03.05.10

Gemini version available ♊︎

Patents Roundup: USPTO Grants Patents on Hotdogs and Harbours Pyramid Schemes, EPO in Transition, and Apple Turns Nasty

Posted in Antitrust, Apple, Europe, GNU/Linux, Google, Patents at 7:31 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Hotdog

Summary: Signs of weakness or dis-servitude at the US patent office, Alison Brimelow is leaving, and Apple wants to be paid for a Linux platform it does not develop

THIS post assembles some key news about the patent systems and how they affects Free software.

USPTO

The USPTO shoots itself in the foot by going beyond the making of hamburgers and sandwiches as patents. Now there is a patent on hotdogs:

So when he heard about this new pediatric warning, he went looking to see if any of the hotdog makers were offering pre-hollowed dogs — and instead discovered that in 2006 someone had applied for a patent on hollow hot dogs. Seriously.

According to this, things are bound to get worse, not better, because the US wants ACTA to cover patents as well.

Furthermore, the response confirms what became clear in the most recent leak, that the US sees ACTA as covering not just copyrights and trademarks — but patents as well (though, some of the other participants are against including patents).

Then there are those who hacked the system, such as Ray Niro (inventor of patent trolling, who also bullies critics [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]) and Microsoft’s Nathan Myhrvold, the world's biggest patent troll.

“I’ve always treated Myhrvold’s company with the greatest scepticism (I call them “Intellectual Vultures”) and this report is extremely believable,” says Simon Phipps, who caught up with the latest news (exposé) about Intellectual Ventures. “It fits in with the use of patents,” he adds, “especially software patents – by companies like IBM, who hide their patent shake-downs behind confidentiality, out-of-court settlement and fine language about their community credentials.”

EPO

André Rebentisch has this new post about “trade elitism”.

Still you may wonder if EU trade policy always adheres to Free Trade objectives. In the field of IPR, in particular geographical indications, common policies are incompatible with a classic Free Trade agenda.

The head of the EPO is leaving after her mistakes. “Defining the limits of patentable subject-matter in “new” areas (life, software, business methods) is a source of unease,” writes or quotes the president of the FFII, Benjamin Henrion. Based on IPJur, there is already a succession plan.

Earlier in May 2009 I had reported that Ms Brimelow is not going to apply for a second term in Office as President of the European Patent Office beyond her term ending in June 2010. After considerable woes, the Administrative Council (AC) of the European Patent Organisation (EPOrg) eventually managed to elect her successor by a 3/4 majority of votes on March 01, 2010.

This long paper [PDF] had Henrion write: “European and European Union Patents Court, a somewhat uninspired label abbreviated as the troglodyte-sounding acronym EEUPC”

A “Union” patents court is an indication of an attempt to mix or rather to negatively contaminate existing patent laws that protected Free software developers. It’s policy laundering, just like ACTA.

Apple

Apple has decided to be a spoiled brat and attack Linux with software patents [1, 2, 3, 4]. According to this, Apple is aiming specifically at the Linux-based platform.

Commentators suggest that this action by Apple is actually targeted at Google’s open source Android operating system, rather than relating just to HTC’s smartphones. HTC is one of the most prominent handset manufacturers globally to have developed products based on the Android operating system, using it in its Hero and Nexus One phones.

Microsoft did something similar against TomTom. It’s usually an indication that the plaintiff/aggressor is losing. “Popularity is killing Android,” says the headline at The Inquirer.

AS ANDROID SWEEPS across the smartphone market like a wave of locusts over a land that is strewn with Windows Mobile devices cast by the wayside, Google’s idealistic open source, embrace all attitude is starting to look naive.

TechDirt has written about Apple’s sheer hypocrisy and dishonesty.

…Steve Jobs noted how Apple was “shameless about stealing great ideas.” But in the announcement about the HTC lawsuit, he has a different perspective: “competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours.”

TechDirt also believes that Apple might face antitrust action for other reasons.

Apple’s iTunes store has always dictated the terms of its dealings with record labels. As such, the largest U.S. music retailer has never censured the labels over marketing or promotion strategies.

Apple is not a nice company; it’s probably not as bad to GNU/Linux as Microsoft is. Alas, it’s important to avoid Apple products in order to sustain Free software and help it thrive.

Share in other sites/networks: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • Reddit
  • email

Decor ᶃ Gemini Space

Below is a Web proxy. We recommend getting a Gemini client/browser.

Black/white/grey bullet button This post is also available in Gemini over at this address (requires a Gemini client/browser to open).

Decor ✐ Cross-references

Black/white/grey bullet button Pages that cross-reference this one, if any exist, are listed below or will be listed below over time.

Decor ▢ Respond and Discuss

Black/white/grey bullet button If you liked this post, consider subscribing to the RSS feed or join us now at the IRC channels.

DecorWhat Else is New


  1. Links 27/03/2023: Twitter Source Code Published (But Not Intentionally)

    Links for the day



  2. IRC Proceedings: Sunday, March 26, 2023

    IRC logs for Sunday, March 26, 2023



  3. Links 26/03/2023: OpenMandriva ROME 23.03, Texinfo 7.0.3, and KBibTeX 0.10.0

    Links for the day



  4. The World Wide Web is a Cesspit of Misinformation. Let's Do Something About It.

    It would be nice to make the Web a safer space for information and accuracy (actual facts) rather than a “Safe Space” for oversensitive companies and powerful people who cannot tolerate criticism; The Web needs to become more like today's Gemini, free of corporate influence and all other forms of covert nuisance



  5. Ryan Farmer: I’m Back After WordPress.com Deleted My Blog Over the Weekend

    Reprinted with permission from Ryan



  6. Civil Liberties Threatened Online and Offline

    A “society of sheeple” (a term used by Richard Stallman last week in his speech) is being “herded” online and offline; the video covers examples both online and offline, the latter being absence of ATMs or lack of properly-functioning ATMs (a growing problem lately, at least where I live)



  7. Techrights Develops Free Software to Separate the Wheat From the Chaff

    In order to separate the wheat from the chaff we’ve been working on simple, modular tools that process news and help curate the Web, basically removing the noise to squeeze out the signal



  8. Links 26/03/2023: MidnightBSD 3.0 and FreeBSD 13.2 RC4

    Links for the day



  9. IRC Proceedings: Saturday, March 25, 2023

    IRC logs for Saturday, March 25, 2023



  10. Links 26/03/2023: More TikTok Bans

    Links for the day



  11. Links 25/03/2023: Gordon Moore (of Moore's Law) is Dead

    Links for the day



  12. Links 25/03/2023: Decade of Docker, Azure Broken Again

    Links for the day



  13. [Meme] Money Deducted in Payslips, But Nothing in Pensions

    Sirius ‘Open Source’ has stolen money from staff (in secret)



  14. IRC Proceedings: Friday, March 24, 2023

    IRC Proceedings: Friday, March 24, 2023



  15. The Corporate Media is Not Reporting Large-Scale Microsoft Layoffs (Too Busy With Chaffbot Puff Pieces), Leaks Required to Prove That More Layoffs Are Happening

    Just as we noted days ago, there are yet more Microsoft layoffs, but the mainstream media gets bribed to go “gaga” over vapourware and chaffbots (making chaff like “Bill Gates Says” pieces) instead of reporting actual news about Microsoft



  16. Sirius 'Open Source' Pensiongate: Time to Issue a Warrant of Arrest and Extradite the Fake 'Founder' of Sirius

    Sirius ‘Open Source’ is collapsing, but that does not mean that it can dodge accountability for crimes (e.g. money that it silently stole from its staff since at least 12 years ago)



  17. Links 24/03/2023: Microsoft's Fall on the Web and Many New Videos

    Links for the day



  18. IRC Proceedings: Thursday, March 23, 2023

    IRC logs for Thursday, March 23, 2023



  19. Links 24/03/2023: Social Control Media Bans Advancing

    Links for the day



  20. Links 24/03/2023: GNU Grep 3.10 and Microsoft Accenture in a Freefall

    Links for the day



  21. Links 23/03/2023: RSS Guard 4.3.3 and OpenBSD Webzine

    Links for the day



  22. Experiencing 15 Years of LibrePlanet Celebration Firsthand as a Volunteer: 2023 - Charting the Course

    Article by Marcia K Wilbur



  23. [Meme] Grabinski the Opportunity

    Reports of European Patents being invalidated (judges do not tolerate fake patents) have become so common that a kangaroo court becomes a matter of urgency for the EPO‘s Benoît Battistelli and António Campinos; will the EU and the EPO’s Administrative Council go along with it, helping to cover up more than a decade of profound corruption?



  24. Union Syndicale Fédérale Cautions the EPO's Administrative Council About Initiating an Illegal Kangaroo Court System for Patents (UPC) While EPO Breaks Laws and Sponsors the Ukraine Invasion

    Union Syndicale Fédérale (USF) is once again speaking out in support of the staff union of Europe's second-largest institution, which lacks oversight and governance because of profound corruption and regulatory capture



  25. Investigation Underway: Sirius 'Open Source' Embezzled/Stole Money, Robbed Its Own Staff

    In light of new developments and some progress in an investigation of Sirius ‘Open Source’ (for fraud!) we take stock of where things stand



  26. [Meme] Sirius 'Open Source' Pensions: Schemes or Scams? Giving a Bad Name to Open Source...

    What Sirius ‘Open Source’ did to its staff is rightly treated as a criminal matter; we know who the perpetrators are



  27. Sirius 'Open Source' Under Investigation for Pension Fraud, Several Pension Providers Examine the Facts

    2 pension providers are looking into Sirius ‘Open Source’, a company that defrauded its own staff; stay tuned as there’s lots more to come. Is this good representation for “Open Source”? From a company that had many high-profile clients in the public sector?



  28. Links 23/03/2023: Sparky 2023.03 Special Editions and SUSE Changes CEO (Dirk-Peter van Leeuwen)

    Links for the day



  29. Links 23/03/2023: Linux 6.2.8 and XWayland 23.1.0

    Links for the day



  30. IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, March 22, 2023

    IRC logs for Wednesday, March 22, 2023


RSS 64x64RSS Feed: subscribe to the RSS feed for regular updates

Home iconSite Wiki: You can improve this site by helping the extension of the site's content

Home iconSite Home: Background about the site and some key features in the front page

Chat iconIRC Channel: Come and chat with us in real time

Recent Posts