Bonum Certa Men Certa

Evidence of Defunct Patent System: Daily Links

Summary: New stories that highlight problems with intellectual monopolies

Death/Morality



Another Example Of Patents Putting Lives At Risk

Given that Shafer refused to live up to the terms of the deal that he had never agreed to in the first place, ABL moved forward and sued Shafer directly, and that case is now ongoing -- even as Shafer hopes to invalidate the patent through the Patent Office itself. The whole thing is yet another story of how patents are being used to stifle innovation -- and sometimes put lives at risk. It's tragic that we've been seeing so many such stories lately.


“INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY”: A LIBERTARIAN CRITIQUE [PDF]

Fashion



Fashion Industry Repeats Software's Mistakes

Software patents are stupid on both theoretical and practical grounds. Since software is just algorithms - that is, maths - software patents are intellectual monopolies on pure knowledge. Practically, they make coding almost impossible, since software patents have been given for so many trivial and common programming techniques.


New fashion copyright bill will let big companies own public domain designs and bury young, indie designers in legal costs

Business Methods



Canadian Patent Appeal Board Rules Against Business Method Patents

Canadian Patent Office Rejects Software And Business Model Patents

Photo-Sharing



Patent-Litigation Weekly: The Photo-Sharing Files

Creating and sharing images—drawings, paintings, photographs—are among the most ancient of human activities, and throughout history, technology that makes that sharing possible has been embraced as rapidly as it appears. Today, that technology takes the form of software applications for computers and cell phones.

That all helps explain why the collection of scrappy entrepreneurs who run small and medium-sized photo-sharing companies didn’t always think about patents as they built up their businesses.


Web Sites



Do Patents On Your Website Make You Liable For False Marking?

One of the things that tends to keep patent lawsuits in check between two larger competing companies is the "patent nuclear war" scenario -- which is that if one company sues the other for patent infringement, the latter company often can hit back with an equal number of infringement charges. Thus, the incentives are for companies to stockpile lots of patents, but not necessarily use them... though it does happen occasionally.


Hardware



Flash memory patent litigation impacts bottom lines

The recent cross-license agreement with Samsung, noted in the article of interest, includes four-bit-per cell technology, which is a critical element for building enterprise servers using high density solid state disk drives and will keep SanDisk profitable over the next 7 years.


Rambus drops (some) Nvidia allegations

Rambus is dropping allegations against Nvidia relating to four of nine patents the IP chip firm claims are being infringed by GeForce graphics processors and nForce chipsets.


China



China plans for 50% increase in number of patent agents

China's State Intellectual Property Office has formulated a Plan for the Development of the Patent Agency Industry (2009-2015). Although I cannot find a copy of the plan - which I guess is published only in Chinese - one of its central planks is that by 2015 there should be 10,000 practising patent agents in China, up from the 6,000 that currently operate.


Supreme People's Court of China: "Current Economic Situation Makes Granting IPR Injunctions More Difficult"

This this not contravene China's obligations under the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs): Articles 7 and 8 TRIPs, taken together may provide, "a basis for seeking waivers to meet unforeseen conditions of hardship," J.H. Reichman, The TRIPs Agreement Comes of Age: Conflict or Cooperation with the Developing Countries, 32 Case W. Res. J. International Law, 2000, pp. 441 and 461.


Recent Techrights' Posts

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A week ago they offered to settle with us
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"The talk is open to the public and attendance is free. Registration is not required."
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It's good to see him attracting vast audiences
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Photos from yesterday evening [...] It looks like it was a very successful event
 
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This impacts a lot more than access to the licences
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Or "let's repeat the lies from a PR person/Microsoft's publicist"
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Nothing lasts forever
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Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
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Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
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Faking "growth" is just about as bad as forgery
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Something has gone terribly wrong in GNOME
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Links for the day
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People who loathe scholars have an agenda in mind that, unlike that of reasonable people, revolves around controlling people
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there are good reasons to pay with cash, not limited to privacy
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If you're going to viciously attack somebody, make sure your arguments are rock-solid
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How does it feel to depend on Microsoft?
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The capacity of the place is about 900
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Imagine wanting to find what Torvalds has just said or what has just been released
Taking Software Freedom 'Mainstream'
interest in Software Freedom must have grown
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The EPO's War on Techrights Was a Massive Mistake
The EPO started the SLAPPs after we had published a few hundreds of articles; we've since then published close to 6,000 because the attacks on us emboldened insiders to help us
General-Purpose Computers to Become Growing Area of Coverage
Without them, we have little left for controlling our lives
"They missed a great opportunity to shut up." -Jacques Chirac
Brett Wilson LLP has been trying to cheat the legal system many times
Harassment evidence: Switzerland, overcrowded fitness and yoga centers, incompetence and racism in accident response
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Vincent Danjean & Debian NXIVM collateral, blackmail risks
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
In Sweden This Past Friday Richard Stallman Explained Why Copyleft is Important
And he didn't have to 'bash' BSDs, either
IBM Layoffs Due to a Lack of Money and Company Debt Rising by Almost 10 Billion Dollars in 6 Months
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Forbes Already Stopped Being a News Sites. Now It's a Spam and Propaganda Platform for "Paying Partners" (Companies).
news from Forbes became very scarce
Is the Second-Largest Institution in Europe (EPO) Gradually Becoming More Like a Sweatshop?
Underpaid, unqualified, inexperienced and incompatible people are already recruited to replace veteran examiners
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The Editor in Chief is like a Microsoft plant
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No doubt XBox is in trouble and rumours suggest that more mass layoffs are imminent
We'll Encourage Richard Stallman to Talk About Software Patents at the EPO Next Week When He Visits Munich (EPO Headquarters)
Go listen to Richard Stahlmann
Investigative Journalism Protects Society From Corruption, Crimes Against Women, Assaults on Civil Society
"what is the point of men doing military practice to defend a system that is so rotten?"
Swiss pimp usurping reputation of legendary Tissot boss Francois Thiébaud from France (BaselWorld, SWATCH Group SA)
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
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Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Richard Stallman to Give Public Talk in 3 Hours, Then in the Technical University of Munich (Germany) Next Week
Richard Stallman at TUM on 21.10.2025 18:00, MW2001
Arnaud Parreaux lost case defending rogue employer
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Mathieu Elias Parreaux declared bankrupt in Switzerland
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Breakdown of the Rule of Law and Patent Law in the European Union (EU)
The EPO cannot recruit suitably qualified patent examiners this way, let alone retain them
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Society simply cannot advance when too many people self-censor
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At this stage, Brett Wilson LLP is in my humble opinion acting in contempt of the Court
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defending Microsoft while attacking this site
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It seems abundantly clear that Google News and Google in general participates in the slop epidemic
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Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
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Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
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Over at Tux Machines...
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