Summary: How bigwigs from Microsoft continue to turn into patent trolls and attack the industry (including Linux), sometimes in vain

ONE of our readers found and sent over evidence suggesting that Bill Gates' buddy (whom Gates financed) is suing some more companies, leaving no doubt about his status as the world's biggest patent troll, not just Microsoft's former CTO. It is operations like his which help show how brutal and corrupt the patent system has become. He lobbies politicians, however, to keep it as broken as it is and thereby enrich himself and Bill. It is possible that even Torvalds' patents are now being used by this patent troll and Groklaw adds: "Maybe it's time for Silicon Valley to figure out that patents are the problem." The same reader also found this pointer about "The National Association of Patent Practitioners (NAPP)," which is a euphemism for patent trolls. We have more of these stories in yesterday's daily links.

While on the subject of patent trolls from Microsoft (with Microsoft financial ties), how about Interval from Microsoft's co-founder? It seems like it's going down for Paul Allen:

Allen v. World - RECONSIDERATION DENIED! Interval Down in Flames

[...]

When you see a judge being that critical of a party and using words later in the order like "quibbles," it is a sign the judge is losing patience.

So this action is now officially (even after reconsideration) stayed pending the outcome of the reexaminations.

The patent trolls still cost a lot in terms of legal fees, even if they lose, and the Against Monopoly people urge to put an end to this, including business method patents, which as we showed recently have some of the biggest lobbyists (bankers, not just patent trolls funded by Microsoft) doing whatever it takes to make matters worse. We wrote about this recently. ⬆