After Alice, Patent Trial and Appeal Board is Invalidating Software Patents and Other Abstract Patents

Dr. Roy Schestowitz

2016-02-29 13:00:44 UTC
Modified: 2016-02-29 13:00:44 UTC

PTAB

Summary: A quick look at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) and why patent lawyers, patent trolls (who typically use software patents) and other patent aggressors are afraid of it, more so after Alice (a landmark 2014 case against abstract software patents)

THOSE who are not patent lawyers might not know that PTAB, according to Wikipedia, "was formed on September 16, 2012 as one part of the America Invents Act."

"Patent lawyers, suffice to say, are growing nervous and comparing PTAB to all sorts of terrible things."That was less than a couple of years before Alice, which effectively killed many software patents in the US (and shed doubt on the rest). The EPO too has boards of appeal, even though Battistelli seems to be trying to crush them (the unfilled open positions strategy, as the BBC reported on earlier today -- the latest round of Tories versus NHS), possibly because of the UPC (some speculations insinuate this). At the same time he opens the door to software patents, which the boards have historically been relatively sceptical/critical of.

According to this new article from the EFF: "Today EFF filed our response brief in the appeal of our successful challenge to Personal Audio’s podcasting patent. Back in April 2015, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) ruled in our favor and invalidated all of the patent claims we challenged. Personal Audio appealed this decision to the Federal Circuit."

We covered this at the time (April 2015, just under a year after Alice) and we were pleased with the outcome. Patent lawyers, suffice to say, are growing nervous and comparing PTAB to all sorts of terrible things.

"Watch what a tragedy this has become for business method and software patents."Consider this MIP article titled "PTAB taking a harder line on CBM institution". It says: "More covered business method petitions are now being denied institution by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board than granted, with the Board seemingly narrowing what qualifies as a CBM patent" (that's good, but not for patent lawyers).

Also new from MIP is this article titled "Institutional change: PTAB issues to watch in 2016". To quote: "PTAB petition filing has increased every year since the post-grant proceedings became available in September 2012. According to figures from Docket Navigator, a record 1,797 petitions were filed last year, up 7% on the 1,677 filed in 2014. Inter partes review (IPR) petitions accounted for 92% of the filing last year."

Watch what a tragedy this has become for business method and software patents. It's about time. Let the patent lawyers squirm, twist the facts, and whine... ⬆

Expecting Failure: Some things would not happen to technology (tech) experts because they know how things work and what to expect (or watch out for)
unixcop.com is the Latest "Linux" Site to Have Become a Slopfarm After 2 Years of Death (Inactivity): Not a way to stage a comeback
The Only Still-Supported Version of Windows Breaks Itself (Again), the Microsoft Layoffs Will Carry on in Secret: In the US they marked about 7% for removal just this past summer
Wikileaks Turns 20 Just 18 Days From Now: it's fair to say they've endured online, but aren't lively/active
The Cyber Show Debunks the Alleged Intelligence in Slop: It's shorter than usual
Links 16/09/2026: US Running Low/Out of Some Ammo Due to Wars, Slop Bots "Are Using an Outrageous Amount of Electricity": Links for the day
"AI Slowdown" is Code Word for Bubble Imploding (Trying to Make This Slowdown Seem Wilful, an Act of Safety and Responsibility): They help one another by inflating the bubble and making false excuses when expansion stalls
SLAPP Censorship - Part 185 Out of 200: What Reputation?: Helping monopolies and working for monopolies never made anybody popular
Gemini Links 16/09/2026: Slovenia, Catastrophe Ethics, and ROOPHLOCH 2026: Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, September 15, 2026: IRC logs for Tuesday, September 15, 2026
Microsoft Layoffs in September 2026 Are Silent, Hidden: Expect the same next month ahead of the fake results
Links 15/09/2026: 'Smartphone', Android TV Box, Stockholm Syndrome of [Slop Plagiarism] Acceptance: Links for the day
Carmen-Lisandrette Maris Prepares Audiobook to Explain Software Freedom/Digital Rights to Adolescents, Needs Help From Volunteers: needs help with narrating
Links 15/09/2026: Putin-Connected Money for The Insurrectionist Jr. and Turkey's Crackdown on Activists: Links for the day
publicdomainpictures.net Seems to Have Become Fed Up With Slop Contaminating Its Database (Wasting Storage, Bandwidth), Now It's Suitably Flagged, Should Be Demoted/Delisted: The site was redone, suffered some hours of downtime, then 'relaunched' with a new interface this week
Gemini Links 15/09/2026: Hiking in Munții Făgăraș, Scams, and Slop Plagiarism Considered Unethical: Links for the day
Linux Kernel Becoming a Slopfest - Part 1 - At the Beginning (Torvalds Knew It Was Trouble): We still wonder if we should make and actively maintain a shame list (developer/employer) for the people who contaminate Linux the most with slop plagiarism
EPO Staff is Preparing to Take Up a Notch the Strikes and Other Industrial Actions Ahead of October's Meeting (It Can Help Oust the Corrupt Leadership): mobilising perhaps thousands of workers at a critical time in the history of the Office
Allegedly Many PIP Layoffs in Nepal, IBM Does This Before a Known Death Toll in Avalanche (Caused by China-, Europe-, and US-Induced Global Warming): Fresh wounds, before the bodies are even recovered (thousands still missing)
"Wail" by Alexandre Oliva: This work is licensed under the Creative Commons License BY-SA (Attribution ShareAlike) 4.0 International
This Morning The Register MS Published a Page With "AI" 83 Times in it. The Register MS Got Paid to Do This.: The Register MS is not a serious publisher and a lot of the stuff about "AI" on the Web isn't journalism but paid-for SPAM
While GAFAM/Microsoft Disguise Financial Crisis as "Investment in AI" the Slop Giants Make Up a Narrative of Wilful Slowdown: A BS artist is good at the art of BS when the artist's failures or weaknesses get twisted as moral or professional leadership
SLAPP Censorship - Part 184 Out of 200: A Tiny Law Firm That Knows Nothing But Microsoft (But Merely Pretends to Understand "IT"): They've managed to trick some mainstream media into thinking they're "Tech" experts or "Social [Control] Media" gurus; nothing could be further from the truth
Links 15/09/2026: Sweden’s Far Right Perishing and "Iceland Just Got Played": Links for the day
It's Not About How Developers Vote: This isn't about politics, it's about users being in control of their own computers and computing
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, September 14, 2026: IRC logs for Monday, September 14, 2026
Gemini Links 15/09/2026: Poetry, Enshittification of Ebay, and Mecha System: Links for the day
LG Lies to Cover Up Lies About Its Spying TVs (It Records and Transmits Conversations in Rooms): This is what a lot of "modern" technology is like
Oracle's Debt Continues to Soar (Increase of 60 Billion Dollars in 15 Months, Not Counting the Secret Debt, With Off-balance-sheet Debt Having "Grown Roughly Thirtyfold in Four Years"): Oracle debt continues to grow
It Has Cost $215,000 in Legal Costs to Sue IBM for Wrongful Termination: IBM typically settles out of court and demands secrecy (to avoid anyone else benefiting from the very expensive outcome)
Apple's iOS and macOS Measured as Bigger Than Windows in the US, Linux-Based OSes at Almost 30%: Expect the silent layoffs at Microsoft to continue at a rapid pace
Oracle, Like Microsoft, Drowns in Debt and Discards Tens of Thousands of Staff (Microsoft Does the Same More Discreetly): The main difference between Microsoft and Oracle is that the latter is honest about what's going on
Gemini Links 14/09/2026: First Android Phone, Leaving Sony, and Rant About Gemini-to-HTTP Proxy Providers: Links for the day
Links 14/09/2026: "Scam Altman Now Trying to Gain Control of Electric Grid" and Sweden Moving to the Right: Links for the day
Vista 11 Flunked: Microsoft cannot start a "Vista 12" campaign as it would only make matters worse
Microsoft Urgently Needs Distraction: There's No "Next XBox", But There's a New Boot Screen (Like 'Dark Mode', a Feature That Can be Implemented in Mere Minutes/Hours): Anything to distract from XBox fiasco
The PIPs or 'Voluntary Termination Offers' Help IBM Fake Its Situation: "IBM is not a tech company"
IBM Flying Away to Sweatshops (So Will Red Hat): Even on Sunday people post about 'leaving' IBM
RFID Ambitions Already Established by Widespread Skinnerbox Adoption: A society that cannot maintain privacy for those who deserve it will not manage to assure dignity of citizens
SLAPP Censorship - Part 183 Out of 200: What Actually Happened Two Months Ago (Based on People Who Attended): It's dangerous to assert what happened in a hearing you did not attend (there was no video stream or recording, either)
Phil Harvey, an Editor-in-Chief in a B2B Site, Explains Why ChannelFutures (Connected to TechTarget) and Other Sites That Used to Cover Linux Deleted Many Articles: Every old article in channelfutures is gone!
Software Freedom Day 2026 is 5 Days From Now, Fresh Reminder to Boycott Proprietary Software: Let this be a timely reminder of why people should avoid proprietary software
Links 14/09/2026: Slop Hardly Used for Actual Work (Chatbots Are for Lonely People), Slop Bots (Scrapers, Plagiarism) "Are Thirsty for Power": Links for the day
Gemini Links 14/09/2026: Trip, Hiding, and OCR: Links for the day
IBM PIPs Are Layoffs (RAs Come Later Even If You Satisfy the "Performance" and "Plan"): Notice how "the media" almost never mentions silent layoffs, as if just because they're silent, there's nothing to investigate, nothing to see there
Slop Companies Engage in Plagiarising the Web, Now They Pay People to Contaminate the Web With Their Lies: Remember that the lawfare against us is funded by slop salaries!
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, September 13, 2026: IRC logs for Sunday, September 13, 2026

After Alice, Patent Trial and Appeal Board is Invalidating Software Patents and Other Abstract Patents

Recent Techrights' Posts