Bonum Certa Men Certa

Software Patents Are Not Allowed in Canada, But the Patent Microcosm is Trying to Change That

Federal government to announce ‘patent troll’ crackdown as part of national IP strategy



Summary: In response to new rhetoric if not action from the government of Canada the patent 'industry' (notably patent law firms) meddles in national media

WITH the exception of China, software patents are difficult to get and then successfully assert (e.g. in courts) around the world. The rules have become a lot tougher; the USPTO became stricter, the EPO went totally out of control, and SIPO (China) seems to be granting patents on just about anything (they need to create and maintain an illusion of being originators so as to resist trade war pressures).

"These articles -- not too shockingly at all -- came from patent maximalists, notably law firms."What about Canada? Like Russia, Canada is a very large country, but most of it is too cold to be livable so the overall population size is 'underwhelming' and the same goes for the number of patents. These two countries aren't so relevant to WIPO and they aren't even in IP5 (a small country like South Korea actually is).

Over the past week we've seen some more articles about CIPO/Canada, shortly after the Canadian government bemoaned the impact of patent trolls. These articles -- not too shockingly at all -- came from patent maximalists, notably law firms. They make a lot of money from patent trolls.

Yesterday, for example, Bruce Berman at Watchtroll cited the US Trade Representative (USTR), which is a malicious and imperialistic front group. He kept dropping propaganda terms like "IP", which the headline contained even twice ("New Canadian IP strategy includes money for IP tools and literacy"). Watch how he attempt to discredit TechDirt and Torrent Freak:

Earlier this year, the UK IP Office (UK IPO) introduced a copyright awareness program with a series of educational animations for students seven to eleven-years-old. “Nancy and the Meercats,” under the Cracking Ideas initiative, met with nasty opposition from the likes of Techdirt and Torrent Freak. They believe that helping children to understand IP right from wrong is little more than brainwashing, which is predictable given the bias in these publications. Techdirt and Torrent Freak often have an IP axe to grind and believe that content and code should be broadly shared, and that piracy is not theft. Concepts foreign to those who actually create.


We have seen similar smears directed at the EFF, typically from patent trolls and occasionally from Watchtroll.

"It always came from law firms."Canadian media, much to our regret, carried similar propaganda. It always came from law firms. They do not represent Canadian companies. In this particular case it's Gavin N. Manning, partner at Vancouver’s Oyen Wiggs Green & Mutala LLP. He seems to be giving very bad advice as software patents are bunk, or at least pretty much worthless in courts (both in Canada and the United States). Another new rant about Alice, this time under a headline with buzzwords like "Fintech"? To quote:

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, it was common for broad software patents to be granted. That changed after some notable U.S Supreme Court cases. One is known informally as “Alice.”

In 2007, the Australia-based Alice Corporation held U.S. patents for financial-trading systems in which a third party held funds in escrow to mitigate the risk of non-payment. CLS Bank launched its own similar service and Alice accused CLS of patent infringement. CLS sued, alleging that Alice’s patents were invalid.

In 2014 the U.S. Supreme Court sided with CLS, maintaining that a patent must deliver more than an abstract idea to be valid.

In Canada, “laws of nature, mere scientific theories or abstract algorithms,” including the use of a computer to perform otherwise un-patentable methods, are not patentable.

After Alice, the number of rejected software patent applications soared.

“With the Alice decision and various court decisions that followed, there was a severe effect of limiting the availability of patents, particularly in certain areas, like financial technology,” Manning says.


So stop pursuing it. Problem solved. Another Canadian, Osler Hoskin & Harcourt LLP's Nathaniel Lipkus, published this nonsense with "IP" in the headline along with "innovators" (another buzzword). We first chose to ignore this, but he has just reposted it in another site, this time a site of patent maximalists (not the first time). It's that same old nonsense that's pushing for software patents by evoking "World IP Day" and "Trump", along with names of Canadian trolls or troll feeders. Here's what it says on software patents:

Winners in the last decade’s software boom have abided by the misconception that software cannot be patented. Rare is the Canadian business guru who espouses the importance of IP.


It's not really a misconception and that has nothing to do with "IP" -- whatever that even means (not patent law).

All in all, what we're seeing here is a bunch of patent profiteers from Canada trying to interject software patents into the national agenda, seeing that their government has begun asking some tough questions about trolls.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Microsoft Lunduke is Just Provoking People for Provocation's Sake
Be forewarned and remember where this guy came from: Microsoft
 
Informal Open Letter to the Lawyer of the Microsofters (on Who's Funding the SLAPPs Against Techrights)
Whenever I ask about the funding they try to change the subject and act all aggressive
Hate Mail From Anonymous Cowards
if this persists, we'll need to escalate
Besieged by Plagiarists Who Play With LLMs and Image Fusions
We really need to exercise or use our collective voice to oppose Serial Sloppers
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, August 08, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, August 08, 2025
Gemini Links 09/08/2025: Water Painting and Political Violence
Links for the day
Slopwatch: LLM Sloppers in Google News, LinuxSecurity, and More
they also perpetuate some falsehoods as the LLMs lack any comprehension
Links 08/08/2025: China King of Plastics and US Dictator Plans to Meet Russian Dictator
Links for the day
Gemini Links 08/08/2025: Cracking a Family Member's Password and Overdose of Slop
Links for the day
Red Hat's Latest Talent Hunt, Day Ahead of Mass Layoffs, is Yet Another Microsoft Executive
Red Hat will apparently commence mass layoffs early this coming Monday
Links 08/08/2025: "Quit Facebook" and High Cost of Microsoft/Windows Shown Again ("BlackSuit")
Links for the day
Good Morning, Readers of The Register MS
Things The Register MS could (but does not) cover this morning
Why Gemini Protocol Has a Bright Future
Maybe Gemini Protocol's promise becomes more appealing as the Web turns to slop and bloat
It's a Lot Easier to Participate in the Unethical System Than to Oppose Injustices in It
Going after powerful and high-budget interests is never easy
Microsofters Filed Two SLAPPs Against Us, Now They Cannot Keep Up With Judges' Orders
For over 4 months already their facilitator in London has been under investigation by British authorities because of what's being done to my wife and I
Censorship Regarding Red Hat Layoffs
Talk about this? They'd rather not.
Struggling to Cut Costs, Microsoft Continues Shutting Down and Cancelling Stuff This Month
There are August layoffs at Microsoft
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, August 07, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, August 07, 2025
Fake 'Linux' Articles, Written by Bots to Take Traffic Away From Real Articles
LLM slop helps replace information with junk or misinformation
When Google's Googlebombing of "Gemini" Was Not Enough; They Now Also Googlebomb "Gemini Space"?
We know GAFAM not only worries about Gemini Protocol but also attempts to 'infiltrate' Geminispace
The Register MS Promotes Microsoft Slop, Assumes All Readers Use Microsoft Windows
Microsoft really dominates the site
Gemini Links 08/08/2025: KDE/Qt Development and What's Missing From "Retro"
Links for the day
Links 07/08/2025: US Punishes India Instead of Russia, Attacks Law Firms to Prevent Scrutiny
Links for the day
Read Us in Geminispace as Well
it's definitely a lot simpler than using a Web browser
Once a Site About BSD and GNU/Linux, and After Months of Silence, LinuxBSDos.com Comes Back Only as a Slopfarm
very frustrating
Links 07/08/2025: Hardware Wars, Mass Recall of Colgate Total Clean Mint, More Microsoft Holes Found
Links for the day
Gemini Links 07/08/2025: "Right To Manage" and LoRa Analysis
Links for the day
For the First Time in a Month OSI's "OpenSource.org" Blogs and It's Basically a Microsoft Blog Post (Microsoft Controls OSI)
For the first time in a month OSI writes something and it is Microsoft propaganda composed by a Microsoft-salaried operative
Microsoft, Already Borrowing 3 Billion Dollars a Month, is Trying to Cause Many People to Resign
MSN (i.e. Microsoft) and others openly admit it
GAFAM 'Says' is Front Page "News"
The point of journalism is to check and assess facts, not parrot what people and companies merely claim
Links 07/08/2025: Apple Makes False Promises, More Trouble for Microsoft
Links for the day
OSS Didn't Always Mean Open Source Software
"oligarchs all the way down"
The Register MS Does More Microsoft Sez or GitHub Sez (Says) Pieces
60 minutes ago
They Want Activists to Just Barely Walk and Eat, Not Do Activism Anymore
It's sort of like the ending of '1984'
Quit Perpetuating the Narrative of Gemini Protocol 'Dying' (It's False)
The "whisper campaign" against Gemini Protocol
Criticising Social Control Media in Social Control Media
Many people are quitting Social Control Media (fewer of them announce this in public)
Non-Free JavaScript Programs in Banks Aren't Even the Biggest Problem
Technology was supposed to make life easier; in practice, however, for most of us the opposite effect can be observed
Slopfarms Are Typically Fake News
Slopfarms typically relay falsehoods
Gemini Links 06/08/2025: Replacing a Pocket Watch and Buying in Bulk
Links for the day
IBM is Obliterating Fedora
"Fedora releases were shipping with an increasing number of bugs on launch day even while I was using it for a several year stretch."
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, August 06, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, August 06, 2025