Bonum Certa Men Certa

Higher Patent Quality and More Patent Justice Rather Than Buzzwords and Litigation

I wanted to cure my patients but 'award-winning' patents stood in my way



Summary: The system entrusted to deal with the advancement of science and betterment of society has been more or less hijacked and exploited by a new industry, whose sole interest is making a lot of money through litigation or threats of litigation (muted settlements outside the court system, i.e. extrajudicial)

THE WORLD has many perils and profound issues. There are deepening crises. Putting aside the political chaos that sweeps across the planet and not even mentioning environmental aspects, let's look at what happens in science and various technological disciplines. Many people are nowadays treated poorly and valued by the amount of data collected from them (so-called 'surveillance capitalism'); a lot of so-called 'innovation' -- surely an exaggerated buzzword rather than real substance -- is centered around social control, i.e. autocratic tendencies. Patent offices often resort to greenwashing, pretending to themselves (and sometimes to the public) that they seek to protect the planet and guard us from pollution, death etc. In reality, however, just granting more and more patents (in effect monopolies) won't help the proliferation of "green tech" (another buzzword/phrase they love). I myself am not against patents (I personally know some people who are, absolutely, even though they have loads of patents themselves), I'm only against patent maximalism, seeing what it tends to lead to. I've been writing on the subject since I was about 20. It's not new to me.

"I'm only against patent maximalism, seeing what it tends to lead to. I've been writing on the subject since I was about 20. It's not new to me."As we mentioned last week, nowadays there are patents on life and genetics (or genome, DNA, you name it). For life? On life? Whose monopoly? Who even 'invented' life? Religious people might say something different from and less scientific than evolutionists, but that's not the point; the question of patenting such things is one both groups can agree on. Watch what the EPO is doing:

Ares Genetics GmbH – a subsidiary of molecular diagnostic developer Curetis N.V. has reportedly been granted a patent from the European Patent Office (EPO) dubbed ‘Genetic Resistance Testing’.


How far does it go? We very recently revisited the ethical issues associated with patents on cancer treatment. Good luck explaining to patients that patents are more important than them!

"Good luck explaining to patients that patents are more important than them!"A site called "Mighty Gadget" (never seen it before!) has just published this pure spam for Withers (with a link even!), a law firm that's promoting illegal patents on algorithms. It's promoting the "hey hi" (AI) nonsense, citing "the WIPO Technology Trends report, which also reveals that IBM currently has the largest portfolio of AI patent applications with 8,290." Fake software patents in Europe disguised as "hey hi"/"HEY HI" (we need to ridicule these buzzwords) by the Campinos/Battistelli regime (the European Patent Office and US Patent and Trademark Office both use this buzzword these days, but the former seemingly influenced the latter before WIPO did the same). To quote:

Since the emergence of rudimentary artificial intelligence (AI) technology in the 1950s, nearly 340,000 related inventions have been filed for patent.

This is according to the WIPO Technology Trends report, which also reveals that IBM currently has the largest portfolio of AI patent applications with 8,290.

But just how patentable are AI inventions and machine learning, and how does the process work in Europe?

What are the Guidelines for Examination with the EPO?

As we’ve already said, the number of AI-based patent applications is continuing to rise, with the European Patent Office (EPO) also revealing an increase in the amount of applications pertaining to programmed computer inventions.

Given this slew of AI and machine learning patent applications, it should come as no surprise that the EPO has recently updated its Guidelines for Examination. Many would argue that this update was long overdue, with attorneys suggesting that some patents have been unnecessarily delayed due to outdated and analogue guidelines.

The new body of legislation makes it clear that the EPO intends to treat AI and machine technologies as forms of mathematical method. Mathematical methods currently appear on the list of non-inventions defined by art, which are technically unpatentable due to their nature.

However, a mathematical method may also be tied to the control of a specific working system or process, and in this respect it can gain technical character.

In this instance, a mathematical method moves out of the exclusion zone and into the realm of being a patentable invention, and this provides formal clarification of the position that the EPO has always adopted.


They basically went back and scanned all sorts of old patents, re-classifying them as "AI" to make it sound as though it's OK to grant a patent on software provided it uses the 'right' terms (lexical trickery). It's an incredible and incredulous propaganda campaign of patent maximalists. What would court say if these patents were to reach actual courts? We've already seen many of these axed.

"If patent law exists to advance science, then at the moment it does a truly terrible job."The problem we have at the moment is that large patent offices, especially IP5, grant a lot of patents that courts insist should not be granted (but continue to be granted anyway). This vastly reduces legal certainty that's associated with patents, so now the patent maximalists try to manipulate politicians, wrestling the laws and bribing people like Coons. In Europe we can see that in UPC. "Explanation given" wrote the following comment last night on the breaking news of a very high British court squashing a key European Patent, noting that patent troll "Conversant's case is dead if the patent is invalid for added matter, but he still decided on obviousness and sufficiency (and infringement) so that the case can be dealt with in full on appeal."

Here's the full comment:

There is nothing in the EPC that prevents a claim from being new and inventive while at the same time infringing Art. 123(2). Just apply the law as it is written. The "effective date" for determining the state of the art for the claimed subject-matter is determined by Articles 54 and 89 EPC. There is nothing in those provisions that prevents the EPO from establishing the relevant state of the art if a claim happens to infringe Article 123(2).

"The part of the claim relating to added subject-matter should however not be there and no effective date can be attributed to it."

This is pure myth that unfortunately has taken root in the minds of a few EPO examiners. Please cite one passage in the Guidelines or in the Case Law book that supports your position. Again, it is Articles 54 and 89 that determine the relevant state of the art, and those provisions do not require the claim to comply with Article 123(2).

"At the EPO, a claim comprising added subject-matter leads to a refusal in examination or to a revocation in opposition, cf. G 1/93. Such a claim is never compared to any prior art, as it does not have a raison d'être."

This arrogantly assumes that an opposition division's decision on 123(2) is always correct and will survive appeal, which has no basis in reality.

If the patent proprietor has an at least arguable case on 123(2) (that did not convince the OD but still might convince the BoA), there is nothing to stop the OD from continuing with inventive step (even though it is not obliged to do so). Then if the BoA on appeal agrees with the patent proprietor on 123(2), a remittal for examining inventive step has been avoided.

This is how the English courts deal with cases. Justice Arnold was well aware that Conversant's case is dead if the patent is invalid for added matter, but he still decided on obviousness and sufficiency (and infringement) so that the case can be dealt with in full on appeal. There is no legal reason why EPO divisions could not do the same.


We're in a sad state right now because patent offices grant patents which they know they should not grant; they do so anyway because of greed and trolls like Conversant (above) exploit that for blackmail purposes. If patent law exists to advance science, then at the moment it does a truly terrible job.

Recent Techrights' Posts

XBox is Rapidly Turned Into a Slopfarm by Microsoft
Slop isn't about efficiency and saving money
Reboots Should Never be Necessary
"BUT WHAT ABOUT SECURITY!!"
Microsoft's Halloween Documents and systemd, Wayland, Etc.
Maybe one day Wayland will be widespread. Or maybe not.
 
Gemini Links 15/07/2025: Smolweb and Alhena 5.1.7
Links for the day
The Danes Want GNU/Linux
David Heinemeier Hansson recently moved to GNU/Linux
Cory Doctorow Explains Why Software Freedom Matters, Whereas "Open Source" Misses the Point and Helps Monopolies
It's a very long article
BillPR (EpsteinGate-Bribed NPR) is Turning Into a Partial Slopfarm that Promotes Slop
"I went on a date with a chatbot!"
Two Weeks Passed Since Latest Large Wave of Microsoft Layoffs, More Expected Next Month
Blaming the debt on "AI" is just self-serving storytelling
There's Still Hope for the World Wide Web
Let's hope that the trajectory of the Web won't be leading us to over-reliance on Google, nor will it reward worthless slopfarms
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, July 14, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, July 14, 2025
Gemini Links 15/07/2025: Gemini "Style Sheets" and Switching From Microsoft GitHub to Codeberg
Links for the day
Coming Soon: Another OSI Scandal, This One Implicating Molly de Blanc
OSI has been fairly quiet lately
Outreachy & Debian pregnancy cluster, Meike Reichle evidence
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Again, "Lunduke is Actually Sending His Audience to Attack People"
Microsoft Lunduke is not trying to "protect" Linux
One of the Most Hilarious Things About the Microsoft SLAPPs
It's so ridiculous
Financial Support for the Free Software Foundation or the GNU Project
The FSF has extended until Friday its fund-raising campaign
Illegally Hiding (or Demanding Secrecy Around) Illegal Requests or Attempts at Extortion
unlawful communications like threats
Gemini Links 14/07/2025: BOFH Archive, Updating Old Palm PDAS, and Nginx vs Slop Bots
Links for the day
Ubuntu is Becoming GAFAM-Like
What does that say about Canonical and Ubuntu?
Slopfarms Which Take Real Articles About GNU/Linux and Turn Them Into Copycats Which Are False
Even before the LLM hype those were quite common
The Firm That Picks on Techrights is Accustomed to Working With Criminals
Techrights never did anything illegal. So why is it being picked on by people who work with criminals?
Microsoft Said the Mass Layoffs Were for "Investment" in "AI", But It's Also Laying Off the "AI" and "Copilot" Staff
Months ago we showed many so-called "AI" people were getting the boot and this time it's the same
DryDeadFish is Dead, Long Live DryDeadFish
We kept checking, hoping it can recover from some temporary technical issue
For Quite Some Time Already Microsoft Attracts Crackpots, Scams, and More
Occasionally we talk about the situation at IBM as there are many parallels
Links 14/07/2025: Chatbots Broken Again, McHire LLM Shows Limits of the Hype
Links for the day
Changing One's Name Won't Change One's Past
People who have earned a bad reputation are not magically "entitled" to reset
People Who Assault Women Are Not Victims of "Distress"
It seems like an American tradition. In a country with almost 50 presidents, not even one was a female.
Slashdot Media Turned Linux Journal Into a Slopfarm and Now Slashdot Actively Promotes Anti-Linux Slopfarms
Yes, "no-nonsense" apparently means actual nonsense
Adoption of Gemini Protocol Still Growing
Gemini Protocol is being obscured by the media - it doesn't help that Google 'hijacked' the word "Gemini" - but people still manage to find out about it, download a client, and use it
Links 14/07/2025: Arresting Photographers, Threats to Revoke US Citizenship Over Criticism
Links for the day
More EPO Leaks on the Way
We hope that Mr. Rowan will actually try to refute what we say and show, not merely point the finger at the messengers
Decommodification is a Corporate Strategy Against Communities
systemd is led by Microsoft and hosted by Microsoft
copyleft.org 'Hijacked' by the People Who Attack the Person Who Created Copyleft
So far there's nothing "tasteless" in copyleft.org, but that can change at any time in the future
Asking People to Take Down Articles and Videos Only Makes These More Popular and "Viral"
If you do something bad, one of the worst things you can possibly do it try to silence those who speak about it
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, July 13, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, July 13, 2025
Two-Thirds Towards FSF Goal, Richard Stallman to Give Talks in Europe
There are 67 left before reaching the target
Brett Wilson LLP "Takes it Personal" (Character Assassination, Not Professionalism). Everybody Can See That.
On behalf of violent men
Gemini Links 14/07/2025: Politicised Tech and "Leaving GitHub"
Links for the day
Pissing Contests and Pissing Off Everyone
people who came from Microsoft are trying to vex and divide the community
Microsoft Repeats the Mistakes Made by the EPO After We Exposed a Major Microsoft/EPO Scandal 10 Years Ago
That scandal was all over the media, not just in English
The Demise of LLMs
We've just checked BetaNews again. They've dropped all the slop and went back to human authors.
Gemini Links 13/07/2025: Sonpo Museum of Art and FCEUX
Links for the day
Links 13/07/2025: UnitedHealth's Censorship Campaign, Australia Wary of China
Links for the day
Firing Away With Nonsense
Or fighting fire with fire
Links 13/07/2025: Climate Crisis, GAFAM Poisoning the Water
Links for the day
Turns Out LLMs for Code Don't Save Time and Don't Improve Quality
Neither legal nor useful
The Microsofters Will Have an Obligation to Compensate Us
This story isn't just about Microsoft. It's also about corruption, there are many women victims, there is abject "abuse of process", and many more scandals to be illuminated in years to come.
Reproducing at the EPO Instead of Producing Monopolies for Foreign Monopolies With Their Price-Fixing Cartels
Does the EPO recognise the need of well-educated Europeans to bear kids?
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