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

Michael “Monty” Widenius: It Started in 1983 With Richard Stallman (RMS)
The other co-founder of MySQL is a bit notorious for confronting RMS rather viciously
For the Second Time in a Few Weeks Microsoft Lunduke Makes False Accusations Against Senior Red Hat Staff to Incite a Despicable 'Troll Army'
Nothing that Microsoft Lunduke claims of says can be trusted
su lisa && rm -rf /home/ibm/power
Novell was ruined by another person from IBM, Ronald Hovsepian
A Record Demand at Microsoft: Demand to Cancel
What we're witnessing is a very ungraceful destruction of XBox
Richard Stallman is Going to Finland to Give a Talk Next Thursday
A day later he speaks in Sweden
 
Links 02/10/2025: 'Open' 'AI' Resorting to Gimmicks and Fake Funding, Europe’s ‘Drone Wall’ Discussed
Links for the day
Links 02/10/2025: Brave Passes 100M Users Milestone, Kodak Selling Its Own Film Again
Links for the day
Microsoft is Losing Europe
Hence all the "support" and "discount" offers that are limited to Europe
The Free Software Foundation Starts Fund-raising for 40th Anniversary
New pop-up 2-3 days ahead of the 40th anniversary event
Systemd Breaks Networking in Debian and Microsoft Staff Rushes to Make Face-Saving Excuses in LWN
Microsoft's bluca is already there in the comments, his Microsoft money pays for LWN to let him leave comments early
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, October 01, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, October 01, 2025
What the End of XBox Will Look Like: a Fiery Crash
XBox is the next Skype. It won't last much longer. Expect many more layoffs.
Gemini Links 02/10/2025: SMTP Pipelining and End of ROOPHLOCH 2025
Links for the day
Slopwatch: Plagiarism, Fake Articles, and FUD About Linux
not a day goes by without Google News feeding FUD from slopfarms
Gemini Links 01/10/2025: Chat Control and End of Life
Links for the day
Links 01/10/2025: Long Covid Risk Reiterated, "Bitcoin Queen" Caught
Links for the day
Links 01/10/2025: EA $55 Billion Deal is Debt and Slop "Raises Vishing Risks"
Links for the day
Bluewashing at Red Hat Means Redundancies
The man who sold Red Hat to IBM meanwhile became a Microsoft Mono booster
After Killing OpenSource.com, IBM ('Red Hat') and OSI Told Us OpenSource.net Would Replace It (But That Didn't Happen)
Now it's time to move on, perhaps tarnishing the "Open Source" label some more (for whatever sponsor wants this)
Linux is Not a Community Project, It's a Wall Street Product
The core goal should be freedom
Bad Actors Abusing the Free Software Community, Vandalising It Using Rogue Politics and Old Tactics
Oil giants have long attempted to do this; now, the digital equivalent of Big Oil does this in technology
Social Control Media Isn't the Future, The Federation or Fediverse Isn't Growing, People's Accounts Vanish for Good
users' accounts will get deleted, not just become inactive
IBM is Failing, This Helps Show Wall Street is Entirely Detached From Actual Commercial Performance
IBM is unable to grow, it's just constantly shrinking
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, September 30, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, September 30, 2025
Clerical Aspects of Publishing and Development
In Free software, the management aspects are considerably reduced
Slopwatch: Fake Articles and Google News Promoting "Linux" Spam or Bot-Generated Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt (FUD)
These slopfarms help misplace blame
Third Wave of Microsoft Layoffs in September, This Time Many in Liverpool Affected
Be ready for more waves of layoffs ahead of the so-called "results" in late October
Gemini Links 30/09/2025: Motorcycling in Central Oregon, Protocol Styles and the Flag of Sark
Links for the day
Links 30/09/2025: Death Sentences, Internet Censorship, and Internet Shutdowns
Links for the day
Gemini Links 30/09/2025: Social Control Media and ROOPHLOCH
Links for the day
Richard Stallman About to Give More Talks in Europe, Some Confirmed Already
In Göteborg
Links 30/09/2025: CERN in "Have I Been Pwned" and More Windows TCO Blunders
Links for the day
Microsoft Canonical is Selling Mass Surveillance and Back Doors as "Security for Ubuntu"
If you are looking for a GNU/Linux distro to use, just remember that Microsoft has Ubuntu in the bag
Justice for Wildlife
animals cannot speak to humans who hate animals
Cowboys Gonna Be Cowboys (on the Internet, They're Not a New Problem)
Boys will be boys
Cowboys of the "Left" and Cowboys of the "Right"
Don't believe the lie that this is some "leftist" thing
When Codes of Conduct Serve to Protect Criminals From Much-Deserved Scrutiny
CoCs are typically unfit for purpose because enforcement lacks context and suitable understanding of the full background (the "full story")
It Took the Open Source Initiative (OSI) 4+ Years to Address the 'Data Breach' or Data Protection Violation Reported to the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) in March 2025
We may never know the dialogue or its nature
Even Microsoft's Biggest Boosters (and Media Operatives) Are Turning Against Microsoft
Expect many more layoffs before the fake "results" next month
GNU Was Right 42+ Years Ago
Since then the abusive, user-hostile technology has spread like mushrooms
Old Isn't Always Inadequate
How many gadgets manufactured today (in 2025) will still work in 2075?
The Monkey Business of Rust People
Compatibility won't matter
Almost Half of the FSFE's Money (the Fake 'FSF', Misusing the Brand) Comes From Vodafone
That money always comes with strings, even if they're invisible to most of us
Microsoft Lunduke Spreads Deliberate Lies to Incite Online Mobs
Has he lost his reading comprehension skills?
Our 19th Birthday (in Just Over 5 Weeks From Now)
We meanwhile have ongoing, solid plans to cover patent-related issues when the FSF turns 40
British GNU/Linux Distro FydeOS Tops DistroWatch
That seems like a decent site and decent effort to keep an eye on
We'll Soon Have 75,000 GemText Pages
avoid many perils of today's Web
Google Used Free Software to Build a Monopoly. Now Google Kicks Free Software to the Curb
The "G" in "Google" does not stand for GNU. It never did. It's just another greedy company.
Gemini Links 30/09/2025: Retro Hardware, Federated Fragmentation, and Nex Server Written in C
Links for the day
4 More Days Till "4 decades, 4 freedoms, 4 all users"
We are now just 4 days away from the rare anniversary
Two Months After Merging to Hide GitHub Losses Microsoft is Doing It Again (This Time Windows)
Merging those two together is not a sign of strength but a tightening of budget
Speculations About the Next Large Wave of IBM/Red Hat Layoffs
the mass layoffs are likely to happen on week 3 or 4 in October
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, September 29, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, September 29, 2025