Bonum Certa Men Certa

Patent Lawyers' Media Comes to Grips With the End of Software Patents

The Federal Circuit always says "no" to software patents (this year at least) and the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) rejects any petitions for it to deal with such matters

Will Any Software Patents Survive?



Summary: The reality of the matter is grim for software patents and the patent microcosm, 'borrowing' the media as usual, tries to give false hopes by insinuating that the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) may overturn Alice quite soon

THE battle in the courtroom is over. Software patents are pretty much over. So the battle has been taken to the press, where the patent 'industry' places its lies and marketing on an almost daily basis. We keep track of all this.



"So the battle has been taken to the press, where the patent 'industry' places its lies and marketing on an almost daily basis."Yesterday/today, using the word "survive" in the headline (inverting narratives, wherein the aggressor merely "survives" or is "attacked" by the defendant), the high-factor media of lawyers speaks of Alice and asks, "Will Any Software Patents Survive?"

Here is the outline:

In his Patent and Trademark Law column, Robert L. Maier writes: In recent weeks, the Federal Circuit has continued to affirm district court decisions finding software-related patents invalid for failure to meet the patentable subject matter requirement of 35 U.S.C. €§101. At the same time, a petition for certiorari to the Supreme Court was filed seeking to challenge the availability of this very defense—a petition that, if heard by the Supreme Court, could have dramatic implications for U.S. patent litigation.


They have been saying things like these for a number of months, but it never materialises. SCOTUS won't be revisiting the subject of software patents any time soon (if ever). We wrote about this dozens of times before. The above is one of those "real soon now" prophecies/narratives (akin to Team UPC's); they just try to give a glimmer of hope to clients and convince them to carry on pursuing software patents.

What does all this say about the patent law firms? Or about the media? Watch this new example of marketing disguised as a report. There are lots of these. Is the media engaging in any real journalism of just PR/advertising?

"What does all this say about the patent law firms? Or about the media? "Going back to the subject of patents, TiVo has just won an ITC battle against rivals [1, 2, 3] and Uber got a patent on something which sounds like marketing and/or placebo effect (lots of these around, this time motion-induced sickness prevention for Uber's "own self-driving software"). This whole article is like an advert based on a patent and there are also press releases bragging about software patents this week. This particular one says:

StorONE is the first company in the last decade to invest a six-year period of massive research and development, covered by more than 50 awarded and pending patents, prior to its first software release.


What's worth noting here is that at least some of the above pertain purely to software, even if used in conjunction with something like a car, a set top box, or storage device.

It seems safe to say, based on people who studied a large number of patents, that hundreds of thousands of granted US patents are software patents and are thus 'dormantly' invalid. They just haven't been challenged yet; if they had, they would evaporate. Such is the profound impact of Alice and precedential decisions it led to. ⬆

Recent Techrights' Posts

NVIDIA Down About 30% in 5 Weeks, When Does the Media Call It "Bubble" Rather Than Frame It as Sex Scandal?
they'll find a way to blame "China"
“Losing Huang Would Introduce a Lot of Uncertainty"
Huang won't last much longer
Intercontinental Brigading - Part XXXXV - The Brand (and Reputation)
"Russell Brand sentenced to 10 years and six months for rape and sexual assault"
 
Intercontinental Brigading - Part XXXXVI - Attempts to Kill Critics
"Epstein contacted Cambridge academics about research funding"
Gemini Links 10/11/2026: Running, Tektronix, and "Smallnet Information Services Zig Port"
Links for the day
Corporations Don't Lose 2 Trillion Dollars in 'Value' Over a 'Dick Story', This is an Overvaluation and Belated Correction
Nvidia is down, down, down again
Links 10/11/2026: "50 Years of Project Censored" and NVIDIA's Collapse Continues
Links for the day
Surreal Times
NVIDIA's shares fell 27% in 5 weeks
Links 10/11/2026: "Jensen Huang Could Face $81 Billion Divorce Bill" and "Nvidia Shareholders sue Jensen Huang"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, November 09, 2026
IRC logs for Monday, November 09, 2026
Gemini Links 10/11/2026: Open Problem in Computer Science Due to Bloat and "Queueing Nine Hours for an iPhone"
Links for the day
GNU/Linux Rose to 6% as Laptop/Desktop Operating System in Azerbaijan
In the past two weeks the average measure as seen by Clownflare is 5.7%
Microsoft Will Pay $11,742 USD for Workers to Leave
11 lakh Indian Rupees
Since Records Began 18 Months Ago, statCounter Saw Chatbot Usage Falling Sharply
Chatbots are not becoming more popular and the commercial world is having second thoughts
Losing Their 'Faith' in Slop
Are leather jackets becoming a "signal" of "cheating on the wife"?
Protestants at the EPO Fight On, Rising in Opposition to and Against Corruption, Also Against GAFAM
Don't say we didn't warn you...
Boosters of Non-reciprocal Licensing Are Just Trying to Cancel Richard Stallman (RMS) and His Baby, GNU
If only they liked freedom as much as they love Microsoft (or Microsoft's GitHub, which is proprietary and unsafe)
Gemini Links 09/11/2026: Zephyr, Wireless Planet, and Old E-mail
Links for the day
IBM: From Illegal NDAs to Illegal Secret Settlements (Money in Exchange for Promise Not to Sue)
Insiders also explain why RAs may come weeks from now [...] IBM has marked 40,000 workers it wishes to get rid of
When Some Footage Causes Your 'Company' to Lose Almost Half a Trillion Dollars in 'Value' in a Few Minutes Your Company is Fictionally Valued
stock slips 8% because the CEO cheats on the wife
Links 09/11/2026: 'Humanitarian' Putin Knocks 600,000 Civilians Off the Grid, Eminem’s Publisher Sues Suno
Links for the day
Like Crooked Politicians, The Register MS is Selling "Dinners" (Access, Sponsors)
Talk about "hey hi".
The Register MS is Not Objective Regarding "AI", It's Paid by Pushers of the Pyramid Scheme (including Nvidia)
Some time soon we'll name some companies that pay millions to The Register MS in order to cement their role in the house of cards (while it lasts)
GAFAM Moribund
A lot of what we say about Microsoft in respect to debt is equally applicable to the rest of GAFAM
NVIDIA as a Scam Company Run by Scammers Who Fake Demand for Their Waste of Energy (Subsidising GPU Sales for Use Cases That Don't Exist)
First they targeted gamers, then fake 'currencies' (which turned out to be a bust), now it's slop (obfuscation of plagiarism using brute force and fusion) [...] We're quite glad that Huang publicly broadcasts how untrustworthy he is
Links 09/11/2026: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Cheats on Wife With A Suspected Chinese Spy, "400,000 Russians Killed in Battle Since 2022 Invasion"
Links for the day
Zero Tolerance for Slop
very few sites that dabbled in slop ended up well off (for it)
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, November 08, 2026
IRC logs for Sunday, November 08, 2026
Gemini Links 09/11/2026: "The Blue Wave Won't Save Us" and "Discoverability Is Only Solved If You Can Be Discovered"
Links for the day
IBM 'Robbery': No More Car Allowance in the UK, Severance Shredded, CEO Pay Up 51% in One Year While Thousands Laid Off in Secret
Why does a CEO reward himself so much when the company does so badly?
Digitalisation Is Not Inevitable or Unavoidable
Nor inescapable
Gemini Links 08/11/2026: "Back", Zot, and Information Overload
Links for the day
Intercontinental Brigading - Part XXXXIV - Why the Swatting Failed
After that we only ever heard from or spoke to cops when we invited them to our home to collect evidence
“Concerned Microsoft Workers” Say “Working at Microsoft Has Become Joyless and Demoralizing.” (That's What Microsoft Wants, More Will Leave That Way)
Many Microsoft employees are going to leave
The Register MS is Losing Hundreds of Thousands of Pounds a Year While Directors Pay Themselves Hundreds of Thousands of Pounds a Year in Dividends
they take money from slop pushers and have clearly compromised some journalistic standards in the process
GNU/Linux Measured at 7.4% in the UK This Weekend: Clownflare Radar
I hope that one day GNU/Linux will be everywhere here
Never a One-Person Project
Just because I'm the main "public face" of the site (who takes all the insults and SLAPPs) doesn't mean I deserve all the credit
“I Always Expect to Lose. I Fight Anyway, and Sometimes I Win.” — Richard Stallman
To change the world meaningfully people must think big
Stop Looking for News About "Layoffs", Layoffs Are Over (They've Been Rebranded)
To properly assess the status quo we need other yardsticks
Links 08/11/2026: Bosses Who Were Forcing Their Workers to Use Slop Change Mind, "Rapper RBX Files Ninth Circuit Appeal in Fraud-Focused Class Action Lawsuit Against Spotify"
Links for the day
Links 08/11/2026: Why Vikings Stayed in Iceland and "TikTok Accused Of Promoting Sex Industry To Young Girls"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 08/11/2026: "Before Sunrise" and LLM Scrapers Versus Self-Hosting (or Web in General)
Links for the day
Intercontinental Brigading - Part XXXXIII - Weaponising Cops in Another Continent (Europe), Knowing They Cannot Come to Your Home in America, While Threatening Women
This year it culminated in death threats
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, November 07, 2026
IRC logs for Saturday, November 07, 2026