THE EPO scandals should have become familiar to longtime readers. The Office basically operates outside the rule of law, it attacks judges, and it routinely violates the rights of its own staff. It's run by autocrats and dictators who are well connected (the current President, for instance, is an old friend of his predecessor).
"Having reviewed this week's tweets and articles, it seems clear that patent maximalists lack any "good" news from CAFC, PTAB and district courts, so they obsess over rare and exceptional patent application anomalies (situations where PTAB and examiners do not agree)."We have been seeing similar patterns in the Office across the Atlantic lately. Many top-level appointments are patent maximalists with history working for patent trolls. The Director's firm had worked for Donald Trump before Trump gave him the job. The main person of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) has since then been removed (or compelled to leave), the Federal Circuit's (CAFC) judgments are being ignored (or cherry-picked at best), and 35 U.S.C. ۤ 101 (Section 101) is being worked around in spite of Alice (SCOTUS). This means that examiners end up granting many patents in error.
Having reviewed this week's tweets and articles, it seems clear that patent maximalists lack any "good" news from CAFC, PTAB and district courts, so they obsess over rare and exceptional patent application anomalies (situations where PTAB and examiners do not agree). Watchtroll (the patent trolls' and software patents advocacy site) has just published "Bioinformatics Innovations Thrive Despite 101 Chaos"; but Section 101 is order, not chaos. Unless you're a parasitic lawyer whose business is litigation and blackmail. Patently-O has just moaned about another Alice/Mayo case (Section 101). They just don't get their way, do they?
EFF and other groups [1, 2] have been promoting this new post of Daniel Nazer from the EFF on why software patents are problematic, along with a call for action on Section 101 (at the Office):
The Supreme Court took a major step in cutting back on abstract software patents when it issued its landmark ruling in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank. Since then, courts have thrown out hundreds of patents that never should have issued. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court’s ruling is under threat. The Patent Office has proposed new guidance that, in our view, is inconsistent with Alice and would lead to a renewed flood of bogus patents. Please join us in submitting comments asking the Patent Office to abandon this plan.
"...where were groups like the EFF back then? Nowhere. They obstructed legitimate opposition to this whole "swamp" situation."The bottom line is, the Office and Trump are the main issue, not the courts. At the moment it's only the Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) who gleefully defies caselaw [1, 2]. It's a shame that groups like EFF or CCIA are too polite to call for his resignation; before he got the job we had repeatedly opposed his appointment (the nomination came from Trump and his notorious, corrupt cabinet); where were groups like the EFF back then? Nowhere. They obstructed legitimate opposition to this whole "swamp" situation. ⬆