Bonum Certa Men Certa

As Japan Moves Towards Reducing Patent Lawsuits and Curbing SEP Abuse Will the United States Follow Suit?

Ask Makan Delrahim

KDDI Corporation logo



Summary: Japan is getting tougher on standards-imposed patent traps (SEP), the US may be getting ready to do the same, and Japan's KDDI Corporation joins OIN

WE recently wrote about Japan's growing comprehension of the SEP threat, unlike the US with Makan Delrahim (a lobbyist) in charge of antitrust matters. President Trump fills his swamp and it truly shows (just look at his USPTO Director pick, soon to speak at an IAM event). As IAM put it the other day: "Another speech from @TheJusticeDept's Makan Delrahim suggesting US gov is looking very closely at use of antitrust enforcement in standard setting https://www.justice.gov/opa/speech/assistant-attorney-general-makan-delrahim-delivers-remarks-college-europe-brussels" (think about Qualcomm for instance).



Watchtroll, in the mean time, is frustrated that on patents "Trump DOJ is on the same page as the Obama DOJ, which is hard to fathom given all the promises made by President Trump during his campaign."

"The patent maximalists sure hope that chaos will be restored as they profit from that chaos."Watchtroll now helps the lobby for patent chaos, hoping that republishing a letter will help it have impact. The patent maximalists sure hope that chaos will be restored as they profit from that chaos.

As we recently noted, Japan (and JPO) recognises that patent litigation isn't desirable (unless you're a lawyer) and this new report says that "Japan will soon implement a process that will swiftly resolve disputes over patents that are crucial to adhering to certain technical standards..." (that's SEP)

This is a good thing. Consider the fact that, as IAM put it last week, Hitachi fed patents to "NPE Microconnect in the past several months."

"...Japan is moving in the same direction as the US. The EPO, by contrast, moves in the same direction as China (SIPO).""NPE" is a euphemism for patent troll and it's worrying to think that a Japanese giant will resort to this. This is good for IAM and its paymasters of course, but what about Japan in general? IAM has just published this sponsored 'article' for Shobayashi International Patent & Trademark Office (Japan), so it's clear that IAM is in the pockets of the Japanese patent 'industry' (litigation), not actual industry.

A week ago it was announced that KDDI, a communications service provider in Japan, had entered the Linux-centric Open Invention Network (OIN). A press release got disseminated (e.g. [1, 2]) to say:

Open Invention Network (OIN), the largest patent non-aggression community in history, announced today that KDDI Corporation (KDDI) has joined OIN as a community member. As the first key communications service provider in Japan to enroll in the OIN community, KDDI is demonstrating its commitment to open source software and the associated development efforts that benefit the entire communications industry.

“The communications industry is continuing its rapid transformation. Linux-based platforms like ONAP, OPNFV, and OpenDaylight are beginning to enable carriers and enterprises to provision new levels of service functionality across cloud and software defined networks (SDN) at an unprecedented pace,” said Keith Bergelt, CEO of Open Invention Network. “We appreciate KDDI’s participation in joining OIN and demonstrating its commitment to innovation and patent non-aggression in open source.”


OIN is not against software patents. It's more of an IBM 'hack' which, according to Bruce Perens, is about protecting software patents from Linux rather than protecting Linux from software patents (quite an accurate description we might add).

Japan is one of IP5 (JPO is in it), so watching what happens there is definitely worthwhile. Japan has become a lot stricter on software patents and the courts not so plaintiff-friendly. In that regard, Japan is moving in the same direction as the US. The EPO, by contrast, moves in the same direction as China (SIPO).

Recent Techrights' Posts

So When Will British Politicians, Police, Government Departments Quit Twitter (X.com)?
They sure bring constituents there (by being there)
IBM Red Hat Does Not Compete With Microsoft, It's a Microsoft Reseller
even if employees of Red Hat dislike and distrust Microsoft
Dr. Andy Farnell on Marketing Bad Things Like Slop Using FOMO (Fear of "Being Left Behind")
many of the same themes we often cover here
IBM Stock Compared to Bitcoin, Fake Articles About IBM Promote Myths About IBM
The stock moves based on false marketing
 
Links 13/01/2026: Russia Weaponises Weather Against Civilians, Beijing-Controlled HK Attacks Legal Team of Besieged Critics
Links for the day
Gemini Links 13/01/2026: Loss of Desire to Produce, Individual Consumption
Links for the day
Shobhit Varshney From IBM Pushing Slop at Large Bank, Another McDonald's Waiting to Happen?
How long can they get away with phony narratives like "replaced by AI"?
Links 13/01/2026: Ubisoft Layoffs, "India IT In Shambles", and Microsoft Chatbot Killing People
Links for the day
IBM is Not a Leftist Company, the "I" Stands for Imperialism, and Poo Floats to the Top
Remember that AK is military from both sides of his family
Links 13/01/2026: More Mass Layoffs in GAFAM, Catching Up With Political News of Early January
Links for the day
Freedom of Speech in the UK (or Freedom of the Press/Expression) and Protection From Adversaries
undressing people without consent and in very bad taste is not "speech"
Ending the Status Quo at the European Patent Office (EPO) This Year
Things will continue to get worse as long as the "Digital Majority" stays silent and/or passive
Greenland Ought to Move to GNU/Linux, Not Apple
GNU/Linux at 4%
If You Care About Freedom, Don't Follow IBM Red Hat (Like Microsoft Novell 20 Years Ago)
IBM Red Hat and Microsoft don't seem to compete
Red Hat Layoffs, Even of "AI" Staff in India
This is how companies die
LLM Slop Isn't Replacing Online News, It's Just a Pest That's Gradually Going Away as Money for Slop Runs Out
Slop likes to talk about itself (like some kind of 'web-cancer')
Not Journalism: Almost 80% of the 'Articles' We Saw About Torvalds and 'Vibe Coding' Are LLM Slop (Sometimes Slop Images)
The real issue is, Torvalds who created Git as a solution to proprietary prison is entertaining Microsoft's own proprietary prison
EPO People Power - Part XXXIII - Interest From Some European Media, For a Change
Without it, we'll become another Russian Federation
Just Another Reminder That Microsoft Didn't Deny Mass Layoffs
Remember that Microsoft never denied this
GNU/Linux Measured at 6% in Réunion This Year
Population sizes like a million people are nothing to sneeze at
Bluewashing Continues, Red Hat Onboarding Interns in Low-Paid Regions
It's the end of the second Monday of 2026
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, January 12, 2026
IRC logs for Monday, January 12, 2026
Gemini Links 13/01/2026: ScottoRang and Outage
Links for the day
GNU/Linux Exceeding 6% in Cape Verde
Windows is measured as down sharply
When It Comes to Health, Slop is a Flop and It Kills People
Chatbots will mostly die after many people die due to them
2026 Has Begun Well for GNU/Linux Users (and for Us)
A lot of the anti-Linux FUD we got accustomed to seeing some years ago became scarce
Links 12/01/2026: Vista 11 Exodus and Famicom/NES Game
Links for the day
Links 12/01/2026: Twitter (X) Being Blocked in More Countries, PTAB Besieged by Cheeto Appointees (Bad Patents Getting Through)
Links for the day
Links 12/01/2026: Brussels Plotting Exit From GAFAM (US), Carole Cadwalladr Explains "Peter Thiel's New Model Army"
Links for the day
Oligarchs and States Always Attempted to Obstruct Efforts to Expose Their Corruption
We commend the administrator who consistently and adamantly defend the freedom of speech
Scheduled Maintenance Between 15th of January and Days to Follow, Free Software Foundation (FSF) Looking to Add 43 More Members by 16th of January
People who value Software Freedom should consider joining to support the FSF
Bracing for Microsoft Layoffs, Tired of Microsoft Lies, Microsoft Staff Wants Transparency, Not Face-Saving Coverup From Frank Shaw
totally made up stock price
GNU/Linux Estimated at Around 5% in Montserrat
another country where the "share" of GNU/Linux is now measured at 5%
GNU/Linux Exceeding 5% in Guadeloupe According to statCounter
GNU/Linux "share" estimates in Guadeloupe
Dr. Richard Stallman @ Georgia Tech Next Week
More Than One Week From Now
EPO People Power - Part XXXII - Little Hope That European Press Will Attempt to Expose Drug Abuse in Europe's Second-Largest Organisation
What does this tell us about the press in Europe?
Three most controversial Australian authors linked to St Paul's, Coburg
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 11/01/2026: Data Breaches and Recent (Early 2026) Political Developments
Links for the day
Gemini Links 12/01/2026: Insomniacs After School and Boycotting Amazon
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, January 11, 2026
IRC logs for Sunday, January 11, 2026
Brett Wilson LLP 'Dropping' the LLP, Is This Rebranding?
It's not a coincidence or a glitch, there was a formal change somewhere in the system
Can IBM Still Control the Narrative?
We'll see what comes out through the grapevine later this week
IBM SkillsBuild as Microsoft Training, Microsoft Vendor Lock-in, Microsoft Surveillance
Microsoft benefits from IBM's "training"
EPO People Power - Part XXXI - Almost No Crime is Possible Without Enablers and Complicit Colleagues
By the middle of January 2026 we'll have taken things up another gear
Aruba's GNU/Linux Adoption Seems to Have Reach All-Time High This Year
ChromeOS rose by a lot too
After the LLM Slop Frenzy...
In every way, slop is no better than spam
Links 11/01/2026: 'Nothing to Lose' in Iran and Kyiv Restores Electricity
Links for the day
Gemini Links 11/01/2026: "Late To The Party" and "Thinking About Software Licences"
Links for the day
Links 11/01/2026: Bob Weir and Stewart Cheifet Perish
Links for the day
Higher Adoption Rates of GNU/Linux in Cyprus in Recent Years
there are some Cypriots who are championing Free software
Microsoft's linkedin.com is Shrinking, Expect LinkedIn Layoffs to Carry on in 2026
Expect the mass layoffs and office closures to carry on there, maybe as early as next week
Gemini Links 11/01/2026: Scott Morgan and 'The Unix Way'
Links for the day
IBM to Be 'Reorganised'
The rich look for ways to 'monetise' what's left IBM
Dr. Andy Farnell Explains Why He'll Stop Sending E-mail to Microsoft and Gmail Users
The article is long and well worth reading
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, January 10, 2026
IRC logs for Saturday, January 10, 2026