Bonum Certa Men Certa

The Mass Litigation Lobby Craves for Patent Armageddon

And it does not always want its critics to see what it's doing/saying

IAM blocking



Summary: The propaganda arm of patent trolls and other patent aggressors (those who would rather sue than create) keeps promoting patent maximalism, the Unified Patent Court (UPC), and even draconian injunctions (embargo) which are almost synonymous with UPC-type visions

AS another month starts, following a short holiday, we return to covering USPTO matters only to receive nasty threats in the post (from those attempting to silence us). This time it comes from another continent (America), not from Europe. That really says a lot about the patent microcosm, doesn't it? A bunch of bullies. And the bullying isn't limited to patent trolls; even law firms and management of the EPO can do it.



"They are already drooling over litigation prospects because they, as lawyers, would profit from it (irrespective of the outcome)."Recently, IAM 'broke' the story about one troll buying part of another (in Europe). Today it published its magazine article about InterDigital’s acquisition of Technicolor, but don't expect to find the "T" word (troll) anywhere in there. In fact, there's a paywall too. They recently broadened their obstruction to access by 'outsiders'. Managing IP does the same thing. On they go with their misleading coverage and it's mostly/only those who agree with them that can see what they say, hence little/no scrutiny. It's that 'echo chamber' mentality we see at their events. They make it extremely expensive for anyone outside the patent microcosm to attend and don't even think about a speaking/panel position (not even by becoming a corporate sponsor if the views are too 'different' and thus inconvenient to Managing IP, IAM, and their other sponsors).

"Ericsson and/or its patent trolls are already suing in Europe (targeting even foreign firms) and Team UPC habitually celebrates this."Managing IP is actually being rather laughable this week. Lawyers without much of a clue about blockchains (they’re nontechnical for the most part) ride/suft the hype wave again. Managing IP endlessly mentions blockchains these days, this time in the form of a so-called 'Special Report'? More like Special PR. And for the second time in a week Managing IP latches onto hype waves, this time CRISPR, in order to sell misleading numbers ("near 200% increase") and advocate patents on life itself. "Patent filing trends for the gene editing technology indicate a near 200% increase globally between 2013 and 2015, and a continuing boom since. Patrick Wingrove investigates what is driving this and whether a litigation war is brewing," says the summary. They are already drooling over litigation prospects because they, as lawyers, would profit from it (irrespective of the outcome).

These are the sorts of people who attend Unified Patent Court (UPC) lobbying events and try to impose the UPC on Europe, typically behind the scenes or behind closed doors in "exclusive" events. They just want lots and lots of litigation. Ericsson and/or its patent trolls are already suing in Europe (targeting even foreign firms) and Team UPC habitually celebrates this. Watch that trolls' jingoism at IP Kat, typically but not always courtesy of Bristows. They just love it! Even when -- or especially when -- these patent trolls come to London, where they are based. Earlier today Benjamin Henrion wrote:

The Unitary [sic] Patent Court (UPC) is not a democratic structure. It suffers from the same problems as those ISDS investment courts: capture and not counter-balanced by an elected legislator #upc #isds


Henrion already knows what it's like to be targeted by a patent troll in his home country. Such trolling would be vastly exacerbated by anything resembling the UPC (which is itself in its death throes but can be renamed and reattempted in the future). The UPCA (agreement) was crafted based almost solely on a single author's paper from 2009 -- a paper which was full of errors.

"Henrion already knows what it's like to be targeted by a patent troll in his home country."Managing IP and IAM still try to usher in this mess, sometimes emboldened or motivated by payments from the EPO or its PR agencies. It's gross, but that's just where we are.

And speaking of IAM, earlier today it wrote about "[h]ow and why Huawei got an injunction in its ground-breaking Chinese FRAND/SEP dispute with Samsung."

"Managing IP and IAM still try to usher in this mess, sometimes emboldened or motivated by payments from the EPO or its PR agencies."The title of the corresponding blog post is "Full judgment in Huawei v Samsung details why Shenzhen court hit Korean company with SEP injunction" and it's similar to what Ericsson's patent trolls did to Chinese/Asian firms in Europe. China now uses patents to ban Koreans (it already drove LG away, but not yet Samsung). As for BlackBerry? Like Nokia and Ericsson it is becoming less of a practising entity over time. As a former IAM writer put it earlier today: "BlackBerry FY2018 results: Handheld devices revenue -83%; IP licensing revenue +56%."

BlackBerry is being transformed/warped into "patent troll" mode. Sooner or later it will be just a "holding" company, i.e. an empty shell with nothing but patents. Sites like IAM would then hail it as an "NPE" and speak about how truly wonderful its "monetisation" strategy is.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Approaching 10,000 Articles/Pages Since Going Static
Trying to silence or derail the site was always a dumb strategy
Microsoft is Shedding Off Loads of Staff and That Can be Dangerous Too
Working for Microsoft is a choice; nobody forces you to do it
Richard Stallman and the Unix Philosophy
When asked about systemd people must remember that RMS speaks as an active Board member of the FSF and also the founder of the FSF
Get Rid of Back Doors, Don't Obsess Over Bounties and Other Corporate PR Stunts (or Needless Reboot Rituals)
Security as a term has mostly lost its meaning due to repeated misuse for many years
Serial Sloppers Are Killing the Web (They Probably Don't Care, Either)
Slop is a disease on the Web
IBM's Debt Ballooned by 8.5 Billion Dollars in Just 3 Months!
Hallmark of a company in a state of disarray, trying to spend its way out of trouble
Big Trouble in GNOME
even GNOME people admit the CoC went wrong
 
Links 25/04/2025: Slop Fatigue and Patent Judges Flocking to Fake, Unconstitutional and Illegal Kangaroo Court (UPC, Captured 'Justice')
Links for the day
Gemini Links 25/04/2025: Night Manager and Devuan in Hosting
Links for the day
Windows Falls to New Lows in Nicaragua, Now Below a Quarter (It Used to be Almost 100%)
Another all-time low for Windows
The Cost (to Linux) of LLM Slop
Slop 'artists' like Fagioli are far from harmless
Links 25/04/2025: Ubisoft Spyware, Hegseth Fails at Tech on Every Level
Links for the day
Gemini Links 25/04/2025: Food Forest Update and Facebook Destroying the Net
Links for the day
Streaming Apps Are “Investor Fraud” That Kills the Planet
Reprinted with permission from Ryan Farmer
Things Get Increasingly Nasty at Microsoft Ahead of the Fake Results and May's Mass Layoffs Wave
They try to get people to 'resign' so that they won't count as layoffs and the company's 'wellbeing' will seem better
Slopping the Trough: Disney Plus Loses Billions and the Decline of Physical Media in America
Reprinted with permission from Ryan Farmer
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, April 24, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, April 24, 2025
Links 24/04/2025: GAFAM Problems and No Peace (or Ceasefire) in Sight
Links for the day
Slopfarms on the Web Almost Always Generate Anti-Linux FUD When They Produce "Linux" Output
Welcome to the dying Web
Richard Stallman's Oxford Talk Has Just Ended, Here Are Some Photos
he might hop over to another European country
Gemini Links 24/04/2025: Birthday and Good Work of Academia in Esotericism
Links for the day
Links 24/04/2025: EU fines Apple and Facebook, Another Microsoft GitHub Security Blunder
Links for the day
New Article Explains How the GPL Came About and WordPress Having Copyleft Obligations
Having been involved in the WordPress development community since almost the beginning, I know why it chose the GPL and how it restricts abuse by Automattic
IBM Gained Almost 6 Billion Dollars in "Goodwill" Value in Just 3 Months, According to IBM
Congrats to the management!
In Belarus, Yandex is Now Measured as 50 Times More 'Popular' (by Usage) Than Microsoft
Yandex continues to gain, whereas Bing cannot even register at 1%. Last month it was registered or measured at a measly 0.65%.
IBM Cannot Lie to Shareholders Anymore
"I would not be surprised if we see a layoff every quarter this year."
Dr Richard Stallman (RMS) Gives Talk in Oxford University in 4 Hours
If you live nearby, go there (it's free as in gratis)
Using a Law Firm's Licence to Exercise Politics Through Frivolous SLAPPs and Nastygrams (to Silence People, Remove Pages, Demand Fake or Forced 'Apologies')
Things must be getting really bad when lawyers act for raving antisemites
We're Working to Make Full-Site Search Available
This site has over 1,000 'wiki' pages, many thousands of documents, several thousands of videos, and about 50,000 blog posts or articles. We need to make them easier to find/navigate.
Links 24/04/2025: IBM Loses Many Contracts, Intel to Lay Off Over 20% (Not Counting Those Who Leave 'Voluntarily')
Links for the day
Richard Stallman Can Explain to Oxford Artificial Intelligence Society Why LLM Slop is Not Artificial Intelligence and Why It Hurts Society
another 'crop' of LLM slop that damages GNU/Linux and facts
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, April 23, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, April 23, 2025
Open Source Initiative (OSI) Promoting Microsoft and Proprietary Software Using Microsoft Operatives
Because nothing says "Open Source" like GPL violations facilitated by Microsoft
Another Site Bites the Dust: "Open Source For You" Becoming a Slopfarm (LLM Slop)
What a shame. Another dead site.
Links 23/04/2025: Crackdowns on Dissent, Palin Loses Libel Retrial Against New York Times
Links for the day
Links 23/04/2025: Hard Times and Digital Amnesia
Links for the day
The GNU/Linux Site Formerly Known as "linoxide.com" is Back... as an LLM Slopfarm!
Better for linoxide.com to go offline than to do this
Richard Stallman to Speak in Oxford University Exactly a Day From Now
outsourced to GAFAM
Links 23/04/2025: "Hiding Corruption" and "The Cost of Defunding Harvard"
Links for the day
Microsoft 'Studies' Again? Leon Musolff is Writing Papers With Microsoft.
Even if one can see/find a link to "the study" (in the Bezos-controlled publication), most people won't look any further and just take everything at face value.
Towards GNU World Domination
The FSF led by Geoffrey S. Knauth with his friend Richard Stallman in the FSF's Board [...] Let's encourage people to adopt GNU/Linux. There has never been a better time.
statCounter Helps Visualise Just How Deep in Trouble Microsoft is (Especially in Africa)
Microsoft sabotaged efforts to connect Africans and equip them with GNU/Linux laptops
The Register is Using Linux-Hostile Clickbait in Articles of Linux Proponents
Don't be a "whore" to advertisers, team El Reg
Microsoft Windows in Cyprus Lacking a Future
Most people access the Web there from mobile
Matrix Has a Severe Problem With Illegal Images
If Matrix cannot get the CP problem under control, many projects and people will dump Matrix
Never Try to Justify Strangulation of Women (Not in the US and Not in the UK)
Joint post by Mrs. Rianne Schestowitz and Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Links 23/04/2025: Tesla Profits Plunge 71%, Intel Ready to Lay Off 20% of Staff, Microsoft and IBM Layoffs
Links for the day
Microsoft's Most Profound Issue is That People Moved to 'Mobile' and "App Stores" (Microsoft's Presence There is Negligible)
Expect a wild ride for Microsoft this year
Google News is Amplifying FUD and Lies About Linux (and OpenSSH/SSH) by Promoting Slopfarms With Machine-Generated FUD and Slop Images
Google should know better
Gemini Links 23/04/2025: Librarians, Anubis, and Refactoring a Gemini Capsule
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, April 22, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, April 22, 2025