Bonum Certa Men Certa

Many Thanks to Free Software, the Demise of Software Patents (in Europe and the US), and So Much More

Thank you



Summary: On a positive note we're heading into the end of November, one month before Boxing Day; we take stock of patent affairs that impact software developers

ACROSS the United States people celebrate a holiday that we do not have here in 'Englandia'. Except of course the shopping-related offshoots (cyber Mondays and black Fridays -- whatever they even have to do with holidays when we're still in national/nationwide lock-down).



"Enjoy the long weekend, don't shop ("consume") too much, and don't believe anything Team UPC says."This coming (long) weekend we'll be doing some site housekeeping, having 'earned' some rest after 29,000+ blog posts. We're motivated, not tired. Exhilarated, not demoralised.

What happened today in Germany was not a surprise; neither to me nor to Benjamin Henrion, among many others (we correctly predicted this outcome). Daily Links have some coverage from Team UPC, but we will write about the latest on the subject when the constitutional complaint comes (we're rather certain it'll arrive soon). Team UPC is, as usual, using Trump-style hype and premature victory laps in an effort to gaslight and demoralise otherwise rational people. António Campinos of the EPO did the same in the afternoon, but even his own workers don't believe a word that comes out of his mouth.

FFII is crowd-sourcing and crowd-funding a complaint and we also expect the famous Düsseldorf attorney/lawyer to say something. People expect a complaint from him, not just from FFII, and various other parties will likely step in (at some level or capacity). We expect to see some frustrating times for Team UPC ahead of us, e.g. get ready for the FCC... actually dealing with the actual substance this time around (a key Justice already publicly insinuated it would likely come next).

Benoît Battistelli is thankful to lobbyists (CEIPI has long wanted and attempted to profit from UPC courses, even if UPC does not exist) and those who think legislation can be magically retrofitted to bypass Brexit are in for a surprise. Also, those who think they can introduce a new court system to authorise software patents in Europe (without the highest court in the EU getting involved) are simply dreaming.

Thank youIt was almost 24 months ago (2 years) that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) attempted to crush/bypass 35 U.S.C. ۤ 101. Not only will Biden replace the current USPTO leadership (it seems inevitable); in the meantime the Federal Circuit only doubled down on 35 U.S.C. ۤ 101/Alice. Coons and his friends made no progress with a Congressional bypass and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) continues to handle inter partes reviews (IPRs), habitually crushing American software patents. So we're generally still in a good position. Not perfect, but not too bad, either.

Enjoy the long weekend, don't shop ("consume") too much, and don't believe anything Team UPC says. They've been lying to us all for well over a decade; it's not like this week their lies miraculously stopped.

Recent Techrights' Posts

The Latest Microsoft Layoffs Are a Wake-up Call: The Company is Running Low on Money
in most areas it is not even profitable
Copyleft is the Way to Go (Unless You're an Unpaid Volunteer of GAFAM)
The GPL 'family' of licences is very old and those licences were last revised in 2007
statCounter's Numbers Make Sense Given Microsoft's Falling Windows/Client Revenue
There are already articles (some last week) saying that XBox should just be ended
statCounter: New Record Highs for GNU/Linux in Its Birthplace
So Microsoft is in a tough place
 
All Efforts to Censor Techrights Have Always Failed
In 2026 We can make it to 20 years of source protection
Microsoft Bing Lies
When they say "China" or "DeepSeek" censors things don't lose sight of Microsoft
Disappointing 'Results' and Mass Layoffs (Without Severance Pay) Sank Microsoft, But It's a Lot Worse Than Shareholders Care to Realise
People are losing their patience
statCounter: In Web Browsers, Microsoft Collapses to Worst Levels in 2 Years!
Microsoft nowadays insists that it is a "market leader" in a market that does not exist
statCounter: Apple's iOS About to Exceed Windows in Terms of "Market Share" (Despite Windows Being 'Sold' for Less)
Vista 11 is only about 5% of the "market share"
statCounter: GNU/Linux Reaches New All-Time Highs in Brazil and Argentina, Android Has Reached 60% in South America
Microsoft cultivating buzzwords and cult-like thinking, not real products
The Media Does Not Properly Report Microsoft Profits and Losses (It's Partly Intentional)
So how many Vista 11 (preloaded) copies were sold with new PCs?
Links 03/02/2025: Microsoft's Termination Controversy and EU Hey Hi (AI) Act Compliance Day
Links for the day
It Seems Like BetaNews is Finally Deleting Fake 'Articles' About "Linux" by LLM Slop (aka Brian Fagioli)
Is BetaNews finally taking these problems more seriously?
Gemini Links 03/02/2025: Art is Process, Smartphones, Internet, and More
Links for the day
Links 03/02/2025: USAID Under Attack, Vista 11 Breaking Itself Again
Links for the day
About 1 in 10 Laptops/Desktops in Venezuela and Cuba Uses GNU/Linux
statCounter says GNU/Linux now exceeds 10% in Cuba
At Microsoft, Promoting Back Doors, Proprietary Lock-in and Mass Surveillance Under the Guise of Diversity ("Microsoft Philanthropy Team")
Microsoft staff enters NGOs to lobby for Microsoft and sell for Microsoft
statCounter: Android Share in Operating Systems, Per Country
Towards the bottom there are poorer countries
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, February 02, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, February 02, 2025
statCounter: In Canada, New Lows for Windows and Bing is Perishing
Windows has fallen to about 60% in desktops/laptops
Yandex Has Nearly Caught Up With Microsoft Internationally, Bing Falls to Pre-LLM Hype Levels
Of course we've been saying all along that this would happen
Germany's 'Share' of GNU/Linux Rises to All-Time High Based on This Surveyor
Many public services have made the move to GNU/Linux
Microsoft Uses the Mindset of Drug Dealers and Pays 'News' Sites to Sell 'Drugs'
Microsoft pays publishers to spread the illusion that the only viable option for developers and non-developers is "drugs" like Visual Studio and Microsoft Office, respectively
Windows Going South in the "Global South" (Africa and More)
Microsoft has long been shameless about using the tactics of drug dealers
Sharp Drop for Microsoft Windows This Month, Based on statCounter
Facebook meanwhile censors GNU/Linux advocacy
3 Months Ago Lupa Saw 4,200+ Unique Gemini Capsules; Now It Sees Nearly 4,400
many bots target our capsule (129,152 Gemini requests yesterday alone)
Gemini Links 02/02/2025: Geminispace Targeted by Chatbots, Gabbro 0.1.1 Released
Links for the day
Links 02/02/2025: Website Revamps, Blogging About Blogging, and Self-Harming Tariff Wars (Higher Prices)
Links for the day
Oracle's Debt Soars to 100 Billion Dollars (12 Billion Added in Just 9 Months!) While Larry Ellison Backs Fascism for Bailouts, Graft, and "Contracts"
Including attempts to gain control of TikTok, owing to the corrupt dictator long promoted by Larry Ellison (also via Twitter takeover)
Links 02/02/2025: Union-Busting and Censorship by Executions
Links for the day
Gemini Links 02/02/2025: Limits Pushing, Free Software Absolutism, and Why Gemini Matters
Links for the day
Slopwatch: BetaNews and linuxsecurity.com Have Just Published More Fake 'Articles' About "Linux"
There's probably more "Linux" slop out there, but we do our best to identify it on a daily basis
Richard Stallman Has Another Talk in India Tomorrow, at Least Fourth India Talks in Recent Days
In the past month he has given at least half a dozen talks
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, February 01, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, February 01, 2025
Links 01/02/2025: Chinese and American Censorship, Cloud-[sic]Native Targeted by Software Patents
Links for the day
Links 01/02/2025: Belated Happy New Year 2025 and Gabbro 0.1.2
Links for the day
Hiring for Tech Roles Based on Perceived Loyalty is No Better Than Hiring to Meet Diversity Quotas
What we're seeing right now is a national security disaster and it is almost purely about technology
S.E.O. SPAM by Serial Sloppers With L.L.M. Garbage is Hurting Linux
We continue to run Slopwatch
Links 01/02/2025: Administrative Chaos and Aviation Disasters Persist
Links for the day
Arrested: Albanian Outreachy whistleblowers, Sonny Piers GNOME & Debian connections
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 1/2/2025: LLM Hype Revisited, Linuxwashing by Oumi
Links for the day
Growing Evidence That the Patent Industry Has Become a Major Scam
Seeing that the patent "industry" has turned to serious crimes (sometimes to cover up corruption) and seeing that the net negative is clearer for all to see, people who argue for abolition of all patents will have a field day
IBM Says That Half of Its "Assets" is Basically Pure Fiction ("Goodwill")
It times get tough, IBM can sell "Goodwill" at the local pawn shop and pay back the lenders, right?
Planet Ubuntu Overrun by LLM Slop? Faizul "Piju" 9M2PJU Seems to be Publishing Fake Articles About "Linux"...
Maybe it is "assisted" by LLM slop, but slop is slop and it introduces many problems
Gemini Links 01/02/2025: LLMs, Analog Computer, and BorgBackup
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, January 31, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, January 31, 2025