Bonum Certa Men Certa

Japan Demonstrates Sanity on SEP Policy While US Patent Policy is Influenced by Lobbyists

Last year: Delrahim to head Justice Department antitrust unit

Revolving Door: Makan Delrahim Employment Summary Reference: Revolving Door: Makan Delrahim Employment Summary



Summary: Japan's commendable response to a classic pattern of patent misuse; US patent policy is still being subjected to never-ending intervention and there is now a lobbyist in charge of antitrust matters and a lawyer in charge of the US patent office (both Trump appointees)

PATENTS are about markets and competition. They're about publishing of ideas without risk to one's business. The Japan Patent Office (JPO) seems to understand that patents which cannot be worked around, e.g. because they're essential for standards compliance, are a barrier to markets and competition. These patents can actively damage progress in science and technology -- something which the USPTO proclaims to be promoting.



"The Japan Patent Office (JPO) seems to understand that patents which cannot be worked around, e.g. because they're essential for standards compliance, are a barrier to markets and competition."As we've been noting repeatedly in recent years, Japan's courts got tougher on software patents. It wasn't always the case. Japan's government also gets it better than the Trump administration, where lobbyist Delrahim is now in charge of antitrust matters. The US, which fails to understand the concept of antitrust, would do its industry irreparable damage for the sake of few large corporations (like Qualcomm); Japan is at least recognising the issue with SEP. It is taking action. We last wrote about that a couple of days ago, citing Japenese bloggers.

"Patent owners have little to worry about in JPO plans for SEP reviews," IAM stated yesterday, having published this damage-controlling piece for the patent aggressors/trolls it stands for. To quote:

The Japan Patent Office (JPO) last week unveiled a new service that will see it weigh in on the standing of Japanese patents declared standards essential. When it was first announced last November, this system was perceived as offering a defensive tool to implementers. But the draft guidelines for the scheme, helpfully translated in part here by Satoshi Watanabe of Watanabe Research and Consulting, have foreclosed that possibility.

The essentiality checks fall under an existing programme called Hantei, in which the JPO provides non-binding advisory opinions on whether a particular patent covers a particular product. The service costs just around $400 and issued 97 decisions in 2016. Currently, this review can be requested by either a product manufacturer or a patent owner.


IAM's hostility towards Japan can only grow if Japan embraces policy that impedes patent trolls. Last year, for example, IAM repeatedly attacked India. Why? Because its patent policy is quite rational and software patents are in principle not permitted.

As always, there's that irksome lobby of the patent trolls. It wants to undermine patent policy or tilt things in its favour.

"As we've been noting repeatedly in recent years, Japan's courts got tougher on software patents."Aaric Eisenstein, writing for Watchtroll yesterday, is now publicly sucking up to Iancu, lobbying him to abolish PTAB (as usual from Watchtroll) among other things. Those are some of the same interests as IAM's. Follow the money.

Then there's the Koch-funded think tank for patent trolls (and against PTAB). It now says you "MUST READ" its letter which it describes with: "No empirical study has demonstrated that a patent-owner’s request for injunctive relief after . . . infringement of its property rights has ever resulted either in consumer harm or in slowing down the pace of technological innovation."

"As always, there's that irksome lobby of the patent trolls. It wants to undermine patent policy or tilt things in its favour."Who wrote this? See the list. It's just the patent maximalists' lobby (some funded by the biggest patent bullies, e.g. David Kappos). To quote: "Signatories to the letter include Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg of the D.C. Circuit, former Chief Judge Paul Michel of the Federal Circuit, former FTC Commissioner Joshua D. Wright, and former Director of the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office David Kappos, among others."

IAM promoted this letter some days ago. It's signed by the usual suspects. We know what they want and why they want it. We also know who funds some of them. That's pretty revealing.

Recent Techrights' Posts

With 9 Mentions of Azure In Its Latest Blog Post, Canonical is Again Promoting Microsoft and Intel Vendor Lock-in, Surveillance, Back Doors, Considerable Power Waste, and Defects That Cannot be Fixed
Microsoft did not even have to buy Canonical (for Canonical to act like it happened)
Links 28/03/2024: GAFAM Replacing Full-Time Workers With Interns Now
Links for the day
Consent & Debian's illegitimate constitution
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
The Time Our Server Host Died in a Car Accident
If Debian has internal problems, then they need to be illuminated and then tackled, at the very least in order to ensure we do not end up with "Deadian"
China's New 'IT' Rules Are a Massive Headache for Microsoft
On the issue of China we're neutral except when it comes to human rights issues
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, March 27, 2024
IRC logs for Wednesday, March 27, 2024
WeMakeFedora.org: harassment decision, victory for volunteers and Fedora Foundations
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 27/03/2024: Terrorism Grows in Africa, Unemployment in Finland Rose Sharply in a Year, Chinese Aggression Escalates
Links for the day
Links 27/03/2024: Ericsson and Tencent Layoffs
Links for the day
Amid Online Reports of XBox Sales Collapsing, Mass Layoffs in More Teams, and Windows Making Things Worse (Admission of Losses, Rumours About XBox Canceled as a Hardware Unit)...
Windows has loads of issues, also as a gaming platform
Links 27/03/2024: BBC Resorts to CG Cruft, Akamai Blocking Blunders in Piracy Shield
Links for the day
Android Approaches 90% of the Operating Systems Market in Chad (Windows Down From 99.5% 15 Years Ago to Just 2.5% Right Now)
Windows is down to about 2% on the Web-connected client side as measured by statCounter
Sainsbury's: Let Them Eat Yoghurts (and Microsoft Downtimes When They Need Proper Food)
a social control media 'scandal' this week
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, March 26, 2024
IRC logs for Tuesday, March 26, 2024
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
Windows/Client at Microsoft Falling Sharply (Well Over 10% Decline Every Quarter), So For His Next Trick the Ponzi in Chief Merges Units, Spices Everything Up With "AI"
Hiding the steep decline of Windows/Client at Microsoft?
Free technology in housing and construction
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
We Need Open Standards With Free Software Implementations, Not "Interoperability" Alone
Sadly we're confronting misguided managers and a bunch of clowns trying to herd us all - sometimes without consent - into "clown computing"
Microsoft's Collapse in the Web Server Space Continued This Month
Microsoft is the "2%", just like Windows in some countries
Links 26/03/2024: Inflation Problems, Strikes in Finland
Links for the day
Gemini Links 26/03/2024: Losing Children, Carbon Tax Discussed
Links for the day
Mark Shuttleworth resigns from Debian: volunteer suicide and Albania questions unanswered, mass resignations continue
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 26/03/2024: 6,000 Layoffs at Dell, Microsoft “XBox is in Real Trouble as a Hardware Manufacturer”
Links for the day
Gemini Links 26/03/2024: Microsofters Still Trying to 'Extend' Gemini Protocol
Links for the day
Look What IBM's Red Hat is Turning CentOS Into
For 17 years our site ran on CentOS. Thankfully we're done with that...
The Julian Paul Assange Verdict: The High Court Has Granted Assange Leave to Appeal Extradition to the United States, Decision Adjourned to May 20th Pending Assurances
The decision is out
The Microsoft and Apple Antitrust Issues Have Some But Not Many Commonalities
gist of the comparison to Microsoft
ZDNet, Sponsored by Microsoft for Paid-for Propaganda (in 'Article' Clothing), Has Added Pop-Up or Overlay to All Pages, Saying "813 Partners Will Store and Access Information on Your Device"
Avoiding ZDNet may become imperative given what it has turned into
Julian Assange Verdict 3 Hours Away
Their decision is due to be published at 1030 GMT
People Who Cover Suicide Aren't Suicidal
Assange didn't just "deteriorate". This deterioration was involuntary and very much imposed upon him.
Overworking Kills
The body usually (but not always) knows best
Former Red Hat Chief (CEO), Who Decided to Leave the Company Earlier This Month, Talks About "Cloud Company Red Hat" to CNBC
shows a lack of foresight and dependence on buzzwords
IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 25, 2024
IRC logs for Monday, March 25, 2024
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
Discord Does Not Make Money, It's Spying on People and Selling Data/Control (38% is Allegedly Controlled by the Communist Party of China)
a considerable share exists
In At Least Two Nations Windows is Now Measured at 2% "Market Share" (Microsoft Really Does Not Want People to Notice That)
Ignore the mindless "AI"-washing
Internet Relay Chat (IRC) Still Has Hundreds of Thousands of Simultaneously-Online Unique Users
The scale of IRC