Bonum Certa Men Certa

David Kappos (IBM/Microsoft Lobbyist) Reported for Misuse of Authority and Conflict of Interest

Old monopolies and current monopolies want more than just patent monopolies

IBM and Nazi flag
Image sourced from "The Hidden Nazi History of IBM and how they chose profit over morality"



Summary: For a number of decades the USPTO has been discriminating against GNU/Linux users and for a number of years it has been pushing "Microsoft tax" (applicants must pay more if they don't use Microsoft's proprietary formats); some people challenge this culture of vendor capture inside the USPTO

LAST month we wrote about issues associated with past staff of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) which now works in the lobbying sector, in effect trying to shape the law for large clients like IBM and Microsoft. Among the objectives: extinguishing 35 U.S.C. €§ 101 and bringing back software patents. Last year we showed that an IBM lobbyist (paid millions by IBM) "Used COVID-19 Lies to Push for Software Patents From the Back Door, Undermining What Courts Have Determined" (even the highest court); not even the EPO had gone that far in promotion of software patents.



"We have many readers who use GNU/Linux, but we’re not sure how many of them interact with patent offices."Earlier this year we mentioned how those same people misused the USPTO to reinforce Microsoft's monopoly. One of our readers has had enough and is taking action [PDF]. Bar complaint against Kappos was submitted the other day. "I filed a bar complaint against Kappos in California," a reader told us, where he's a member of the bar. I'll file complaints in New York and Washington, DC, too - where he is also a member - but it seems to be a little more difficult than in California."

"I will be very surprised if anything is done about my complaint. But, if they go so far as to contact Kappos about the complaint, it will have been worth it.

"The issue I attacked him on is the "Electronic Filing Incentive." You can read about it in the attached pdf.

"I live in rural West Virginia, so I have only been on the internet for 7-8 years, and, before that, I filed my applications through the post. No problem, until Kappos came along, and tried to force everybody to buy Microsoft and Lenovo.

"At first, I used Windows - like everybody - but I bought Windows 8, which was junk, and I discovered Linux, which I've been using for probably about 7 years.

"Most of the people at the USPTO are lawyers, it seems, and they are creating "barriers" - as described in my pdf - against Linux users.

"Maybe somebody could file bar complaints against lawyers in the USPTO because of the barrier against Linux, using the complaint in my pdf as a guide. It would require some research to identify the lawyers, and then find out where their bar membership is: which state(s), and maybe Washington, DC.

"I can't do it. I use Linux, but don't really have the technical knowledge to make a strong complaint. Maybe you know somebody who could do it."

We have many readers who use GNU/Linux, but we're not sure how many of them interact with patent offices. Nevertheless, any action against behaviour such as this can only potentially improve things. We need to make ourselves noticeable/heard. Otherwise, systematic discrimination will carry on, reinforced by people whose top clients are proprietary software giants that pursue loads of software patents.

Recent Techrights' Posts

IBM's Debt Ballooned by 8.5 Billion Dollars in Just 3 Months!
Hallmark of a company in a state of disarray, trying to spend its way out of trouble
Big Trouble in GNOME
even GNOME people admit the CoC went wrong
New Article Explains How the GPL Came About and WordPress Having Copyleft Obligations
Having been involved in the WordPress development community since almost the beginning, I know why it chose the GPL and how it restricts abuse by Automattic
Dr Richard Stallman (RMS) Gives Talk in Oxford University in 4 Hours
If you live nearby, go there (it's free as in gratis)
Using a Law Firm's Licence to Exercise Politics Through Frivolous SLAPPs and Nastygrams (to Silence People, Remove Pages, Demand Fake or Forced 'Apologies')
Things must be getting really bad when lawyers act for raving antisemites
 
Streaming Apps Are “Investor Fraud” That Kills the Planet
Reprinted with permission from Ryan Farmer
Things Get Increasingly Nasty at Microsoft Ahead of the Fake Results and May's Mass Layoffs Wave
They try to get people to 'resign' so that they won't count as layoffs and the company's 'wellbeing' will seem better
Serial Sloppers Are Killing the Web (They Probably Don't Care, Either)
Slop is a disease on the Web
Slopping the Trough: Disney Plus Loses Billions and the Decline of Physical Media in America
Reprinted with permission from Ryan Farmer
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, April 24, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, April 24, 2025
Links 24/04/2025: GAFAM Problems and No Peace (or Ceasefire) in Sight
Links for the day
Slopfarms on the Web Almost Always Generate Anti-Linux FUD When They Produce "Linux" Output
Welcome to the dying Web
Richard Stallman's Oxford Talk Has Just Ended, Here Are Some Photos
he might hop over to another European country
Gemini Links 24/04/2025: Birthday and Good Work of Academia in Esotericism
Links for the day
Links 24/04/2025: EU fines Apple and Facebook, Another Microsoft GitHub Security Blunder
Links for the day
IBM Gained Almost 6 Billion Dollars in "Goodwill" Value in Just 3 Months, According to IBM
Congrats to the management!
In Belarus, Yandex is Now Measured as 50 Times More 'Popular' (by Usage) Than Microsoft
Yandex continues to gain, whereas Bing cannot even register at 1%. Last month it was registered or measured at a measly 0.65%.
IBM Cannot Lie to Shareholders Anymore
"I would not be surprised if we see a layoff every quarter this year."
We're Working to Make Full-Site Search Available
This site has over 1,000 'wiki' pages, many thousands of documents, several thousands of videos, and about 50,000 blog posts or articles. We need to make them easier to find/navigate.
Links 24/04/2025: IBM Loses Many Contracts, Intel to Lay Off Over 20% (Not Counting Those Who Leave 'Voluntarily')
Links for the day
Richard Stallman Can Explain to Oxford Artificial Intelligence Society Why LLM Slop is Not Artificial Intelligence and Why It Hurts Society
another 'crop' of LLM slop that damages GNU/Linux and facts
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, April 23, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, April 23, 2025
Open Source Initiative (OSI) Promoting Microsoft and Proprietary Software Using Microsoft Operatives
Because nothing says "Open Source" like GPL violations facilitated by Microsoft
Another Site Bites the Dust: "Open Source For You" Becoming a Slopfarm (LLM Slop)
What a shame. Another dead site.
Links 23/04/2025: Crackdowns on Dissent, Palin Loses Libel Retrial Against New York Times
Links for the day
Links 23/04/2025: Hard Times and Digital Amnesia
Links for the day
The GNU/Linux Site Formerly Known as "linoxide.com" is Back... as an LLM Slopfarm!
Better for linoxide.com to go offline than to do this
Get Rid of Back Doors, Don't Obsess Over Bounties and Other Corporate PR Stunts (or Needless Reboot Rituals)
Security as a term has mostly lost its meaning due to repeated misuse for many years
Richard Stallman to Speak in Oxford University Exactly a Day From Now
outsourced to GAFAM
Links 23/04/2025: "Hiding Corruption" and "The Cost of Defunding Harvard"
Links for the day
Microsoft 'Studies' Again? Leon Musolff is Writing Papers With Microsoft.
Even if one can see/find a link to "the study" (in the Bezos-controlled publication), most people won't look any further and just take everything at face value.
Towards GNU World Domination
The FSF led by Geoffrey S. Knauth with his friend Richard Stallman in the FSF's Board [...] Let's encourage people to adopt GNU/Linux. There has never been a better time.
statCounter Helps Visualise Just How Deep in Trouble Microsoft is (Especially in Africa)
Microsoft sabotaged efforts to connect Africans and equip them with GNU/Linux laptops
The Register is Using Linux-Hostile Clickbait in Articles of Linux Proponents
Don't be a "whore" to advertisers, team El Reg
Microsoft Windows in Cyprus Lacking a Future
Most people access the Web there from mobile
Matrix Has a Severe Problem With Illegal Images
If Matrix cannot get the CP problem under control, many projects and people will dump Matrix
Never Try to Justify Strangulation of Women (Not in the US and Not in the UK)
Joint post by Mrs. Rianne Schestowitz and Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Links 23/04/2025: Tesla Profits Plunge 71%, Intel Ready to Lay Off 20% of Staff, Microsoft and IBM Layoffs
Links for the day
Microsoft's Most Profound Issue is That People Moved to 'Mobile' and "App Stores" (Microsoft's Presence There is Negligible)
Expect a wild ride for Microsoft this year
Google News is Amplifying FUD and Lies About Linux (and OpenSSH/SSH) by Promoting Slopfarms With Machine-Generated FUD and Slop Images
Google should know better
Gemini Links 23/04/2025: Librarians, Anubis, and Refactoring a Gemini Capsule
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, April 22, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, April 22, 2025