Bonum Certa Men Certa

Cellspin Soft Will Likely Need to Pay the Accused Party's Lawyers Too After Frivolous Litigation With Patents Eliminated Under 35 U.S.C. ۤ 101

Moral of the story: stop pursuing such patents and suing with them

Business oriented finance keywords relating to sales, marketing and banking



Summary: Pursuing bogus (questionable) patents and going even further by asserting them in court can be worse than a waste of time and money; it can actually cause the target of assertion to be compensated (legal fees) at the plaintiff's expense -- a critical fact largely ignored by the patent 'industry'

We very recently mentioned Cellspin Soft (Cellspin Soft, Inc. v Fitbit, Inc.), a case which is interesting to us because it involves abstract (and thus bogus) patents. After 35 U.S.C. ۤ 101 eliminated the patents in question it looks like the victim of the frivolous lawsuit -- not the plaintiff -- is to be compensated. Quite a reversal of fates, eh? Here are the details from yesterday:



Following a dismissal for lack of patentable subject matter, the court granted defendants' motions for attorney fees under 35 U.S.C. ۤ 285 because plaintiff's litigation positions were exceptionally meritless.


"After 35 U.S.C. ۤ 101 eliminated the patents in question it looks like the victim of the frivolous lawsuit -- not the plaintiff -- is to be compensated."Why did the USPTO issue such patents in the first place? Cellspin Soft got burned pretty badly and it's not the fault of Fitbit. When patent quality is lowered so much by the Office only the lawyers win. The only question is, "who pays their bills?"

We are rather disturbed to see the daily bad advice from law firms, which are egging on and encouraging firms to pursue software patents, sometimes even taking these to courts. These law firms certainly know that this is bad advice, but this is the kind of advice they profit from.

"Sadly these have become very common, exploiting the death of proper journalism."Here in the UK, for example, Marks & Clerk members of staff habitually promote such bad advice. They not only give bad advice but also lobby for software patents, UPC etc. Mind this new puff piece about promotions there. Those aren't news; they're just marketing disguised as 'journalism'. Also mind this other article from yesterday. Bad advice, as usual, from patent maximalists looking for (and profiting from) legal chaos. It's Withers & Rogers in this case, just trying to sell very bad advice. To quote:

Tech companies should shop for patents to bolster their portfolios



[...]

According to Michael Jaeger, partner and patent attorney, specialising in the fields of consumer electronics, telecoms and medical devices at intellectual property firm, Withers & Rogers, this is a missed opportunity. He said:

[...]

There are many ways to find patents to acquire. Patent buying events, such as the IP3 event organised by Allied Security Trust (AST), offer easy access to information about bundles of patents, which are grouped according to their technological focus. This year’s IP3 event, which is inviting offers from 9 - 20 July 2018, features patents in eight categories: artificial intelligence, augmented and virtual reality, automotive, blockchain, internet-connected devices, smart home, software and communications. In addition, patent brokerage firms can help companies to locate and obtain patents in their area of technology.


Allied Security Trust (AST) was last mentioned here in May. They're actually promoting patent predators and encouraging companies to shell out money for the predators. This Ground Six/Bdaily-affiliated site (hard to know who exactly is behind it, but it seems rather dodgy) perpetually reminds us that patent "news" is not really news but just marketing disguised as such. We wrote about such sites 12 days ago. Sadly these have become very common, exploiting the death of proper journalism.

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