Bonum Certa Men Certa

USPTO and EPO Openly Brag About Breaking the (Case)Law to Grant Software Patents That Courts Would Reject, Even the Very Highest Courts

Just like the EPO, the USPTO nowadays gloats and openly celebrates abandonment of patent quality (with a so-called 'Chief Economist' spinning that as a positive thing)

Patents, patents for everybody! Fill up the trolley!



Summary: The American (US) patent office, the world's most important patent office, admits that it grants loads of junk patents by devising a way (unlawful guidelines) for undermining caselaw and allowing patents courts would almost certainly reject (if it came to that)

THE LONG BATTLE against software patents carries on. Progress was made over the years, good news came our way on occasions, but amid some won battles there's still a lost war. The EPO and USPTO continue granting loads of software patents and many accused parties (defendants or those subjected to threats without an actual lawsuit) cannot afford lengthy legal battles and appeals. It can cost a couple million dollars for just one single patent if one considers the appeal routes in the US. When it comes to patents granted by the European Patent Office, the cost depends on the country or countries of enforcement.



"We've moved from professors of science to a bunch of so-called civil 'servants' who serve nobody but law firms, helping them hijack every aspect of a system originally envisioned as promoter of science."António Campinos and his appointer lack scientific background and they never created anything, not even code. They're just what they seem on the surface; they're cheap and dishonest politicians. They're manipulators.

Compared to them, the 35 U.S.C. €§ 101-hostile Andrei Iancu is 'class act'. Sure, he got the job because of Donald Trump and his constant promotion of software patents (even before he netted this job) helped him. But at least he has some background in science. The same can be said about some past EPO presidents and past USPTO Directors, including Iancu's predecessors.

"What good are patent offices that boast incredible 'production' where that production is basically a production of rubbish?"What happened in Europe is rather sad. We've moved from professors of science to a bunch of so-called civil 'servants' who serve nobody but law firms, helping them hijack every aspect of a system originally envisioned as promoter of science. With the UPC dead the EPO now realises that it cannot fool justice or spit in Justices' faces. Sooner or later it spits down on them. It all comes crashing down, just like a growing number of European Patents (we're adding some new examples of these to Daily Links).

What good are patent offices that boast incredible 'production' where that production is basically a production of rubbish? What good are a million patents half or more of which are of dubious quality and likely not valid (formal invalidation takes a pricey process, which must be initiated by someone).

"Obviously the law firms love it; it's not "their problem" per se when a client gets fake patents, which turn out to be worthless."Earlier this week we saw Janal Kalis and others mentioning the latest nonsense from the USPTO, boasting what it really ought not boast about. Instead of demonstrating that courts increasingly affirm its decisions the USPTO brags about ignoring SCOTUS and the Federal Circuit, which is a really dumb thing to do. The USPTO is telling stakeholders and applicants that it will be easier to get bogus patents, no matter their toothlessness in actual courts. They actively reduce confidence or certainly, then misuse the concept of "predictability".

Obviously the law firms love it; it's not "their problem" per se when a client gets fake patents, which turn out to be worthless. We know who pays the price for such a fluke; it's not the law firms, which charge hourly...

A post by Charles Bieneman, a dedicated proponent of software patents (his whole blog is about that), said this:

According to a recent report by the USPTO’s Chief Economist, the Federal Circuit’s 2018 Berkheimer decision and the USPTO’s January 2019 patent-eligibility guidance have reduced both the frequency and uncertainty of examiners’ patent-eligibility rejections under and 35 U.S.C. €§ 101 and the Alice/Mayo test.

Anecdotally, for a number of months it has seemed that examiners were making fewer patent-eligibility rejections than they had been in the years following Alice. The January 2019 guidance in particular, as I wrote at the time, seemed designed to reduce Alice rejections. As this graph illustrates, that has proven to be true. Alice rejections peaked prior to Berkheimer; the USPTO points to its April 2018 memorandum modifying €§ 101 examination procedure in light of Berkheimer as accelerating the downward trend. But again, the dramatic downturn in patent-eligibility rejections occurred after the January 2019 guidance.


So... they're basically encouraged to ignore the highest US court and grant bogus patents anyway.

How is that a good thing?

"How is that a good thing?"We pointed this out earlier this year after the USPTO had reported its so-called 'results', which showed growth in low-quality patents.

Sounds familiar? Yes, the EPO.

Eileen McDermott of Watchtroll has just published "A Look at the Data: USPTO Chief Economist Analyzes Effects of Section 101 Guidance on Predictability in New Report"

Predictability in courts?

No.

The opposite.

"Predictability in courts? No. The opposite."Apart from parroting the talking points of Andrei Iancu, what these people do is celebrate violation of and deviation from the law.

Dennis Crouch wrote: "The chart above comes from the USPTO Chief Economist’s office and is explained in the USPTO’s new report on Post-Alice Examination of Eligibility."

That never names this Chief Economist. In the EPO it seems to be some prop of Battistelli, whom we wrote about many times before. They're docile and obedient to a particular agenda; neither independent nor objective. The whole thing is just a marketing charade. Their message is, send us more applications and we'll grant lots of them!

In Twitter the USPTO wrote: "Supreme Court’s 2014 decision in Alice Corp. led to a rise in patent application rejections in certain tech areas (software). Our report shows how this trend was significantly reduced after issuance of revised patent examination guidelines in 2018 and 2019..."

"What are they hoping to accomplish here? They say nothing about the affirmation rates (as per US courts or even PTAB)."They have included a PR/marketing-type animation. Translation or meaning of it? Well, a Trump appointee is breaking the law to grant many illegal patents and fake 'growth'...

What are they hoping to accomplish here? They say nothing about the affirmation rates (as per US courts or even PTAB). The USPTO now mimics illegal behaviour of EPO management and hardly even hides this agenda. As this response to the USPTO put it: "Your illegal guidelines are not in line with Alice. Someone should submit them to Court for a legal challenge."

The original page says:

A new USPTO study finds that the 2014 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International significantly increased the percentage of Section 101 rejections in first office actions received by patent applicants and, importantly, increased the degree of uncertainty facing applicants in the examination process. In two subsequence examiner guidance documents, the USPTO largely reversed these effects. Read more about the image below.


So basically Iancu said, ignore all those court decisions that we don't like and only pay attention to ones that make it easy to allow software patents. How is that a good thing? This is in line with Trump era lawlessness. It's good for trolls who prey on poor and vulnerable companies/people -- a free ticket to the racket.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Microsoft's LinkedIn is Losing Money, Traffic, and Hope; Now It Wants to Sell Its Users' Lifeblood (and Data)
Let this be a reminder of what social control media really is about
Microsoft Lunduke: Freedom of Speech Means Spreading What I Have to Say and Banning People I Disagree With
4Chan is one he aims for and he is siccing 4Chan trolls at people he doesn't like
Richard Stallman Back at the "Rudolf-Diesel" Hörsal "MW 2001" in About 40 Hours
He spoke there before; there's a very high seating capacity there
US Government: 6.1% of Site Visitors Use GNU/Linux
GNU/Linux has a considerable share and it is growing
Why the FSF No Longer Recommends Debian, as Explained by Richard Stallman This Month
some weeks ago
 
In Many Cases and in Many Different Ways, Technology Became Less Durable and Less Reliable Over Time
The "modern" things are more complex. And complexity is a foe or reliability and repair-ability.
Counting Unhatched Eggs Is Not Counting Chickens
Everything here will persist as normal
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, October 19, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, October 19, 2025
Campaign of FUD Against Framework Laptops and GNU/Linux (Using Microsoft's Attack on Linux, 'Secure Boot')
Ritual Defamation Cult has turned its attention over to Framework
Liberation From 'The Feed'
They rank things based on the editor's choice/ideology (he or she knows the sponsors, hence the masters)
Microsoft's Killing of Vista 10 Seems to Have Resulted in More Articles About GNU/Linux (But Also FUD)
We not only saw a rise in traffic, we also saw a remarkable rise in the number of articles
Today (a Day Before Richard Stallman Talk at TUM) There's a Patent Propaganda Event at TUM
Perhaps an opportunity for Dr. Stallman to rebut this "invention to patent" nonsense/fantasy (conflating monopolies with innovation)
OpenSource or "Open Source" as a Brand is Dying, Let's Get Back to Talking About Software Freedom
Those of us who actually want to reform the industry and put users in control of their systems/devices will recognise that "Open Source" was selling a lie or got-co-opted by liars
19 Years in Numbers: Techrights' Anniversary Countdown and Retrospective
In 2019 we began improving our workflows and, accordingly/predictably, we became a lot more productive
Slop Turns People Off (LLMs Lack Intelligence, They're Just Plagiarism Powerhouses That Fail to Deliver Any Real, Measurable Value)
"More" (or "MOAR") isn't always better
IBM Red Hat Has Re-calibrated or Adjusted to Bubble Economics, False Promises, and Slop/Plagiarism
This won't end well
Fake Numbers, Fake Claims, Fake Economy, and Media Grifters That Prop Up Fraud
Grifters like The Register MS won't be looked upon kindly after the bubble implodes
For Some, the GNU Web Site is Not Accessible This Week
They seem to have gone into some kind of lock-down mode
Symptoms of Upcoming Microsoft Layoffs in XBox
A crashing franchise
Psychiatrist confession: Germanwings crash & Debian toxic culture recognized before suicides
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 19/10/2025: Scentjacking 101, Slop Hype Boosters, and Steam Next Fest
Links for the day
Slopwatch: The Serial Slopper, LinuxSecurity, and Google News
Let's hope slopfarms die as soon as possible
Links 19/10/2025: Cambodia Scam Centres, Slop Hurting Wikipedia Traffic
Links for the day
As Economies Crumble Free as in Beer Will Matter, Not Just Free as in Freedom/Libre (Libertad)
French regions choosing to embrace Software Freedom
25 Years Ago, an Explanation of How Reducing Free Software to 'Apps' Would Interfere With Freedom Goals
there's nothing unreasonable about it
A List of 63 Known Gemini Clients (Software to Browse Geminispace Content With Gemini Protocol)
Not counting browser plugins for Web browsers
Gemini Links 19/10/2025: "Firma Odin Is Transforming" and Bot Attacks While "AFK"
Links for the day
LLM Slop Could Not Rise to Prominence Without Media Complicity and Artificial Hype
Inane garbage disguised as "journalism"
All the Latest Half Dozen Articles by Mehedi Hasan (UbuntuPIT) Only Admit at the End That He's Using LLM Slop
Disclosure is OK, but the practice of using slop is not
The 'Modern' Web of Fake Security and Easy Censorship of Whole Domains
Each year it gets worse
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, October 18, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, October 18, 2025
The Term "AI" is Not New and What Today's Media Calls "AI" Isn't Even AI
Only the hype was new... and totally artificial
Gemini Links 18/10/2025: "Planetary Rings", Steam, and PSU Replacement
Links for the day
Defeating LLM Abuse (State-of-the-Art Plagiarism) in the Area of Linux and GNU, Free Software, BSD, Security and So On
The aim is to get them to stop using LLMs to rip off other people's work
Links 18/10/2025: Russell Vought in Charge, US Government Leans to Russia Again
Links for the day
Credit Where It's Due: LinuxConfig.org Quit Doing LLM Slop, Back to Original and Real Articles
We waited for a while to say this, now it seems conclusive
Of Note: UbuntuPIT Aware of Critics of Slop, Adds Disclosure of Use of LLMs
We appreciate the honesty
Links 18/10/2025: Madagascar's President Flees and ICE Arrests Protest Comedian Robby Roadsteamer
Links for the day
Richard Stallman Near the European Patent Office (EPO) in 3 Days From Now
It'll be a good opportunity for patent examiners to listen, ask questions, and maybe greet him in person
From Scholar to Booster of Slop (and Even Slop in His Own Blog)
We're going to keep an eye on future posts of his
End of Vista 10 Also Good News for the BSDs
There are many news sites that recommend trying GNU/Linux this month
What's Wrong With Liking Parrots or Birds as Pets?
They'd demonise people for speaking about freedom, no matter what they say or do
Digital Sanitation Good Practices
leave behind Microsoftism
10 Days Ago Richard Stallman Gave a Long Interview in French (linuxfr.org)
English translation
Science, Not Fast Food/Junk Food
The commercial exploitation of users won't stop until users exercise full control over their software or - more broadly - their computing (including data)
The Free Software Foundation, Which Has Appointed a 43-Year-Old President, is Looking to Add Another Board Member (or Treasurer)
expect the FSF to add more people
Richard Stallman Confirms Next Week's Talk at Technical University of Munich, We Urge EPO Staff to Attend
That's probably late enough for EPO staff to attend after work
Gemini Links 18/10/2025: Notifications and Geminaut
Links for the day
Many Red Hat People Are Leaving, But It'll Be Framed Publicly as Leaving IBM
Similarly, IBM layoffs (or "RAs" as they're called) include Red Hat layoffs
Expect More Waves of Microsoft Layoffs This Month (at Least Two Rounds Confirmed Already)
From what we can gather, assuming the recent rumours about XBox are true, there will be at least 3 waves of Microsoft layoffs this month alone
Security Issues in Cisco and Jenkins Passed Off as "Linux" Problems
Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt (FUD) tactics
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, October 17, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, October 17, 2025