Bonum Certa Men Certa

Weakening of Patents Assigned to Google and Another New Patent Lawsuit Against Uber

Uber reader



Summary: Project Loon patent canceled, Google's lawsuit against Uber gets 'diluted' by 75%, and Uber faces a new lawsuit in the Eastern District of Texas (capital of patent trolls)

THE USPTO remains full of bogus patents. In other words, many of its patents -- once properly scrutinised -- would be found/deemed invalid. PTAB, which we'll write about later, is only one data point showing so.



Several days ago we stumbled upon this report titled "Space Data strikes win in getting key Project Loon patent canceled" and it said the following: "The legal war between tiny company Space Data and Alphabet’s moonshot X subsidiary, previously Google X, continues as the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) reportedly agreed to cancel most of one of Project Loon’s foundational patents."

Very good.

As usual, patent maximalists continue to hate Google and blame it for devaluations of patents (see yesterday's post from Dennis Crouch and the comments on it, not to mention all the abuse against Michelle Lee because she worked for Google for a few years).

The matter of fact is, whenever bogus patents get invalidated we should be happy. It brings more to the Commons.

Suffice to say, patent lawyers see it differently. They're greedy (at risk of over-generalising) and patent maximalism is their 'religion'. Some dubbed it "patentism" -- for it defies logic and reason.

Several months ago, Google/Alphabet sued a company using patents, but things have cooled down since then. Google ought to drop the lawsuit altogether. If Google does decide to take it a step further by dropping the lawsuit altogether, how would the patent maximalists react? Would they again get angry and blame Google for all the supposed 'ills' (actually blessings, such as AIA and PTAB)?

There's this newer report on this case which says "WAYMO, Google's self-driving car division, has dropped three of its four patent claims against Uber.

"The crux of Waymo's original lawsuit revolved around Uber's use of LiDAR (light radar, the means by which self-driving cars ‘see' their surroundings), which it claimed was stolen by ex-Googler Anthony Levandowski. Uber fired Levandowski in May."

"Alphabet CEO Larry Page will be deposed," according to another report, so one might expect the outcome to take months to arrive (unless there's a settlement).

Speaking of Uber and patents, there is this new lawsuit, again in the Eastern District of Texas and again involving a software patent:

Transportation company Uber has been sued over its use of location-based technologies in its app.

The complaint was filed by Fall Line Patents at the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division on Monday, July 10.

It relates to US patent number 9,454,748, which covers software that collects location-specific data and is compatible with all devices, eliminating the need to create new software for every device.


It will be interesting to see if 1) the lawsuit can be shifted to another jurisdiction (i.e. out of Texas) and 2) Uber can invalidate the patent using Alice (or similar). We'll keep an eye on it.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Microsoft-Sponsored Xenophobia and Nationalism
IBM is very similar in this regard
Tentative Summary of Things to Publish in Project 2030
I'll still be in my forties by then
 
Links 21/09/2025: "Hey Hi" (Hype) Under Fire, Fakes Identified; Tesla Burns Family
Links for the day
Google's Software is Malware and Malware in Mobile Devices
Originally posted by Rob Musial
Links 20/09/2025: Hegemony Coming to a Close, Luigi Mangione Ruled Not Terrorist
Links for the day
Gemini Links 21/09/2025: "Charlie Kirk Was a Hateful Piece of Shit" and Slop Code Attempted by Microsofter
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, September 20, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, September 20, 2025
Gemini Links 20/09/2025: Snowy Photos and utism is a Spectrum
Links for the day
Vintage is Sometimes Better
Why can't we get back to "simple" if (or where) "simple" means better?
Climate Breakdown Means We'll be Publishing More, Not Less
Press freedom will be a common, recurring theme
Our 5-Year Geminispace Anniversary is Coming Up
I still remember when Gemini Protocol was quite new
It's Right to Point Out Violence From the Right
Violence is a recurring theme
Web Browsers That "Do Hey Hi" (AI)
State-of-the-art plagiarism or "autocomplete on steroids" (not coined by us, nevertheless a nice description) don't have much/any prospect
Links 20/09/2025: Hardware Projects in View, Some Independent Publishers About Russia Prosper After Cheeto Cuts Funding
Links for the day
Gemini Links 20/09/2025: Options and TV Time Machine
Links for the day
Links 20/09/2025: Retrocomputer, Antique Phone Experience, and More
Links for the day
Links 20/09/2025: Internet Shutdowns, Media Censorship, and Climate Worries
Links for the day
About 700 New Gemini Capsules in 13 Months (or 54 Per Month)
4.8K would represent a 20% increase
Rust People: Drain the Swap, You're Holding It Wrong
Does Rust make sense?
Techrights the Name Turns 15
About 6 weeks from now we turn 19
Microsoft is Running Out of Time and Floating Fake Figures, Fake Projects, Fake Narratives, Fake Excuses
Also, a lot of Microsoft's "revenue" claims are circular financing (i.e. Microsoft buying from itself, which means Ponzi-like fraud)
Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity, linuxconfig.org, and Plagiarised Phoronix
Many articles out there are nowadays fake
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, September 19, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, September 19, 2025
Gemini Links 20/09/2025: Navigating the Pressures of Modern Life and SpellBinding Accidentally Wrote Another Gemini Server
Links for the day
Links 19/09/2025: Press Freedom Dying in US, Anti-Austerity Strikes in France, and Alan Rusbridger to Leave 'Prospect'
Links for the day
European Patent Office Illegally Gutting and Outsourcing Its Functions, Acting Like an Above-the-Law Commercial Business (It Won't Stop at Formalities Officers (FOs) and Classification Slop at the EPO)
breaking/violating laws and conventions
Offloading to the Sister Site
In the interest of not overwhelming readers
Links 19/09/2025: Coffee Club and "SpellBinding is Now Absurdly Fast"
Links for the day
Links 19/09/2025: Lobbyist of American GAFAM Becomes Data Protection Commissioner in Europe
Links for the day
Links 19/09/2025: Media Freedom Ceases to Exist in US, "Consider Dropping Twitter/X"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 19/09/2025: Thinking and Insect Bites
Links for the day
Microsoft E.E.E.: Git Will Now (or Very Soon) Fully Depend on Rust, Which is Controlled by Microsoft
Microsoft now makes Git dependent on Rust, or making Git dependent on GitHub, which is proprietary
The Right to Punch People (Apparently)
At Brett Wilson, Brett's job title is "Head of Crime" and Wilson normalises calls for violence
Slop or Fake Articles Have Turned Linux Journal From a Pioneering/Trailblazing "Linux" Magazine Into a Nuisance
some sites with former reputation - good reputation - turn into cesspools
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, September 18, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, September 18, 2025