh Landau, writing for another pseudo-progressive group which is run by the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), stated that "the Computer and Communications Industry Association submitted comments on America Invents Act (AIA) trial procedures in response to the PTO’s ongoing request for such feedback, most recently at the PTAB Judicial Conference in June."

This too was published on Friday (same day as the above from HTIA). These groups do share an interest with us as they too wish to protect both Alice and PTAB.

There is nothing bipartisan about the so-called "STRONGER [sic] Patents" Act. Watch it go nowhere very fast!

Recent Techrights' Posts

Confirmed in the Mainstream Media: A Lot of Microsoft "Workloads" Were Just LLM Slop (Helping to Fake Growth for Years, as Microsoft Had Paid "Open" "AI" to Become a "Client") and Demand is Rapidly Waning, Datacentres Canceled and/or Shut Down
Anything to facilitate further accounting fraud
Taiwan's Media Covers Closure of Microsoft's "AI" Lab, It's Time to Talk About the Gradual Death of Windows and Implosion of the "AI" Bubble
Earlier this week we showed that mostly Asian media had the 'nerve' to mention Microsoft silently shutting down its 'AI' lab
More Gains for GNU/Linux, Based on Web Surveys
the Steam site shows rapid growth for "Linux" this month
 
Microsoft's Trouble in Africa and Asia
A new all-time high for GNU/Linux
Brett Wilson LLP Reported to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA)
The saddest thing in all this is that law firms can maintain high standards shall they wish to
Links 03/04/2025: Tariff Pains and C.D.C. Cuts
Links for the day
StatCounter: Microsoft is Masking a Disaster, It's Way Behind DeepSeek Already and Interest in LLMs Has Waned
it turns out the money "raised" for "Open" "AI" may not even exist at all
Links 03/04/2025: SoftBank Money for Microsoft "Open" "AI" Probably Doesn't Even Exist, Wikimedia Foundation Blasts LLM Nuisance While Microsoft Admits Demand Has Shrunk
Links for the day
Gemini Links 03/04/2025: Patch Panel and Pictures
Links for the day
Islamic Republic of Iran: GNU/Linux at All-time High This Month, Windows Falls to 12%
Vista 10 is up this month despite being "end of life" (EoL) soon
Indonesia: All-Time Highs for GNU/Linux
What's noteworthy right now is the growth of GNU/Linux
statCounter Says GNU/Linux Usage is Up Again (Internationally)
some preliminary April data
Only on April 1st Can the Free Software Foundation Associate With Microsoft's Open Source Initiative (OSI)
We saw some pranks that day linking the FSF to Microsoft (e.g. "endorsing" Windows)
IBM Gets Rid of Kelly Chambliss as Mass Layoffs Reported in IBM Consulting, IBM Loses Key Contracts/Graft
IBM Consulting has been in disarray lately
Slopwatch: Anti-Linux Articles, Not Even Written by Humans
Why aren't Web sites more vocal about this problem?
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, April 02, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, April 02, 2025
Links 03/04/2025: Apple Fined Over Secret Surveillance, "Elegant Writer For A More Civilized Age"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 02/04/2025: Books and Cold Tea
Links for the day
Links 02/04/2025: More Layoffs, Nokia Again Takes Advantage of Illegal and Unconstitutional Patent Court With Nokia Staff as 'Judges'
Links for the day
Links 02/04/2025: Seizures and Returns to Windows of 24 Years Ago
Links for the day
LLM Slop Helps Obscure and Distort News About Layoffs (IBM, GAFAM)
It's hard to find accurate information
Links 02/04/2025: Microsoft Developers Are Threatening to Go on Strike, World Backup Day Noted
Links for the day
Gemini Protocol Has Growing Appeal (the Web Got Too Bloated and Full of LLM Slop)
For any "data plan" with bandwidth limits or "tiers" it would be cheaper to use/browse Geminispace
The Web Can Survive LLM Slop, But Only If We Collectively Shun and Discourage Serial Sloppers
Doing nothing ought not be a possibility
Amid Secret Shut-downs and Mass Layoffs at Microsoft (4 Waves of Layoffs in 3 Months of 2025) Some Microsoft Staff Expected to Go On Strike
workers going on strike
Gemini Links 02/04/2025: No more on Mastodon and Gemini Mention Script in Go
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, April 01, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, April 01, 2025
My Motion Disbarring or “Striking Off” Brett Wilson LLP for Enabling Violent Americans Who Try to Crush Microsoft Critics in the United Kingdom by Multiple SLAPPs
"Guns for hire" (for Microsoft people who received Microsoft salaries)
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Hijacked Again by Patent Litigation Industry, as President Cheeto Prioritises Aggressors
The "mafia" has taken over the "industry" and the Federal system (justice and constitutions trampled upon)
Ubuntu Slop and FUD Manufactured With LLMs and Funded (by Oneself) 'Studies'
Slop and FUD are ruining the Web
Gemini Links 01/04/2025: Games and More
Links for the day
Links 01/04/2025: Apple Fined $162M for Privacy Abuses, Disinformation Online a Growing Concern
Links for the day
Why We're Reporting Brett Wilson LLP for Apparently Misusing Their Licence to Protect American Microsofters Who Attack Women
For those who have not been keeping abreast
Newer Press Reports Confirm That Microsoft Shuts Down 'Hey Hi' (AI) Labs Despite All the Hype
The "hey hi" (AI) bubble is not sustainable
Links 01/04/2025: Mass Layoffs at Eidos and "Microsoft Pulls Back on Data Centers" (Demand Lacking); "Racist and Sexist" Slop From Microsoft
Links for the day
Stefano Maffulli and His Microsoft-Funded OSI Staff Are Killing the OSI and Killing "Open Source" (All for Money!)
This is far from over
Gemini Links 01/04/2025: XKCDpunk and worldclock.py
Links for the day
50 Years of Sabotage and a Gut Punch to Computer Science (and Science in General)
Will we get back to science-based computing rather than cult-like following?
Techrights Headlines as Semaphore
"If you are hearing this, thank you"
3 Months in 2025, 4 Waves of Mass Layoffs at Microsoft, Now Offices Shut Down Permanently
"A recent visit by the South China Morning Post confirmed that the office was dark, unoccupied, and had its logo removed."
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 31, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, March 31, 2025