Bonum Certa Men Certa

In Just a Few Years China Became the Eastern District of Texas

That's only acceptable for those who have very deep pockets and many patents (Foxconn has about 80,000)

Foxconn



Summary: The patent creep in China, or the emergence of patent maximalism in the wake of trade war fears, means that operating in China has become very hard both for domestic firms that aren't already well-established giants (with connections to the Communist Party) and for foreign firms

According to Megan Rourke and Eric Podlogar, the biggest "patent portfolio stakes" in the US are no longer IBM's but Samsung's. We don't know how they measured this (there's a paywall), but we heard similar things elsewhere (earlier this year). The numbers shared by the USPTO do not agree. Samsung, as is widely known, is not aggressive with patents. It's usually reactionary or defensive, i.e. if will sue back if sued by somebody else first. Several years ago Samsung was 'top' of EPO, but that is no longer the case (even LG, the other Korean giant, outpaces it in the latest annual report).



"Samsung, as is widely known, is not aggressive with patents. It's usually reactionary or defensive, i.e. if will sue back if sued by somebody else first."The other day we saw Docket Navigator bringing up Imperium IP Holdings (Cayman), Ltd. v Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. et al.

Patent trolls that are apparently based in the Cayman Islands go to the Eastern District of Texas (TXED/EDTX) to blackmail companies using patents and guess what Texan judges are saying:

The court granted plaintiff's motion for over $7 million in attorney fees under 35 U.S.C. €§ 285 and rejected defendants' argument that the fees should be reduced by 33% on the ground that one of the patents-in-suit was found to be invalid as obvious because the hours billed were inextricably intertwined.


So Samsung is now being 'burned' in the US in the same way that it already got 'burned' in China. IAM recalls: "Between May and October 2016, Huawei and Samsung filed a total of 42 patent infringement complaints against each other in China (each asserted patent gets its own separate case there). Another separate case deals with “rate-setting and royalty payment” issues. In all Huawei asserted 20 patents against Samsung – 13 standard-essential patents (SEPs) and seven non-SEPs. Samsung responded by asserting 22 patents against Huawei – 14 SEPs and eight non-SEPs."

"Patent trolls that are apparently based in the Cayman Islands go to the Eastern District of Texas (TXED/EDTX) to blackmail companies using patents..."In many ways, China has become the 'new' Eastern District of Texas. Patent trolls enjoy phenomenal growth in China and that's an issue which bothers everyone, except the likes of IAM, which is a lobbyist for patent trolls. Here is what it wrote some days ago about the gigantic Hon Hai Group (1.3 million members of staff as of 2015, according to Wikipedia):

Last week, this blog reported that litigation activity is heating up in China’s hyper-competitive display industry. Among the signs: Foxconn panel unit Innolux filed 17 patent suits against mainland competitor HKC in February. A look at USPTO assignment records shows that HKC probably saw the writing on the wall, and is moving quickly to shore up a relatively light patent position. The Hon Hai Group, of which Innolux is a part, is one of the world’s biggest patent owners (PatSnap estimates its holdings at around 80,000 rights globally).


Mind these ridiculous numbers. 1.3 million members of staff notwithstanding, there's a similar number of patent filings in China per year. The scale is insane.

"China's attitude towards patents is problematic because it also harms small Chinese companies and drives away foreign investors."China's patent maximalism continues to fascinate if not excite IAM. Here's another article IAM has just published about China ("How do foreign parties really fare in Chinese patent litigation?"), noting a few days ago that China also embraced SEP-based injunctions (embargoes against rivals that merely follow industry standards). To quote:

The Beijing Higher Court has handed down its long-awaited decision in what is thought to be China’s first-ever SEP injunction case. In IWNCOMM v Sony, the second instance tribunal rejected the Japanese company’s appeal against the decision of the Beijing IP Court back in March 2017, which saw the award of 9.2 million RMB ($1.3 million) in damages to the Chinese company, and the imposition of an injunction against Sony to halt manufacture and sale of 35 mobile devices.


So Sony (Japan) is another example of a foreign company being screwed by China's patent maximalism. It's not just Korean companies like Samsung and LG, which left the Chinese market due to all that litigation. China's attitude towards patents is problematic because it also harms small Chinese companies and drives away foreign investors. Who benefits? Law firms and massive corporations that are connected to the government.

Recent Techrights' Posts

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.
RMS is Done at KCL, Next Stop is Oxford
The message of RMS has long resonated well in India
US Government Already Bailing Out OpenAI/Microsoft With "Contracts", As Usual, Back Doors You Cannot Remove Becoming 'a Step Closer' on New PCs (Unless Everyone Acts ASAP)
The next "logical" step towards digital prisons
 
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
Links 22/04/2025: Ending DEI Policies at Adobe, FTC Sues Uber
Links for the day
Microsoft Devises PR Stunts to Distract From Impending Mass Layoffs and Likely Bad Results Preceding Those Mass Layoffs
A "voluntary exit plan"
Gemini Links 22/04/2025: Deaths, HamsterCMS, and More
Links for the day
Links 22/04/2025: FTC v. Meta Trial and Google Remedies
Links for the day
In Turkey, Windows Down Rapidly While GNU/Linux Grows
Although Turkey is in NATO (but not the EU), it cannot quite trust computer systems controlled by the United States
GNOME, Microsoft, and GitHub: The Lack of Reporting on Abusive Colleagues Contributed to Profound Media Vacuum (or Blackout), Now Resorting to SLAPPs
This lack of morality/courage has helped enable further abuse, lining up more victims
Richard Stallman Has Updated His Article on Why "Free Software Is Even More Important Now"
Richard Stallman is about to give a talk here in the UK in a few hours
Microsoft Already Attacks the BSDs as Well (the E.E.E. Way, as Usual)
Bearers of bad news
The Open Source Initiative (OSI) is in Trouble, May Soon be Out of Business
Openwashing needs to end
Microsoft's Debt Grew Over 6 Billion Dollars in the Last Reporting Quarter (Before Inauguration), Expect Worse Next Week When 'Results' Are Disclosed and Mass Layoffs Resume
Microsoft is bleeding. It does not want people to notice.
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, April 21, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, April 21, 2025
Richard Stallman Gives Public Talk in London in 7 Hours (Need to Register as Venue Limited to 150 Seats), Public Announcements Begin to Appear
These are not announced weeks or months in advance
Gemini Links 21/04/2025: Remembering Pope Francis, Crystal Simulation
Links for the day
Doing Microsoft's Job. On IBM's Payroll.
today's Red Hat cannot recognise threats even after a head-on collision
Google News is Rewarding Slopfarms, Not Journalism
Don't read junk from chatbots
Teaching GAFAM in Schools is Like Teaching Children to Smoke Tobacco
So suggests an FSF presentation
Richard Stallman, Whose Site is Trusted by Greater Manchester, Has Come to the United Kingdom
He doesn't suck up to the Crown, so he'll never be "knighted"
On Desktops/Laptops in Singapore Does a Fifth of Users Run GNU/Linux?
Probably not, but it's growing fast there
Links 21/04/2025: Fake Ceasefire and Software Patents (Fake Patents) Thrown Out
Links for the day
Companies With Fake Values and a Fake Economic/Financial State (Phony Valuations)
It'll all go up in smoke, eventually
Links 21/04/2025: Microsoft LLM Slop (Plagiarism) Going Out of Control, CT Scans' Cancer Problems Was Underrated
Links for the day
4 Years Ago Freenode Crumbled From Within
there are still hundreds of thousands of users online at any given time
GNOME Has a Long History (Over a Decade) Misusing the Code of Conduct (CoC) to Censor (Cull) Legitimate Technical Criticism
This has nothing to do with manners, it's about control (by cover-up)
Microsoft Has Tainted GNOME, Which Has Key People Acting as a SLAPP Front Against Techrights (Trying to Censor the Site by Extortion and Many Threats)
One common denominator (other than Microsoft salaries) is GNOME, which was led by an actual professional crank until she quit so suddenly months ago
Homeland of Linux Kernel Turning to GNU/Linux?
Adoption of Vista 11 has been relatively low
According to StatCounter, This is What Linux Adoption Looks Like (Based on Web Requests Visible to StatCounter)
How much worse will it get for Microsoft?
Gemini Capsules Still Outsourcing to Certificate Authority Let's Encrypt Now Measured at Less Than 10 (or Less Than 0.3%)
In Geminispace, Let's Encrypt is not commonly used
Twisting Microsoft's Failure (Transmitting Malware) as "SSH Backdoors" and a Linux Problem
Somehow we almost always find that those FUD pieces about "Linux" are based on obvious falsehoods
Vista 11 Has Burned OEMs and Some Move to GNU/Linux
When people can finally avoid Windows (there's no reason to attach it to new PCs) there will be a lot more GNU/Linux users out there
Remember That Microsoft Mass Layoffs Are Imminent Because Its 'Empire' is Falling Apart
European politicians take a long, hard look a Free software
Richard Stallman in the UK This Week, Scheduled to Give Two Public Talks (London and Oxford)
Those talks do not cover the same topics
Gemini Links 21/04/2025: April, Autism, and ASN
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, April 20, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, April 20, 2025