Bonum Certa Men Certa

The 'Stronger' Patents Act (STRONGER Patents Act of 2019) Killed by Coronavirus

Long live the SCOTUS determination on Alice

EFF on STRONGER Patents Act of 2019



Summary: The STRONGER Patents Act of 2019 (or 2018, or even 2017) is nowhere to be seen this year; it's safe to say that all momentum is gone now, along with the push to bring software patents back

THE situation in the US isn't too encouraging when it comes to patents. It's not so discouraging, either. Basically, the USPTO carries on granting many software patents in defiance of 35 U.S.C. ۤ 101. Yesterday Patently-O said that "[i]t is a slow patent news day," albeit we found quite a few items and put them in Daily Links. For instance, there was this bounty against a patent troll with a "patent [that] generally relates to a customer computer and vendor computer that are interconnected by means of a network." (Abstract? Seems likely.)

"We just didn't envision something like COVID-19 coming along, in effect ending all hope and suspending any remaining 'progress' that the lobbyists were claiming."Due to our focus on the EPO we haven't been covering American patent affairs lately (barely at all this year, except in Daily Links), but this is likely a positive thing. What we post is typically reactionary, i.e. a response to displeasing things such as falsehoods and injustices. From what we can gather, based on recent court outcomes, software patents aren't coming back to the US any time soon. Remember how last summer there was an effort to make patents even weaker with a bill called "STRONGER"? Where is that now? After 3 consecutive summers, this time around nothing is even being tabled to that effect. It's dead. It's finished. Just as we predicted all along.

Does this surprise us? Not at all. We just didn't envision something like COVID-19 coming along, in effect ending all hope and suspending any remaining 'progress' that the lobbyists were claiming. Big law firms reportedly cut salaries and lay people off. This means fewer lawsuits and it is likely also caused by fewer lawsuits being filed. As one site put it: "Major law firms have been attempting to manage their expenses by using the cost-cutting measures of salary cuts and benefits reductions, and some have even gone so far as to conduct furloughs and layoffs."

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