Bonum Certa Men Certa

Patent Maximalists -- Not Reformers -- Are the Biggest Threat to the Viability of the Patent System and Innovation

Rants about PTAB, Alice and so on merely make things worse. Limits exist for a reason and these limits need to be honoured.

Low maximum speed



Summary: Those who strive to infinitely expand patent scope are rendering the patent system obsolete and completely losing sight of the very purpose of the patent system, whose sanity US courts and lawmakers gradually restore (one ruling and one bill at a time)

THE USPTO will have granted fewer patents than before by year's end. Recent numbers (a subset of the total) reaffirm rumours we've heard about that. That's not bad news. To patent law firms that may be bad, but for society at large this may simply mean that patent quality is improving, unlike at the EPO, as we've just noted.



"Not every patent represents an invention; some are more like a rendition."Not everything needs to be patented. Not every patent represents an invention; some are more like a rendition. Like music. It is not hard to understand that design patents are rubbish and the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) ought to reassess their necessity, or the lack thereof. We continue to be amazed at the sorts of design patents that we find out there; here's a new example from Apple. Why are these not being covered solely by trademarks and copyrights, which already cover software as well (the latter does)? I suppose hardware patents (like these new ones) are OK and I've no real issue with those assuming prior art search was properly done and the innovative steps are sufficiently large.

"Watchtroll has created a caricature of the patent system. Judges are being mocked, courts that simply apply the law are being dubbed "anti-patent" and technologists themselves (or those who support them) are constantly derided."Patent maximalism is a threat to the patent system because it merely serves to harm the legitimacy of this system. This means that whenever courts push back against patent maximalists they actually guard the patent system. PTAB, for instance, is still being supported by the Federal Circuit (as usual). Earlier today Patent Docs wrote about Otonomy, Inc. v Auris Medical, AG. To quote the gist of it all: "The Federal Circuit also affirmed the Board's determination that certain claims of Otonomy Inc.'s application are not anticipated by the publication of Auris Medical's International application. [...] The Federal Circuit therefore affirmed the Board's determination that the WO '949 does not anticipate Otonomy claim 38."

Watchtroll has created a caricature of the patent system. Judges are being mocked, courts that simply apply the law are being dubbed "anti-patent" and technologists themselves (or those who support them) are constantly derided. Here comes Watchtroll 'chum' Steve Brachmann (simply a writer) mocking PTAB again. Watchtroll did it again today and yesterday it was Burman York (Bud) Mathis III with a rant about PTAB, Alice and so on. To quote a portion:

For those patent professionals and inventors who are not yet convinced that the exceptions to €§ 101 under Alice/Mayo are not presently swallowing the rule, I invite you to read the district court decision of American Axle v. Neapco. As a spoiler, I’ll tell you that the district court judge addressed the inevitable pesky preemption issue by citing Ariosa. While the Federal Circuit has yet to decide the case, which involves an apparently novel and non-obvious way to dampen engine vibrations, I am not hopeful given the Federal Circuit’s love for Ariosa, and the fact that internal combustion engines are ubiquitous and really, really old things.


Well, €§ 101 is something to be celebrated, not opposed. They protest what simply doesn't serve their financial agenda; never mind if their business is nontechnical. So does this blog called "patents4software", which has just published "Is Machine Learning Technology Going to be Collateral Damage under the Abstract Idea Exception?" [via Janal Kalis, a.k.a. Patent Buddy]

Of course. These are just software patents (glorified with buzz/hype) and they are thus invalid; they're false 'trophies'. They don't represent inventions. I say this as someone who spent years working in the area of Machine Learning (I wrote detailed reports on it even a decade and a half ago). The blog says: "My colleague Janal Kalis identified 21 PTAB decisions directed to machine learning patent applications published since 4/1/2018. According to Janal, seventeen of the patent applications considered had been rejected by examiners with 101. The PTAB affirmed examiners’ 101 rejections in 16 cases and reversed in only 1 Case."

"...€§ 101 is something to be celebrated, not opposed."We mentioned this a few days ago.

Either way, the improvement in patent quality is something that society at large should praise, not condemn. We recently wrote about how patent maximalism reduced choice in the market (Arista's loss). That's still in the news today and yesterday [1, 2, 3]. Cliff Saran wrote:

Arista Networks has settled its ongoing patent dispute with Cisco, making a payment of $400m to its rival.

Arista got into a legal spate over 14 Cisco patent infringements in December 2014. While Cisco claimed patent infringement, Arista argued that Cisco went after it because it was gaining share in the lucrative datacentre market.


Cisco -- like IBM -- makes technical people better aware of its real intentions, which are to guard a monopoly and profit from patents rather than sales. This is what patent maximalism generally leads to. It's bad for society; it's a fat 'thicket' (about 100,000 patents for some companies) which increases barrier to entry.

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"
Adding the Voice of Writers to UK SLAPP Reform
The journey to repair antiquated (monarchy era) laws will likely be long
 
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
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.
Tomorrow is the Last Day of the Fund-Raising Campaign of the Free Software Foundation (FSF)
They will probably extend the date, as usual
Fixing Patents in Europe, Little by Little (by Transparency and Reporting of Suppressed Facts)
Tomorrow and throughout the weekend we shall focus some more on the EPO
The Two Lies Microsoft is Telling in "the News" This Week (to Distract From Layoffs and Decreased Interest in Slop/Chaff)
Microsoft is run by liars and frauds who SLAPP critics
Tux Machines Already Destroyed SLAPPs
Attacks on the mere publication of GNU/Linux news won't be tolerated
PCLinuxOS is Available for Download Again
PCLinuxOS is important to us also because its founder, back then the partner of Susan, helped create Tux Machines more than 21 years ago
Links 10/07/2025: Microsoft E-mail 'Services' Collapse Again, "Yet Another Strava Privacy Leak"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 10/07/2025: Automating Git Repo Updates and Small Web 'Zine'
Links for the day
GNU/Linux Leftovers
mostly Linux stuff
Audiocasts/Shows: Going Linux, FLOSS Weekly, and RHEL Clones
3 new picks
We Are Already Fighting - With Considerable Success - SLAPPs in the UK
we intend to tell the full story
Bullies With Pens and Papers (or Apple Macs With Templates)
Not all barristers are evil, but there are perhaps "rotten apples"
Slopwatch: webpronews.com, linuxsecurity.com, linuxjournal.com
a pile of trash disguised as 'articles'
Links 10/07/2025: Linda Yaccarino Divorces MElonazi Site, Wildfires Hit Syria
Links for the day
The History and the Policy of the EPO's Stance on Breastfeeding (Corporate Monopolies Versus Babies' Health)
"The Case for Introducing a Breastfeeding Policy at the EPO"
Gemini Links 10/07/2025: Inventing Chords and "Nightmare Boss"
Links for the day
Igor Ljubuncic Once Again Shows That for Technical Reasons Wayland Still Sucks, Performs Considerably Worse Than What Existed for Decades
That is aside from compatibility factors and other crucial factors
Links 10/07/2025: "Apple Vs The Law" and Twitter Became Full Nazi Bar
Links for the day
Unable to Find Anyone to Work as Their Media Lawyer, Brett Wilson LLP Will Continue Losing Female Staff
What sort of sick person would wish to join Brett Wilson LLP to carry this baton?
Microsoft-Sponsored Propaganda Site Has Removed False 'Hit Piece' About Dr. Stallman (With Fake and Misrepresented Imagery) But Only After 4 Years
So they only removed that page some time around 2025, i.e. about 4 years after it had been published
Always Check Your Inputs
Garbage in, garbage out. Or wrong assumptions, wrong corollary.
Dan Neidle Said That Tax Evasion Facilitator Mr Zahawi (Working to Silence Bloggers Through Brett Wilson LLP) Targeted Not Only Him (But The Others Kept Quiet)
"Mr Neidle said after repelling Mr Zahawi he was contacted by bloggers and tweeters who had received similar threats. They deleted their work “and in most cases never commented publicly on anything again”."
SLAPP Funding Transparency Urgently Needed in the UK and Elsewhere (in Practice, Not Just in Theory)
Writing about crime - including Microsoft crime - is not a crime
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, July 09, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, July 09, 2025
Elodie Bergot Still Doing Illegal Things at the EPO, Based on the Local Staff Committee Munich
They keep taking away from the staff while compelling the staff to do illegal things