Bonum Certa Men Certa

EPO Benefits European Patent Trolls With Dodgy European Patents

Grasshopper



Summary: The EPO is a stepping stone for parasitic entities looking to leverage patents for exploitative extortion rackets all over Europe; if they get their way, companies that manufacture and sell things will pay a hefty tax to those who create nothing at all and are often not European, either

EARLIER this year we wrote on a number of occasions about the European Patent Office (EPO) and Licensing Executives Society International (LESI) getting together; it was upsetting but not shocking because we had already seen the EPO getting together with patent parasites and trolls.



LESI now has this new press release about "[j]oint LESI-EPO training course for SMEs on technology commercialisation" (typical "SME" spin) and this was retweeted by EPO PR people yesterday, saying that they have "jointly developed 2-day training course, "Succeeding at Technology Commercialisation and Negotiation" to be held in Basel, Switzerland, 26 - 28 June."

"The patent maximalists are like politicians who leverage "the kids" and "terrorism" in order to get their way. They use words like "pirates" and "theft" (when talking about similarity of things)."It's bad enough that the EPO is liaising with front groups of patent trolls in another continent. António Campinos has done that several times before, reinforcing the perception that the EPO is a foe of European people and ally of large non-European multi-national corporations. This is more of what we have come to expect, having seen the EPO doing interviews with American patent extremists (sites that promote software patents and patent trolls, bash judges and bully officials). We're thinking primarily (but not only) about Watchtroll. To give examples from this week, Eileen McDermott (editor) is now trying to paint software patents as "medical" -- the new lie/trick of patent extremists. She calls it "diagnostics and computer-implemented inventions" as in (as per the summary): “Current patent eligibility concerns tend to tip the scales against patenting. Uncertainty about being able to get a patent and license it weighs against pursuing diagnostics and computer-implemented inventions—at least in the United States.”

Over at Watchtroll, software patents gradually become "computer-implemented inventions" (CII) and even though there is nothing inherently "medical" about algorithms they use terms like SaMD. This relatively new "medical" slant on software patents is designed to steer us into a moral panic, as in "if you don't grant me software patents, then people will die!"

The patent maximalists are like politicians who leverage "the kids" and "terrorism" in order to get their way. They use words like "pirates" and "theft" (when talking about similarity of things).

Watchtroll also wrote this yesterday: "Recently, I’ve written several articles laying the blame for the patent eligibility crisis squarely on the Federal Circuit."

So says Gene Quinn, who regularly attacks judges and courts which aren't patent extremists like him. Paul Morinville does not get it either. Patents are a monopoly, yet he says "Startups with Patents are the Ultimate Anti-Monopoly" and was unable to put together a coherent argument when challenged over it last week. Startups are most vulnerable to patent lawsuits. Morinville and Quinn regularly bash PTAB (the equivalent of EPO judges) and promote software patents. These are the sorts of people the EPO nowadays chooses to associate with. But thankfully, Watchtroll is collapsing. The same is true for other such site. The patent microcosm in the US is in a state collapse/disarray. So their sites are rotting too. I remember when they used to regularly write articles. Actual articles. Analyses...

When not posting ads for events, Patent Docs reduces itself to marketing spam for companies that do privateering with patents (as it did yesterday). Patently-O barely even writes a single article per day now. It used to do several.

Going back to Europe, where does it stand on patents? Well, a couple of weeks ago we wrote about a European patent troll, Sisvel, targeting the Free software community by aiming software patents at Free/libre codecs. "The Alliance for Open Media Statement" has just been published to say:

The Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia) unites leading internet and media technology companies in a collaborative effort to offer open, royalty-free and interoperable solutions for the next generation of media delivery. AOMedia is aware of the recent third-party announcement attempting to launch a joint patent licensing program for AV1. AOMedia was founded to leave behind the very environment that the announcement endorses – one whose high patent royalty requirements and licensing uncertainty limit the potential of free and open online video technology. By settling patent licensing terms up front with the royalty-free AOMedia Patent License 1.0, AOMedia is confident that AV1 overcomes these challenges to help usher in the next generation of video-oriented experiences.


A large German patent troll has a lot to do with it, as well as the American front group, MPEG-LA, which is supported by Microsoft, Apple, and Nokia. They try to impose software patents on everything. In the case of video, Unified Patents keeps targeting Velos, as this post from yesterday reveals:

On April 8, 2019, Unified filed a petition (with Finnegan serving as lead counsel) for inter partes review (IPR) against U.S. Patent No. 9,100,634, owned by Velos Media, LLC (Velos), as part of Unified's ongoing efforts in its SEP Video Codec Zone.

The ‘634 patent and its corresponding extended patent family is one of the largest families known to be owned by Velos. Including this petition, Unified has now challenged patents representing over 35% of Velos’ total known U.S. assets.


Unified Patents has already gone after several other patents of Velos and there's this Microsoft-connected patent troll (Dominion Harbor armed by Intellectual Ventures) perishing in PTAB because Unified Patents makes new gains. Also on the subject of Microsoft, which truly turned Mokia into a patent troll (and troll feeder), mind this latest post at FOSSPatents. "My NokiaPlanP [Patents] is happening," Benjamin Henrion wrote yesterday, citing this report:

It is high time that the automotive industry stopped being the ideal target of shakedown attempts by standard-essential patent (SEP) holders due to its sheer size, the high prices of its end products, and its pacifist attitude. For a long time, car makers used to be on the sidelines of major disputes. They generally resolved any IP issues out of court, respecting exclusionary rights in some cases and cross-licensing (or simply refraining from hostilities) in many others. But times have changed, and with cars increasingly becoming smartphones on wheels, those car makers are no longer dealing with a herd of sheep when it comes to patent assertions but have entered a jungle teeming with predators. As a result, they must confront those challenges more decisively, lest they be eaten alive.

Against this backdrop I'd like to promote (not getting anything for it) an upcoming Munich conference hosted by the Bardehle Pagenberg firm: Automotive Patent wars -- To pay or not to pay: That is the question." on May 9.

[...]

Having watched Nokia in litigation over many years (even going back to its first dispute with Apple), and the unfortunate (for Nokia and its stakeholders, though not for consumers) demise of its mobile device business that changed its attitude toward patent monetization, I'm not surprised that it apparently made demands that Daimler wasn't willing to meet without a fight. Daimler is also defending itself against Broadcom's German lawsuits (as is BMW).


The EPO has already adopted a bunch of new buzzwords and acronyms like SDV, which it used to disguise abstract patents "on a car".

Recent Techrights' Posts

Using SLAPPs to Cover Up Sexual Abuse and Strangulation
The exact same legal team of the Serial Strangler from Microsoft and Garrett already has a history fighting against "metoo"
 
Valnet Inc. Dominates Real (Not LLM Slop) GNU/Linux Coverage in 2025
And likely in prior years, too
Free Software Foundation (FSF) Fund Raiser Goes on
Later this month we'll expose another OSI scandal
EPO Staff Representatives Issue a Warning About Staff's Health and Inadequate Care
Even the EPO's own stakeholders (money sources) are openly protesting against what the EPO became
Links 13/07/2025: Partly Assorted News From Deutsche Welle and CBC
Links for the day
Gemini Links 13/07/2025: Board Games and Battle Styles
Gemini Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 12, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, July 12, 2025
Plunder at the Second-Largest Institution in Europe
cuts, neglect, health problems, even early deaths
Links 12/07/2025: Political Developments, Attack on Opposition, Climate Actions
Links for the day
Gemini Links 12/07/2025: Melodic Musings and Small Web July
Links for the day
Links 12/07/2025: Jail in China for Homoerotica, South Korea Discriminates Against Old Workers
Links for the day
If Only Everything Was Rewritten in Rust, We'd Have No More Security Issues?
Nope.
Links 12/07/2025: Birdwatching and Fake/Misleading Wall Street 'Valuation' Figures
Links for the day
Gemini Links 12/07/2025: How to Avoid Writing, Apps for Android
Links for the day
EPO Staff Committee on Harassment in the Workplace
slides
Adding the Voice of Writers to UK SLAPP Reform
The journey to repair antiquated (monarchy era) laws will likely be long
EPO Takes More Money From Staff for Speculation (Pensions), Actuarial Study Explains the Impact
"The key change in this year’s Actuarial Study, due to cascading the new “risk appetite” from the financial study, is a significant increase of the total pension contribution rate of 5.7 percentage points, up to a total of 37.8%. This is driven by an unprecedented decrease in the discount rate of 105 bps down to 2.2%."
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, July 11, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, July 11, 2025
Microsoft - Like IBM - Does the "Relocation" Tricks (Start Over Elsewhere, Then Get Sacked by Microsoft)
It is a "low blow" or a "dick move"
After the Free Software Foundation's Campaign to Raise Money Let's See Campaigns to Finish Off Microsoft (Vista 11, GitHub etc.)
Microsoft is in effect collapsing
Your Publications Have No Major Impact Unless or Until You "Get Some Heat"
we're on the right track
Slopwatch: A Cause for Hope, the Hype is Dying
For about a month we showed that becoming a slopfarm - for several weeks - resulted in utter failure and ruin for BetaNews
Links 11/07/2025: Censorship Worsening, 3D Printing Success Stories, UK and France Unite Around Nukes
Links for the day
Gemini Links 11/07/2025: Zorin OS and Scriptonite Updates
Links for the day
Links 11/07/2025: Hardware, Russia, and China
Links for the day
Links 11/07/2025: Intel Collapsing and Microsoft Resorts to Bribery to Push Slop Via Obligatory Education
Links for the day
The EFF Sided With the Team That Strangles Women and Tells Women to Kill Themselves
They say that apathy and inaction are a form of a "stance"
"Nat [Friedman] and [the Serial Strangler From Microsoft] Were Always Exceptionally Close," Says Former Housemate and Colleague
Now Alex (hiding behind another name when that suits him) not only attacks women but also people who merely report what he did to women
Exemplary List of Things That Are Not Artificial Intelligence or Even Intelligence
The "age of AI" or "era of AI" or "AI revolution" mostly boils down to rebranding, just like "the cloud"
New Letter From the European Patent Office Explains How the Office Plots to Grant Many Illegal Patents, a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy of 'Growth'
Open letter to Mr Rowan (VP1) and Mr Aledo Lopez (COO)
Abuse of Process
5RB is employing people who help violent men
What Microsoft's Nat Friedman and Microsoft Lunduke Have in Common
"Get in da car; No time to explain, loser"
Microsoft and IBM Don't Have Much of a Future (They Mostly Pretend at This Point)
IBM and Microsoft are in some ways alike but in many ways different
It's Not Just Twitter (or X.com) That's Dying, Microsoft's Equivalent is Dying Also
Unable to find a business model
GitHub Copilot Can Cause the Bankruptcy of GitHub to Come Sooner and GitHub to be Shut Down Just Like Skype
Some publicly available information suggests that even for each paid subscriber for plagiarism (LLM 'coding') GitHub Copilot still loses more money than it makes
Wayland is Bad for the Planet
If you use Wayland, it'll take you longer to accomplish tasks and you will consume more energy (or battery life)
Legitimising Those Who Sabotage You
Microsoft is a very malicious company
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, July 10, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, July 10, 2025
On Microsoft Layoffs
we might be looking at about 60,000 Microsoft layoffs since 2023
EPO Management Already Breaks Its Own Promise (Lie) on "Bringing Teams Together"
This gut-punching move happened just 2 days ago
Gemini Links 11/07/2025: Occupation of 2025 and "Old Man Yells At Soundcloud"
Links for the day
Our Lawsuits Against the 'Cancel Mob' (Ringleaders) Helped Reduce Anti-Free Software Online Abuse
That's not to say that lawsuits are the best way to handle terrible people. But that can help.