Bonum Certa Men Certa

The European Patent Office Comes up With a Plethora of New Buzzwords by Which to Refer to Software Patents

European authorities play along with a "Study on the interaction between Open Source Software and FRAND" (these are not compatible)

A muscle car
They now proudly grant patents on computer vision (my field), which is basically mathematics



Summary: The permissive attitude towards software patents in Europe is harmful to software developers in Europe; the officials, who never wrote a computer program in their entire life, pretend this is not the case by adopting marketing techniques and surrogate terms

THE GRANTING of software patents in Europe appears to have accelerated under António Campinos as President of the European Patent Office (EPO), or at least advocacy thereof.



This is very troubling in light of the fact that the US goes in the opposite direction, with 35 U.S.C. ۤ 101 used to routinely squash such patents, citing Alice (SCOTUS) -- a subject we'll focus on tomorrow.

"This is very troubling in light of the fact that the US goes in the opposite direction, with 35 U.S.C. ۤ 101 used to routinely squash such patents..."As shown in [1] below (several readers have independently alerted us about it), the European politicians now actively participate in this toxic agenda and OIN seems very happy with this (it calls FRAND proponents "charities" now), being a proponent of software patents itself. We've seen some troubling statements in relation to [1] and various tweets on the subject have been abound (FFII, OIN, Red Hat etc.). Is violation of the EPC considered acceptable now? Not only at the EPO but also the EU/EC?

Just before the weekend we saw the EPO promoting "AIpatents" (as it does every day; it has done this for months, more so under Campinos). Here's one example: "Key discussions and insights from our conference on patenting #AI are available here. Take a look if you are interested in #artificialintelligence: http://bit.ly/AIpatents"

Here's another new "AIpatents" tweet: "Experts from industry, academia and the IP world discussed possible future considerations for patent laws in view of #artificialintelligence at this recent conference: http://bit.ly/AIpatents"

"Just before the weekend we saw the EPO promoting "AIpatents" (as it does every day; it has done this for months, more so under Campinos)."Then came "IoT": "Interested in the #InternetOfThings & standard-essential patents? At this conference, you can discuss this trending topic with experts from all around the world: http://bit.ly/indoeur pic.twitter.com/XAON4cTF8F"

Many so-called 'IoT' patents (basically software on devices) are just software patents. Pure and simple. How about "blockchains"? It's not just a buzzword (unlike "AI" and "IoT"), but it's a hype wave. The EPO wrote: "What is the examination practice at the European Patent Office of #blockchain technology? Find out at this conference in the Hague: https://bit.ly/2PGRp79"

Now there's also "SDV", the latest of many three-letter acronyms that the EPO paid to manufacture or at least spread through the media (we've seen about a dozen 'reports' about this, not just in English, and they all boil down to EPO PR, naming António Campinos personally). The EPO has just tweeted: "Europe and the US are the global leaders in self-driving vehicle innovation. See which European countries filed the most applications for this technology here: http://bit.ly/SDVstudy #SelfDriving #FutureOfCars pic.twitter.com/Jnk1Qlep3P"

"Many so-called 'IoT' patents (basically software on devices) are just software patents."Then there's "4IR". Yesterday the EPO tweeted: "Join the discussion on patenting some of today’s most dynamic areas of innovation at this conference in Munich, co-hosted with @GoI_MeitY: http://bit.ly/indoeur pic.twitter.com/xjDm3QcWyh"

This links to a page about "emerging technologies" (warning: epo.org link) that starts as follows: "The 4th Industrial Revolution continues to gather momentum, and the digital transformation is affecting all aspects of life, as shown by the EPO’s report on "Patents and the Fourth Industrial Revolution". Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are converging with all traditional areas of technology.

"Notice that buzzwords 'salad'; most if not all refer to algorithms.""This provides opportunities for emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, capable of “Machine Learning” and optimising systems too complex for manually programmed algorithms; and Blockchain, for digital-speed processing of secure transactions."

Notice that buzzwords 'salad'; most if not all refer to algorithms. It's a pretty shallow deceptive layer.

Additionally, widely promoted by patent maximalists is this Watchtroll article from Andrea Perronace (epi); here's how he's described by his own bio: "European Patent Attorney and has been working in the IP field for 17 years. [...] Andrea is a full member of the ICT Thematic Group of the European Patent Practice Committee (epi) and participates in EPI’s Guidelines’ and ICT subcommittees e whose aim is to submit to the EPO proposals for improvement of the Guidelines for Examination. As an epi delegate, he was a speaker at the “Patenting Artificial Intelligence” Conference at the European Patent Office in Munich, May 30, 2018."

To quote: [via]

The new Guidelines entered into force on November 1, 2018. Like the previous edition, this year’s Guidelines include substantial and valuable improvements with regard to guidance on the eligibility of computer-implemented inventions (CII). These sections of the Guidelines have been discussed with the European Patent Institute (epi), in particular with the ICT Thematic Group of the European Patent Practice Committee within the epi. The EPO website includes a useful html index for the Guidelines, including those sections relating to computer-implemented inventions.


He even uses the term "CII" and the headline says "Computer-implemented inventions"; much of the rest is a lot of buzzwords, which surely EPO examiners have become familiar with.

"After the attack on judges from the Boards of Appeal we very much doubt any of the Boards of Appeal can confront the EPO over this gross abuse of power to grant patents, even in defiance of courts, Parliament, and the founding document of the Office/Organisation, the EPC."We're not sure if this disturbing trend can be stopped, but we at least hope to highlight it. Mitscherlich PartmbB's Christian Rupp has just published this article about a decision of the Boards of Appeal (T0642/14), but it has nothing to do with the above. After the attack on judges from the Boards of Appeal we very much doubt any of the Boards of Appeal can confront the EPO over this gross abuse of power to grant patents, even in defiance of courts, Parliament, and the founding document of the Office/Organisation, the EPC.

Related/contextual items from the news:



  1. JRC stakeholder consultation on open source software and standardisation

    In the context of the on-going Study on the interaction between Open Source Software and FRAND (Fair, Reasonable And Non-discriminatory) licensing in Standardisation we carry out a survey with interested stakeholder groups.

    [...]

    Deadline: 30 November 2018.



Recent Techrights' Posts

Banned evidence: Ars Technica forums censored email predicting DebConf23 death, Abraham Raji & Debian cover-up
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Intimidation, Threats, and Bullying Not Tolerated by Techrights
When it comes to our reporting, safety always comes first
Something to Celebrate in Gemini Protocol
More capsules and users join in
 
Costa Rica Almost Bankrupt Because of Microsoft
the incidents in Costa Rica are Windows incidents
Gemini Links 29/03/2025: Art of Looking, Wireguard, EMacs
Links for the day
Links 29/03/2025: Attacks on Social Security and War Updates
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, March 28, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, March 28, 2025
A World Without Rules
We're long insisted on better laws and actual enforcement of them (applicable to all, not selectively applied)
IBM's BS (Bait, Switch) Regarding Ways to Stay Onboard
PIPs, RTOs, and forced relocations are just an illusion of choice (or ability to recover)
statCounter Sees Microsoft Windows Falling to New, Unprecedented Lows in Palau
Taking Android into account, Windows is now down to an all-time low of 14%
Google News Lost the Fight to LLM Slop (While Google Itself Sells Slop, Nowadays Under the Name "Gemini")
Many people say that "Google is getting worse"; that's almost an understatement
Links 28/03/2025: AirAsia Trouble Again, UMich Culls All DEI Programs
Links for the day
Gemini Links 28/03/2025: Alexa is for Gullible People, Rant About Feature Overload
Links for the day
The SLAPPs From the Microsoft Strangler (and Sidekick) No Better Than Patent Trolling
one must never settle with trolls
Links 28/03/2025: Last Reminder "to Delete Your 23andMe Data", "UK's First Permanent Facial Recognition Cameras Installed"
Links for the day
Microsoft Canonical Continues Its FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt) Campaign, Reveals Google Too Sponsored It
They're paid-for lies from a Chinese company that takes GAFAM money to write puff pieces about them
Android Rises Above 76% in Mozambique, Leaving Windows in the Dust
Windows may soon be measured as smaller than Apple's iOS
IBM, Red Hat and Microsoft Probably Also Manipulate Metrics (It Helps Con the Shareholders)
Wall Street's credibility will depend on enforcement of "checks and balances"
Slopwatch: trendhunter.com and Other Pure Junk From "Google News"
The need to vet sources is hardly new; anyone can spew out anything, anywhere. There's a need for vetting.
Gemini Links 28/03/2025: Rewatching The X-Files, Slop Concerns, and NOSTR Censorship
Links for the day
Links 28/03/2025: Australia at Risk, EPO Grants Illegal Patents With Illegal Effect
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, March 27, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, March 27, 2025
Links 27/03/2025: Obituary to a Shop, Russia Trying to Buy Time
Links for the day
Links 27/03/2025: Slop, Autosuggestions, and Nostr
Links for the day
Apparently Confirmed: IBM Layoffs in Canada Today, Hundreds Affected
Impacting "177 people", says one person, "in Ottawa"
When Windows Was Dominant (1990s) Browser Monopoly Meant MSIE, But Now Google Android is Dominant and the Web in a 'Webapps' Era Works With (or Is Designed for) Chrome-isms
We've been there before
Slopwatch: BetaNews, LinuxSecurity.com, and the Attack on Web Search Using Fake and Likely Plagiarised Pages
Changing a few words here and there won't change the fact that it's not properly authored
Links 27/03/2025: U.S. Honeybee Deaths Reach Record High, Legal Occupation Next in Line After War on Science
Links for the day
Using Courts for 'Revenge' is Always a Losing Strategy
Trying to cause someone you dislike to spend a lot of money
IBM CFO James Kavanaugh Refers to Firing of Almost 10,000 Americans as "Workforce Rebalancing" (Shifting IBM's Centre of Balance to Low-salary Contracts/Countries)
The scale of IBM layoffs is getting too large to evade WARN Notices
[Video] Dr. Richard Stallman's Keynote Speech in Kerala Finally Uploaded
In non-free format and proprietary YouTube, but perhaps that's better than nothing
Islands Are Leaving Microsoft Behind, According to statCounter
Android has had a very strong year
EPO Management Fails to Deny That the Office is Discriminating Against Women
Europe's second-largest institution isn't just exceedingly corrupt but also immoral
In Some Countries the Market Share of Vista 11 is Going Down, Not Up
despite being released in 2021
Rumour: Mass Layoffs in IBM Canada Today
Maybe later today some people from Canada will say something firmer and maybe some media will even talk about that
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, March 26, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, March 26, 2025
Gemini Links 27/03/2025: X-Files' "Kill Switch", Orlando, and ASN (Autonomous System Number) 'Hack'
Links for the day