Bonum Certa Men Certa

Patent Maximalism Duo: Watchtroll and Patently-O Now Conjoined and Mutually Referencing One Another

Watchtroll -- like patent trolls (e.g. Dominion Harbor Group) -- resorts even to sexually-themed insults

PTAB impotence



Summary: Radical sites like Watchtroll are spreading their ideology and harassment tactics to sites such as Patently-O, run by Dennis Crouch from the University of Missouri School of Law

THE ATTACKS on the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) -- an issue we covered a little earlier -- is unmatched by PTAB-bashing blogs like Watchtroll and Patently-O, which now reference one another in an effort to discredit PTAB. What compels Dennis Crouch to be associated with such radical sites? We can't tell for sure (we can guess), but IBM did the same thing. Even Michelle Lee was foolish enough to meet Watchtroll before the site endlessly attacked her until she resigned.



"Even Michelle Lee was foolish enough to meet Watchtroll before the site endlessly attacked her until she resigned."Watchtroll is still wrong, as usual; a few days ago it repeated the myth of "Ownership Rights" (also peddled by Patently-O). It's false because patents are monopolies; they are neither rights nor ownership.

The day beforehand Watchtroll continued with its nasty attacks. If one opposes software patents and/or patent trolls, then Watchtroll will try to scandalise and come up with conspiracy theories (see what it did to Michelle Lee). It's disgusting. It's despicable. And this is what IBM and Patently-O now associate themselves with. It's like the 'Brietbart' of the patent world.

"And this is what IBM and Patently-O now associate themselves with. It's like the 'Brietbart' of the patent world."After harassment and bullying of Michelle Lee (by the patent microcosm) they finally look certain to have installed the patent microcosm (Andrei Iancu) at the USPTO. In some among other articles of ours we explained that he is certainly in favour of software patents. He's on the record on that. Patently-O certainly seems to be pleased. Days ago it wrote:

Andrei Iancu’s nomination to be the next Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office has now been delivered to the Senate. The nomination will be considered by the Judiciary Committee with likely confirmation this fall.


What a coup!

"Even Crouch is willing to admit that there is something dodgy about patents granted by the Office."For patent maximalists like Crouch, who keep attacking PTAB all the time, Iancu will likely be like a 'mole' inside the Office.

Even Crouch is willing to admit that there is something dodgy about patents granted by the Office. Days ago he revisited the subject of references 'spew'. What is that? It's the strategy of overwhelming patent examiners with references, as we noted to other day (to just make rejection harder to justify). At school we used to call that "smearing" -- or trying to hide the low quality of something using quantity that's beyond scope of assessment (in a project, quiz et cetera). Here is what Crouch said:

Matching my parallel work, the authors write: “By 2014, patents that cite an “extreme” or “impossible” number of citations are responsible for more than 46% of all patent citations, even though they comprise less than 5% of all patents issued in that year.” In my data – looking at patents issued Jan-Aug 2017 – I found that the skew has increased so that the “impossible” patents now cite half of all applicant-submitted patent citations. [Note Here that Kuhn looks at citation of US patent documents only, while my approach considered all citations, but limited them to those designated as applicant cited.]


So Crouch's analysis of patents reveals decline in quality and just 'spew' of references. His latest analysis also showed reduction in the word "said". "I’m quite happy with the timeline above showing the percentage of US utility patents that include the word “said” within their set of claims," he wrote.

"The bottom line is, there are worrying signs that the Office (USPTO) under Trump will be a return to the dark ages. Patent quality may no longer matter."Maybe the patent lawyers just tweaked their templates a little to contain more reference 'spew' and less actual substance. Such is the case nowadays at the USPTO. They just give the impression of novelty by overwhelming with jargon and intentionally avoiding certain words to dodge Section 101 disqualification. They advertise this!

The bottom line is, there are worrying signs that the Office (USPTO) under Trump will be a return to the dark ages. Patent quality may no longer matter. All the progress made by Lee imminently undone?

Recent Techrights' Posts

Links 14/07/2026: Plagiarism Spun as "Training", Zelensky Announces Leadership Shuffle
Links for the day
The Register MS Has Just Published "AI" Webspam That Mentions "AI" 54 Times. It Was Paid to Do This.
Who pays for all this "AI" hype or "buzz"?
Gemini Links 14/07/2026: Self-Advocacy Online; "The Internet Is Dead: How the Web Lost Its Human Soul"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, July 13, 2026
IRC logs for Monday, July 13, 2026
Modern Technology Harms Women More Than Men (Because the 'Tech Bros' Who Dominate STEM Have a Poor View of Women)
“Privacy protects us from abuses by those in power, even if we're doing nothing wrong at the time of surveillance.”
Internet Relay Chat Trolls Are Not Expressing Opinions, They Are Saboteurs
For the record
Links 14/07/2026: "The Freedom of Information Act Is in Serious Trouble"; Irish Datacenters Use Up Almost 25% of Total Energy
Links for the day
The Register MS: "AI" Puff Pieces for Sale, Not Journalism at All, Just "Webspam"
The Register MS isn't the sole culprit
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, July 12, 2026
IRC logs for Sunday, July 12, 2026
How We Do Techrights (and What's Changing Next Week)
Many former news sites no longer yield much non-meaningless news (not anymore); there's a gap to be filled
Links 12/07/2026: Palantir Unrest and Wireshark 4.6.7
Links for the day
Links 12/07/2026: New Instrument Time and PalmOS Experiences in 2026
Links for the day
Red Hat Staff Says IBM Policy Has Stigmatised Him as a Tool and a Slopper With Plagiarism Tools
IBM is killing Red Hat with slop
Freedom of Choice or Freedom Versus Choice (or When All Choices Are Incompatible With Freedom)
When some business asserts that it gives people different options, then it can rightly argue that it offers some choices, but that is not the same as freedom
Techrights IRC Turns 5 Without a “Code of Conduct”, “Code of Conduct Committee”, and All Those Bureaucratic Nightmares
18+ years if one counts our time in Freenode as well
Why U No Use AI???
Many hype waves come and go
There Are Still Slopfarms in Google News
Google is trying to participate in if not lead this pyramid scheme
The Cyber Show Explains How Slop and Promotion of Slop is About Taking Control Away From Computer Users
"On making a trustworthy machine"
Keeping Available the Site at All Times
Informal arrangements and crowdfunding keep our work available despite resistance (including from people who break the law)
What If "Era of AI" and "AI Revolution" (Fake News) Never Happened?
So how much longer before the bust (or bubble-burst)?
GNU/Linux Approaches 5% in Australia
5% by year's end?
Europe/EU is Moving Towards Independence, Fast to Adopt Free Software
More and more states (governments, public sector) in Germany are dumping Microsoft
GNU/Linux Grows at the Expense of Windows
People who want to get work done already left Windows
Tux Machines Growing as a Volunteers-Run Site
Historically the site did not have many original stories, but this changed as the audience grew and the site gained more recognition
Links 12/07/2026: European Commission Versus ‘Addictive Design’, "Google Loses Final Appeal Over $4.7 Billion EU Android Antitrust Fine"
Links for the day
GNU/Linux Market Share Increases Some More Today, statCounter Measures It at 7.3%
Will more such thresholds and records be broken?
Gemini Links 12/07/2026: Studying Languages and 2026 Old Computer Challenge (OCC)
Links for the day
EPO "Cocaine Communication Manager" - Part XIII - At the EPO, Cocaine Addicts and Their Friends Are "Protected Class"
What does that tell us about the EPO?
Increasing Output by Focusing on Originals
It's probably more important to carry on with these than it is to keep abreast of non-crucial news
Amid Strikes and Industrial Actions, Young Professionals at the European Patent Office (EPO) Kept on 'Short Leash', According to the Local Staff Committee The Hague
Issues affecting Young Professionals
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 11, 2026
IRC logs for Saturday, July 11, 2026