Bonum Certa Men Certa

Patents Roundup: Metaswitch, GENBAND, Susman, Cisco, Konami, High 5 Games, HTC, and Nintendo

We already know who's always winning: patent lawyers



Summary: A look at existing legal actions, the application of 35 U.S.C. €§ 101, and questionable patents that are being pursued on software (algorithms or "software infrastructure")

In Maxon v Funai, as we've just noted, software patents show weakness at the highest level bar the Supreme Court. This impacts USPTO guidelines.

In relation to the Metaswitch-GENBAND patent dispute, which is a longterm issue, a little more than two years ago we said that "Patent Lawyers and Judges Don't Understand Software Development". It's pretty clear that only lawyers would gain from this dispute. Here is a new article on this subject:

As the communication and collaboration environment grows increasingly competitive, it seems that everyone is trying to innovate. In a quest to be more disruptive, intuitive, and compelling, some companies may even accidentally step on the toes of their competitors. Unfortunately, even the slightest issue can lead to a huge storm of legal problems – particularly when patents are involved.

In January 2016, a jury in the District Court for the United States discovered that Metaswitch was infringing on approximately 7 different GENBAND patents. GENBAND – now Ribbon Communications, obviously responded to this issue quickly, working to ensure that they maintained their position as a 2015 CNBC disruptor, and leader in real-time communications.

[...]

During the trial, GENBAND showed evidence that Metaswitch products were dipping their toes into a selection of patents, including 7,990,984, 7,184,427, 7,047,561, 7,995,589, 6934,279, 6,885,658, and 6,791,971. The products that were found to infringe on GENBAND technology included those in the Integrated Soft switches collection, Session Border Controllers, Call Feature Servers and a range of Universal Media Gateways.


How many millions of dollars have already been spent (wasted) on lawyers? Also consider the longterm Arista-Cisco patent dispute, which severely damaged Arista's business (whereas Cisco is large enough to cope; it even has its own dedicated legal/patent department). Here's a new article about Cisco's latest peril (Susman):

A small inventor-owned software company backed by a powerful law firm are taking on Cisco Systems Inc. over alleged patent infringement. Los Gatos, California-based NetFuel Inc. sued Cisco on Friday,


It's a "software company," so one can imagine that "backed by a powerful law firm" it's just going to try to win the jackpot by asserting software patents against Cisco. Will it win or just go bankrupt trying to win (without success)? Whatever happens, the law firm will gain financially. As we stressed in our previous post, having a software patent is just the first step; defending such a patent inside a courtroom is another matter altogether, especially when fighting against large companies (like Cisco) that can appeal to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) if not the Supreme Court, too.

Case of point?

Konami Gaming, Inc. v High 5 Games, LLC. Covered by Joseph Herndon the other day, he summarised the case as follows: "Slot Machine Patent Invalidated As Being Directed to Ineligible Subject Matter"

In more details:

The '869 patent describes that there is provided a gaming machine arranged to display a matrix of symbols containing elements: each column of the matrix comprising a portion of a simulated rotatable reel of the symbol containing elements, and each of the symbol containing elements of at least one consecutive run of the symbol containing elements of at least one reel is caused to display an identical symbol. Preferably, the identical symbol is selected by a game controller from a subset of available symbols. Figure 1 of the '869 patent, reproduced below, shows a gaming machine with a display having a matrix of elements and symbols comprising portions of simulated rotatable reels.

[...]

Moreover, the Court did not agree that the mere configuration of a consecutive run of symbols in one simulated reel represents something more than changing the rules of the game. A generic slot game, as noted by experts in this case, has ever changing symbols selected at random. Realigning and altering the display of symbols on simulated spinning reels is the very essence of the generic slot game. Changing how often a symbol appears and where it appears in a slot game without more is simply altering the manner of display of random symbols -- i.e., changing the rules of the game. Changes to game rules of a generic slot machine using conventional technology are not patentable.

The Court noted that the '869 patent was allowed inter alia because it disclosed an alleged unique method of random selection -- virtual spinning of a notional non-visible inner reel. However, a review of the specification and asserted claims indicates that the inventor never actually provided the structure or programming for this process. Consequently, Konami cannot establish that this selection process represents an inventive concept or new technology (or selection process) directed to a generic slot game.


This is arguably a software patent (we say arguably because it's a game on a machine) and it's one of so many that perish, sometimes even in district courts (Nevada's in this case), not CAFC.

Here's a new example involving HTC (from Taiwan). In Local Intelligence, LLC v HTC America, Inc. the court (a low court, district court in California) said that "refreshing a phone's display" is not abstract, but let's see what CAFC says if it does. From the article:

Earlier this month, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that claims related to refreshing a phone's display are patent eligible under 35 U.S.C. €§ 101.


€§ 101 is being attempted here, but whether it's suitable or not remains (potentially) to be decided by a higher court.

And while on the subject of patents on games, watch what Nintendo is doing. As reported several days ago, "the patent is for the software infrastructure, not for new hardware," so it certainly sounds like software. From the article:

While some have been speculating that this hints at a new console in the vein of the 3DS, there’s nothing in the language to indicate as such — the patent is for the software infrastructure, not for new hardware, so it could just as easily be for a mobile game or some kind of fancy Switch title (or even some sort of interconnectivity between the two, à la Jackbox Party Packs).


Historically, Nintendo found itself on the receiving end of many patent lawsuits in the US. To name some recent examples that we covered:



Let's hope Nintendo only intends to use such patents 'defensively' (in response to patent aggression).

Recent Techrights' Posts

Why We Support Richard Stallman and You Probably Should Too
It's not about being "Richard Stallman fan", it is about maintaining the right to hold positions (on technology) like his
Some Large German Media Covers Richard Stallman's Talks in Germany Earlier This Week
LLM-based chatbots are just "bullshit generators" (as he has long called them)
Trouble in Red Hat/IBM and a Retreat to Ponzi Economics in Search of Wall Street Market Heist
Would you invest your life savings in this kind of crap?
Who Asked Software in the Public Interest (SPI) for a Refund? ($100,000, Resulting in Losses of $267,201 in 12 Months, Highest-Ever Losses)
The IRS does not reveal who or what's tied to this refund (or the cause/reason)
 
Links 23/10/2025: LLM 'Hallucinations' (Defects) in Practical Code 'Generation', China Becomes More Economically and Technologically Independent
Links for the day
Linux Foundation Uses LLM Slop to Promote Microsoft in Linux.com (Again), Rendering It a Linux-Hostile Slopfarm
Openwashing with slop by "Linux.com Editorial Staff", which basically seems to be a bot
Links 23/10/2025: Windows TCO Galore and "The Internet Is Going to Break Again"
Links for the day
Social engineering attack: Debian voted to trick you on binary blobs
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Techrights Will Always Stand for Women's Rights
We even invest money - personal savings that it - in our principles
Certified Lawyers Should Know Better (Than to Intimidate Us With Man Who Drives on Motorcycle Through a Really Bad Storm Between Distant Cities, Then Collects Photos of Our Home)
Mentioning someone was in prison for bad things isn't a crime, it's a public service
The "AI" (Slop) Bubble is Already Imploding
"ChatGPT Usage Has Peaked and Is Now Declining, New Data Finds"
The So-called "Sexy" Buckets (AI, Quantum) Cannot Save IBM From Reality, Shares Tank
"No matter how much financial hocus-pocus they use to reclassify revenues to land in the "sexy" buckets (AI, Quantum), it still smells old and musty - just like this company."
Paul Krugman is Wrong About the Scope of Mass Layoffs in the United States
A few years ago society was accelerating its journey towards feudalism, boosted by COVID-19
Links 23/10/2025: Proprietary Blunders and CISA's Latest Disclosure of Holes
Links for the day
Gemini Links 23/10/2025: Fast Past (F1), 99.9% Uptime
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, October 22, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, October 22, 2025
Slopwatch: Google News is Promoting Fake 'Articles' About Fake Xubuntu, Fake Articles About Replacing Windows With GNU/Linux
The quality of the Web deteriorates and unless someone cleans up the mess, real sites will lose an incentive to produce anything
When "AI Layoffs" Mean Layoffs Due to the "AI" Bubble Popping
many people that are laid off by Microsoft claim to be specialists in "AI"
Mysterious grant forfeited, $100,000 from Software in the Public Interest accounts 2023
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Evidence: bullying, student union behaviour: Armijn Hemel's FSFE resignation
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Evidence: psychological abuse, stalking, Galia Mancheva, Susanne Eiswirt ignored by FSFE judgment for Matthias Kirschner
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Helping FSFE scam victims and conference organisers
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Nigerian fraud in FSFE constitution
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Worrying and Amusing Stories of "Clown Computing" Gone Awry
Many of these disasters could be avoided
Links 22/10/2025: Amazon Plans to Replace Workers With Robotics, AWS and Clown Computing in General Ridiculed
Links for the day
Gemini Links 22/10/2025: Niri Completely Changes Multitasking and Overview of Diff-ers
Links for the day
Links 22/10/2025: Study on Misinformation by Slop and Heavily Debt-Sabbled Microsoft OpenAI (ClosedSlop) Uses "Browser" as Gimmick/Distraction
Links for the day
They've Already Spent Close to a Million Dollars on Lawyers and Sent Us About 50 KG of Legal Papers (Sponsored by Mysterious Third Party) to Try to Censor Techrights, Without Success
They try to overcompensate with sheer volume for a lack of solid, clear arguments (we are the victims here)
12 Months Ago the 'Hulk Hogan of UEFI' Officially Went 'Tag-Team'
We're actually sort of flattered or proud that such despicable people are so desperate to censor us
"Cloud Computing" Was Always a Joke, But This Week Was the Punchline
Maybe stop following tech trends and fashions
"Cloud Computing" Does Not Mean Safety
Fault tolerance is related to the notion of software freedom
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, October 21, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, October 21, 2025
The Fall of Windows: From Something to Nothing
Of course Microsoft will pretend everything is fine and "just trust the hey hi" (AI)
Sounds Like Fedora is Ready to Become Less of a Slave of Microsoft (GitHub)
This seems like a belated move in a positive direction
XBox is a Dead Microsoft Product in a Dying Industry
It's probable that another wave of XBox layoffs is just over the horizon (maybe even before month's end)
Progress on Techrights Site Search
Fun times
IBM's Bluewashing of Red Hat Means the Layoffs Are Silent, Barely Reported
Don't wait to hear about "Red Hat layoffs"
Gemini Links 21/10/2025: Happy Disconnection, AWS Falling Apart, Closing of Gemlog Blue
Links for the day
Full Audio of Today's Richard Stallman Talk in the Technical University of Munich
Free/Libre software and freedom in the digital society
Microsoft XBox is Just Vapourware (Promises of Hardware That Doesn't Exist), Real Products Perish
just as developers lose interest in developing for XBox Microsoft is increasing the costs imposed upon them
Slopwatch: Fake Articles (Slop) in "Linux" Clothing in Google News (Noise)
all about what Google does
Links 21/10/2025: Even "Inventor of Vibe Coding" Rejects Vibe Coding, USPTO Experiments With Slop in Examination
Links for the day
Richard Stallman Talk Now Available for Viewing (Archived Copy, Not Live-streamed)
This recording is over 2 hours old
Links 21/10/2025: AWS-Induced Chaos and Social Control Media Curbs
Links for the day
Gemini Links 21/10/2025: Programming, StarGrid, Brand-New Palm OS Strategy Game in 2025, and Chatbot as Addiction Mechanisms
Links for the day
The African Lion and the American Cowards
Safaris exist for people to watch and enjoy animals
Amazon Web Shenanigans Perfectly Timed for Today's Talk by Richard Stallman
Maybe listen to him instead of looking for excuses to ridicule the messenger
Mission:Libre Has Taken Off (Project by Carmen Maris)
there will be a lot more to report on next month (after the event)
Techrights to Publish More EPO Leaks Next Week
We're meanwhile also doing lots of work on search, whose interface now looks better
Links 21/10/2025: 'The Lost Art' of Neon Signs and Twitter (X) to Enable Identity Theft (or Handle Theft) as a Service
Links for the day
Plagiarism With LLM Slop: Hindustan Times (HT Digital Streams Limited) Has Become a Slop Factory/Hub
What a disgrace
A radical proposal to keep your personal data safe, by Richard Stallman
"The surveillance imposed on us today is worse than in the Soviet Union. We need laws to stop this data being collected in the first place"
Next Week We Launch Search at Techrights
We're planning to launch it some time next week. Maybe Tuesday, maybe Thursday.
Talk by Richard Stallman Will be Live-streamed in Less Than 10 Hours
Happy hacking
"No Kings" in the Software World (GAFAM Should Not Exist, Either)
"No Kings" is a good slogan. Let's start by ridding ourselves of masters, not only those who reside in DC or visit DC
Every Morning
Bugs/edge cases combined with automation can spell disaster
Insane, Deliberately Dishonest, or Just Another Bigot?
very intellectually-dishonest human being
A Lot of Techrights is Built on Perl
Perl also runs the sister site
The Register MS Selling Slop for Microsoft (Vapourware, Ponzi Scheme, False Claims)
What will be left of The Register MS if it keeps repeating falsehoods and looking to profit from Ponzi schemes?
analytics.usa.gov Says Less Than 14% of Web Requests (to Government Sites) Come From Vista 11
Vista 11 was released more than 4 years ago!
People Who Attempt to Take Down Correct Information Need a Doctor a Day
“Journalism is printing something that someone does not want printed. Everything else is public relations.” ― George Orwell
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, October 20, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, October 20, 2025
Vista 11 is Sinking While Microsoft is PIPing (Mass Layoffs But Silent Layoffs)
We're witnessing a shift in platform dominance
Richard Stallman is Having a Good Week Already (Stallman Was Right About 'Clown Computing')
That alone is worth bringing up in his talk
An Update About Soylent News, With Jan Rinok "Back in the Saddle"
Burnout or "near burnout" a possibility when having to curate abuse
When Prominent GNU/Linux Distros Are Run by Spies
What has Microsoft Canonical become?
More Publishers and Companies Nowadays Say "GNU/Linux", Not "Linux"
It's not to see InstallAware saying GNU/Linux this week