Bonum Certa Men Certa

Digitalisation and Digital Technologies as a Ploy to Justify Illegal Software Patents

Hey hi! My name is "Digital"! I shall be your servant today.

Digital hello



Summary: Say "hello" to the next weasel word/s; from the "hey hi" hype wave we've now moved to something "digital" (which can mean just about anything, including algorithms of all sorts)

THE way the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) deals with 35 U.S.C. €§ 101 does not really determine the eligibility of software patents in the US. The way high courts such as the Federal Circuit (or above, namely SCOTUS) deal with such patents is what matters. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) inter partes reviews (IPRs) also play an important role, especially when decisions become examples or precedents. Here in Europe the appeals are dealt with not by impartial judges but 'glorified' (or elevated) examiners who are terrified of European Patent Office (EPO) presidents like António Campinos and 'Mafioso B' from Corsica. These under-qualified presidents not only allow software patents in Europe but actively advocate these; they even pressure judges to do the same. They gleefully violate the EPC and then they wonder why staff is dissenting? More than 80% of the EPO's staff is eager to go on strike, but 'Mafioso B' made it a lot harder.



"They gleefully violate the EPC and then they wonder why staff is dissenting? More than 80% of the EPO's staff is eager to go on strike, but 'Mafioso B' made it a lot harder."The UPC is dead (we have a lot more to publish about that), but software patents are not because the EPO keeps granting them. Sure, courts would typically throw them out and there will be no "unified" or "unitary" court to change that.

"Digital technologies" is one of the latest smokescreens EPO management uses to describe -- in rather broad and vague terms -- patents on algorithms. The EPO did that again just before the weekend when it tweeted: "Digitalisation is fuelling a growth in patenting. But who's filing the most European patent applications in this field? This analysis of our latest patent statistics provides some insight: https://bit.ly/DigitalisationIndex … #EPOPatentIndex"

DigitalisationIndex...

PatentIndex...

"First Campinos fell in love with "hey hi" (AI) and now it's "digi" this, "digi" that. The EPO keeps promoting illegal software patents disguised using "Digitalisation" or "Digital technologies"..."We've named all this nonsense before...

It's like a broken record/tune now...

First Campinos fell in love with "hey hi" (AI) and now it's "digi" this, "digi" that. The EPO keeps promoting illegal software patents disguised using "Digitalisation" or "Digital technologies"...

Pay attention, dear EPO examiners.

Less than half a year ago the EPO had introduced and then also imposed new guidelines which compel examiners to grant "hey hi" patents (algorithms with glorified buzz and novelty-inducing ambiance). So examiners are in a tough place; obey orders from EPO management or respect the EPC. Cannot do both (risk of unemployment in increasingly-uncertain times in Europe).

The other day we noticed that Slaughter and May's Catherine Cotter (whom we'll mention a lot in the coming week because of UPC lies) celebrates the EPO breaking the law with buzzwords and hype waves. "Digital technologies take top spot in EU patent applications in 2019" was her headline, pushed by her boss (Slaughter, aptly-named firm) in the patent microcosm's platforms.

"Less than half a year ago the EPO had introduced and then also imposed new guidelines which compel examiners to grant "hey hi" patents (algorithms with glorified buzz and novelty-inducing ambiance)."Another one of the patent microcosm's platforms published "Patenting CIIs: ‘no one knows where to draw the line’" -- a paywalled piece by Karry Lai who's pushing illegal software under the misleading guise of "CII" (the lie manifested by the EPO). "Australian in-house counsel and lawyers reveal their struggles with the “black hole” that computer-implemented inventions seem to fall into," the summary says. Well, Australian courts and to some degree the patent office as well reject these patents. There's no “black hole” per se. It's just the law.

Going back to the EPO again, watch this other tweet posted a couple of days ago. At the top of this page the EPO promotes illegal patents on software. They're so shameless about it.

Who are you kidding, Mr. Campinos? Take off the mask. You're another Battistelli and you'd even celebrate patents (monopolies) on basic and rudimentary masks at this time. We'll say more on the latest PR blunder in our next post. It's related to this.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Richard Stallman is Going to Finland to Give a Talk Next Thursday
A day later he speaks in Sweden
 
The Free Software Foundation Starts Fund-raising for 40th Anniversary
New pop-up 2-3 days ahead of the 40th anniversary event
Michael “Monty” Widenius: It Started in 1983 With Richard Stallman (RMS)
The other co-founder of MySQL is a bit notorious for confronting RMS rather viciously
Systemd Breaks Networking in Debian and Microsoft Staff Rushes to Make Face-Saving Excuses in LWN
Microsoft's bluca is already there in the comments, his Microsoft money pays for LWN to let him leave comments early
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, October 01, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, October 01, 2025
What the End of XBox Will Look Like: a Fiery Crash
XBox is the next Skype. It won't last much longer. Expect many more layoffs.
Gemini Links 02/10/2025: SMTP Pipelining and End of ROOPHLOCH 2025
Links for the day
Slopwatch: Plagiarism, Fake Articles, and FUD About Linux
not a day goes by without Google News feeding FUD from slopfarms
Gemini Links 01/10/2025: Chat Control and End of Life
Links for the day
Links 01/10/2025: Long Covid Risk Reiterated, "Bitcoin Queen" Caught
Links for the day
Links 01/10/2025: EA $55 Billion Deal is Debt and Slop "Raises Vishing Risks"
Links for the day
Bluewashing at Red Hat Means Redundancies
The man who sold Red Hat to IBM meanwhile became a Microsoft Mono booster
After Killing OpenSource.com, IBM ('Red Hat') and OSI Told Us OpenSource.net Would Replace It (But That Didn't Happen)
Now it's time to move on, perhaps tarnishing the "Open Source" label some more (for whatever sponsor wants this)
Linux is Not a Community Project, It's a Wall Street Product
The core goal should be freedom
Bad Actors Abusing the Free Software Community, Vandalising It Using Rogue Politics and Old Tactics
Oil giants have long attempted to do this; now, the digital equivalent of Big Oil does this in technology
Social Control Media Isn't the Future, The Federation or Fediverse Isn't Growing, People's Accounts Vanish for Good
users' accounts will get deleted, not just become inactive
IBM is Failing, This Helps Show Wall Street is Entirely Detached From Actual Commercial Performance
IBM is unable to grow, it's just constantly shrinking
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, September 30, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, September 30, 2025
Clerical Aspects of Publishing and Development
In Free software, the management aspects are considerably reduced
Slopwatch: Fake Articles and Google News Promoting "Linux" Spam or Bot-Generated Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt (FUD)
These slopfarms help misplace blame
Third Wave of Microsoft Layoffs in September, This Time Many in Liverpool Affected
Be ready for more waves of layoffs ahead of the so-called "results" in late October
Gemini Links 30/09/2025: Motorcycling in Central Oregon, Protocol Styles and the Flag of Sark
Links for the day
Links 30/09/2025: Death Sentences, Internet Censorship, and Internet Shutdowns
Links for the day
Gemini Links 30/09/2025: Social Control Media and ROOPHLOCH
Links for the day
Richard Stallman About to Give More Talks in Europe, Some Confirmed Already
In Göteborg
Links 30/09/2025: CERN in "Have I Been Pwned" and More Windows TCO Blunders
Links for the day
Microsoft Canonical is Selling Mass Surveillance and Back Doors as "Security for Ubuntu"
If you are looking for a GNU/Linux distro to use, just remember that Microsoft has Ubuntu in the bag
Justice for Wildlife
animals cannot speak to humans who hate animals
Cowboys Gonna Be Cowboys (on the Internet, They're Not a New Problem)
Boys will be boys
Cowboys of the "Left" and Cowboys of the "Right"
Don't believe the lie that this is some "leftist" thing
When Codes of Conduct Serve to Protect Criminals From Much-Deserved Scrutiny
CoCs are typically unfit for purpose because enforcement lacks context and suitable understanding of the full background (the "full story")
It Took the Open Source Initiative (OSI) 4+ Years to Address the 'Data Breach' or Data Protection Violation Reported to the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) in March 2025
We may never know the dialogue or its nature
Even Microsoft's Biggest Boosters (and Media Operatives) Are Turning Against Microsoft
Expect many more layoffs before the fake "results" next month
GNU Was Right 42+ Years Ago
Since then the abusive, user-hostile technology has spread like mushrooms
Old Isn't Always Inadequate
How many gadgets manufactured today (in 2025) will still work in 2075?
The Monkey Business of Rust People
Compatibility won't matter
Almost Half of the FSFE's Money (the Fake 'FSF', Misusing the Brand) Comes From Vodafone
That money always comes with strings, even if they're invisible to most of us
Microsoft Lunduke Spreads Deliberate Lies to Incite Online Mobs
Has he lost his reading comprehension skills?
Our 19th Birthday (in Just Over 5 Weeks From Now)
We meanwhile have ongoing, solid plans to cover patent-related issues when the FSF turns 40
British GNU/Linux Distro FydeOS Tops DistroWatch
That seems like a decent site and decent effort to keep an eye on
We'll Soon Have 75,000 GemText Pages
avoid many perils of today's Web
Google Used Free Software to Build a Monopoly. Now Google Kicks Free Software to the Curb
The "G" in "Google" does not stand for GNU. It never did. It's just another greedy company.
Gemini Links 30/09/2025: Retro Hardware, Federated Fragmentation, and Nex Server Written in C
Links for the day
4 More Days Till "4 decades, 4 freedoms, 4 all users"
We are now just 4 days away from the rare anniversary
Two Months After Merging to Hide GitHub Losses Microsoft is Doing It Again (This Time Windows)
Merging those two together is not a sign of strength but a tightening of budget
Speculations About the Next Large Wave of IBM/Red Hat Layoffs
the mass layoffs are likely to happen on week 3 or 4 in October
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, September 29, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, September 29, 2025