Bonum Certa Men Certa

The Evil, Truly 'Evil' Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) and the Courts Have the Audacity to Verify/Disprove Patent Validity

J Nicholas GrossSummary: The concept of patent justice seems rather elusive to those who make a living out of pretending not to grasp it (like Mr. Gross on the right); US patent caselaw, however, continues to improve over time

TECHRIGHTS spent well over a decade complaining about USPTO patents that had been wrongly granted, leading to invalidation attempts. Prior to PTAB this was a lot harder. This meant that patent justice was hard to find unless one had deep pockets (court battles are extremely expensive, especially with appeals taken into account).

"They just don't care about patent justice, only patent maximalism (maximising litigation and extortion opportunities)."Patent trolls typically rely on software patents. They also depend on dodging actual court battles where validity of patent can be questioned/challenged (before PTAB only courts could do this). This is why trolls' proponents like Watchtroll, IAM and so on protest against PTAB so much. They just don't care about patent justice, only patent maximalism (maximising litigation and extortion opportunities).

The Droplets case was recalled by Watchtroll on Friday. James Yang wrote:

Droplets, Inc. v. ETrade Bank

In Droplets, Inc. v. ETrade Bank (Fed. Cir. 2018), ETrade filed a petition for inter partes review against U.S. Patent 8,402,115 (‘115 Patent) which was owned by Droplets, Inc. ETrade was attempting to invalidate the 115 patent because Droplets (patent owner) alleged that ETrade was liable for patent infringement.

The ‘115 Patent was the last patent in a family lineage of four patent applications. See diagram below. The Franco PCT is based on the 917 provisional.

[...]

When reviewing a patent for a noninfringement opinion, do not assume that the prosecution was done properly. As discussed in this case, even though the 115 did not claim priority back to the Franco PCT, the examiner did not use the Franco PCT which would be the best prior art reference against the 115 because presumably at least certain portions were identical to each other.


We already wrote about such noninfringement opinions. Expect sites like Watchtroll, IAM and so on to resort to judge-bashing, lobbying of Iancu etc. We'll give some examples later today. Another CAFC case has already just been covered by Watchtroll, taking note of a patent which became unenforceable:

The invention disclosed in the ’993 patent, at issue in this appeal, involves heating water on demand during the fracking process instead of using preheated water. Mr. Hefley, the sole named inventor and founder of Heat On-The-Fly, LLC (“HOTF”), filed the earliest provisional application on September 18, 2009. Prior to the critical date of September 18, 2008, Mr. Hefley and his companies performed on-the-fly heating of water on at least 61 fracking jobs using the system described in the ’993 patent application and collected over $1.8 million for those services. Although Mr. Hefley discussed the requirements of the on-sale bar against patent eligibility with his business partner, he did not disclose any of the 61 fracking jobs to the Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”). The patent issued on May 8, 2012.

Energy Heating LLC (“Energy”), one of HOTF’s competitors, began using its accused process of heating water in 2012. After HOTF raised the possibility of a patent infringement lawsuit and Energy lost a business contract, Energy sought a declaratory judgment that the ’993 patent was unenforceable for inequitable conduct, invalid as obvious, and not infringed.

The district court granted declaratory judgment, finding the patent unenforceable for inequitable conduct, and denied Energy’s motion for attorneys’ fees under 35 U.S.C. €§ 285. The Federal Circuit affirmed the court’s finding of inequitable conduct but vacated the denial of attorneys’ fees and remanded on that issue alone.


Proponents of patent maximalism, typically a bunch of law firms, aren't happy about this status quo. Mr. Gross, an attorney who writes for patent trolls, recently unleashed a bunch of rants against PTAB, such as this (regarding Section 101):

Bad 101 decisions continue to multiply like viruses at PTAB bc, as they say: "the decisional mechanism courts now apply is to examine earlier cases... and which way they were decided" https://e-foia.uspto.gov/Foia/RetrievePdf?system=BPAI&flNm=fd2016005922-04-26-2018-1 … Since 90% decisions are adverse, system is rapidly being poisoned


No, the system is actually being repaired for those who want to mind their own business, creating things rather than suing. Is that so difficult to understand? Here he goes again (regarding Section 101, as usual):

See, this is the additional collateral crap PTAB is now pulling when CAFC affirms using Rule 36... citing Morsa as approving rejection of claims on targeted advertising, bc CAFC too lazy to do review on merits and explain fine distinctions in 101: e-foia.uspto.gov/Foia/RetrieveP…


He says that "PTAB continues bastardizing [Section] 101 caselaw", but he actually means applying, not "bastardizing":

PTAB continues bastardizing 101 caselaw, including Diehr, to reject claims on "controlling a torque output of an electric machine of an electrified vehicle during a vehicle creep condition" e-foia.uspto.gov/Foia/RetrieveP… Mess continues unabated


And again Section 101:

Like hundreds of other small innovators, Invidi gets their patent application on targeted asset delivery system nixed by PTAB as "abstract idea" e-foia.uspto.gov/Foia/RetrieveP…


Mr. Gross also took note of Microsoft having its software patents thrown away (Section 101):

LinkedIn bought these patent applications years ago; this is one of 1st of many on "fact checking" technology to be reviewed and rejected by PTAB under 101: they have a long road ahead: https://e-foia.uspto.gov/Foia/RetrievePdf?system=BPAI&flNm=fd2017001329-04-30-2018-1 …


Then the obligatory IBM example (Section 101 invalidation):

IBM Can't Win at the PTAB; The PTAB Reversed the Examiner's 101 Rejection But Instituted a New 101 Rejection of the Same Claims: https://anticipat.com/pdf/2018-04-30_13396177_178276.pdf …


Notice the profound impact of Section 101. Without even going to court, various parties actively work to eliminate software patents of patent aggressors.

"It puts engineers/programmers back in control, at the expense of parasitic lawyers who got accustomed to exploiting/taxing them."What's not to like?

Well, when one does litigation for a living (and let's face it, that's what the above people do) this whole "PTAB thing" is a living nightmare. It puts engineers/programmers back in control, at the expense of parasitic lawyers who got accustomed to exploiting/taxing them.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Confirmed in the Mainstream Media: A Lot of Microsoft "Workloads" Were Just LLM Slop (Helping to Fake Growth for Years, as Microsoft Had Paid "Open" "AI" to Become a "Client") and Demand is Rapidly Waning, Datacentres Canceled and/or Shut Down
Anything to facilitate further accounting fraud
Taiwan's Media Covers Closure of Microsoft's "AI" Lab, It's Time to Talk About the Gradual Death of Windows and Implosion of the "AI" Bubble
Earlier this week we showed that mostly Asian media had the 'nerve' to mention Microsoft silently shutting down its 'AI' lab
 
IBM Said to be Shutting Down Offices or Sites in the United States
the press can no longer avoid admitting that IBM moves many jobs to India
To Participate in Fedora Diversity You Must Use Proprietary Software
Not for the first time either
LLM Slop as Attack Vector on the Reputation of Linux
The attacks on Linux have escalated to information warfare
Yandex About to Be Three Times Bigger Than Microsoft (Bing) in Asia
That's about 60% of the world's population
Gemini Links 04/04/2025: Decoupling Updates, Elaho as Gemini Client
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, April 03, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, April 03, 2025
Microsoft's Trouble in Africa and Asia
A new all-time high for GNU/Linux
Brett Wilson LLP Reported to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA)
The saddest thing in all this is that law firms can maintain high standards shall they wish to
Links 03/04/2025: Tariff Pains and C.D.C. Cuts
Links for the day
StatCounter: Microsoft is Masking a Disaster, It's Way Behind DeepSeek Already and Interest in LLMs Has Waned
it turns out the money "raised" for "Open" "AI" may not even exist at all
Links 03/04/2025: SoftBank Money for Microsoft "Open" "AI" Probably Doesn't Even Exist, Wikimedia Foundation Blasts LLM Nuisance While Microsoft Admits Demand Has Shrunk
Links for the day
Gemini Links 03/04/2025: Patch Panel and Pictures
Links for the day
Islamic Republic of Iran: GNU/Linux at All-time High This Month, Windows Falls to 12%
Vista 10 is up this month despite being "end of life" (EoL) soon
Indonesia: All-Time Highs for GNU/Linux
What's noteworthy right now is the growth of GNU/Linux
statCounter Says GNU/Linux Usage is Up Again (Internationally)
some preliminary April data
Only on April 1st Can the Free Software Foundation Associate With Microsoft's Open Source Initiative (OSI)
We saw some pranks that day linking the FSF to Microsoft (e.g. "endorsing" Windows)
IBM Gets Rid of Kelly Chambliss as Mass Layoffs Reported in IBM Consulting, IBM Loses Key Contracts/Graft
IBM Consulting has been in disarray lately
More Gains for GNU/Linux, Based on Web Surveys
the Steam site shows rapid growth for "Linux" this month
Slopwatch: Anti-Linux Articles, Not Even Written by Humans
Why aren't Web sites more vocal about this problem?
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, April 02, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, April 02, 2025
Links 03/04/2025: Apple Fined Over Secret Surveillance, "Elegant Writer For A More Civilized Age"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 02/04/2025: Books and Cold Tea
Links for the day
Links 02/04/2025: More Layoffs, Nokia Again Takes Advantage of Illegal and Unconstitutional Patent Court With Nokia Staff as 'Judges'
Links for the day
Links 02/04/2025: Seizures and Returns to Windows of 24 Years Ago
Links for the day
LLM Slop Helps Obscure and Distort News About Layoffs (IBM, GAFAM)
It's hard to find accurate information
Links 02/04/2025: Microsoft Developers Are Threatening to Go on Strike, World Backup Day Noted
Links for the day
Gemini Protocol Has Growing Appeal (the Web Got Too Bloated and Full of LLM Slop)
For any "data plan" with bandwidth limits or "tiers" it would be cheaper to use/browse Geminispace
The Web Can Survive LLM Slop, But Only If We Collectively Shun and Discourage Serial Sloppers
Doing nothing ought not be a possibility
Amid Secret Shut-downs and Mass Layoffs at Microsoft (4 Waves of Layoffs in 3 Months of 2025) Some Microsoft Staff Expected to Go On Strike
workers going on strike
Gemini Links 02/04/2025: No more on Mastodon and Gemini Mention Script in Go
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, April 01, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, April 01, 2025
My Motion Disbarring or “Striking Off” Brett Wilson LLP for Enabling Violent Americans Who Try to Crush Microsoft Critics in the United Kingdom by Multiple SLAPPs
"Guns for hire" (for Microsoft people who received Microsoft salaries)
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Hijacked Again by Patent Litigation Industry, as President Cheeto Prioritises Aggressors
The "mafia" has taken over the "industry" and the Federal system (justice and constitutions trampled upon)
Ubuntu Slop and FUD Manufactured With LLMs and Funded (by Oneself) 'Studies'
Slop and FUD are ruining the Web