http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/c-19100/news-picks Threads in the forum category "News picks" - Articles from other sources; copy title, first paragraph, and put URL in body of post. http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-75074 http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-75074/ipbiz:counter-to-slashdot-wsj-has-been-pushing-patent-reform-for-years Ironically, and humorously, the post is in the department titled we-could-have-told-you-and-did dept.. One of the many issues in patent reform has arisen from the unwillingness of some in the IT area to write down what they have done, and, more importantly, to read what others have written down. The kdawson post seriously neglects the PAST positions of the WSJ on patent reform, and thus becomes another piece of evidence of the unwillingness of some in the IT community to understand what has already happened. Fri, 18 Jul 2008 10:43:51 +0000 zoobab 2946 http://ipbiz.blogspot.com/2008/07/counter-to-slashdot-wsj-has-been.html

]]> http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-75067 http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-75067/ip-watch:flurry-of-copyright-interoperability-policy-activity-at-european-union The strategy also includes a fact-finding study to analyse the interplay between IP rights and standards in fostering innovation, and a consultation on standardisation in information and communications technologies (ICTs). The Commission promised to consider how the EU patent fee structure could be designed for easier access by small and mid-sized firms, and to try to provide IPR support services for small companies in their countries. Fri, 18 Jul 2008 09:53:59 +0000 zoobab 2946 http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/index.php?p=1156

]]> http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-75066 http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-75066/ip-watch:panel:ip-rights-in-standards-impede-competition-disadvantage-developing-countries However, patent law does not have a fair use exception and could prevent interoperability, as they cover interface specifications or could cover uses made during the course of reverse engineering. “We have to make sure that IP laws are evolving in a positive direction,” he said. Carl Cargill from Sun Microsystems said that the internet changed the standard system, and the problem of IP and standards needs to be addressed. “There were 200 players when standard started, then the Web happened and everybody wanted to play,” he said. “You can’t touch anything in a browser without hitting a patent.” Fri, 18 Jul 2008 09:49:12 +0000 zoobab 2946 http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/index.php?p=1155

]]> http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-74946 http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-74946/arstechnica:sun-eclipses-red-hat-firestar-pact-as-patent-invalidated Red Hat has published the details of its recent settlement with Firestar, which ended a legal dispute last month over patents covering object-relational database mapping that were allegedly infringed by the open source JBoss middleware system. In an open letter to the open source software community, Red Hat vice president and assistant general counsel Rob Tiller described several aspects of the deal and provided a link to the text of the agreement and several related legal documents. Thu, 17 Jul 2008 17:55:46 +0000 zoobab 2946 http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080716-sun-eclipses-red-hat-firestar-pact-as-patent-invalidated.html

]]> http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-74945 http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-74945/groklaw:peer-to-patent-project-extended-and-expanded-mark-webbink-exec-dir-of-new-center "I'm pleased to announce the new Center, which will lead the way in reforming the international patent system," said Mark Webbink, Executive Director of the new Center. "CPI will become a pioneer in the patent field, helping to create an environment of participation with patent examiners, scientists, and knowledgeable experts, thereby improving the understanding and effectiveness of patent systems. Establishing the Center for Patent Innovations was a natural progression for the Peer-to-Patent project." Thu, 17 Jul 2008 17:54:22 +0000 zoobab 2946 http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20080716164902546

]]> http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-74944 http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-74944/ostatic:red-hat-offers-a-model-for-patent-licensing Red Hat has spent the last couple of years dealing with a lawsuit from Firestar (later DataTern) concerning alleged patent infringement in their JBoss product. The details of the patent are not especially important at this point - what's pertinent is that Red Hat apparently paid the problem to go away, while preserving in the settlement (according to their own FAQ) broad freedom for the open source community. Now that they've released the actual settlement details, we can see how well they stack up. Thu, 17 Jul 2008 17:52:41 +0000 zoobab 2946 http://ostatic.com/168759-blog/red-hat-offers-a-model-for-patent-licensing

]]> http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-74721 http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-74721/slashdot:msm-noticing-that-patent-gridlock-stunts-innovation Software patents are bad because they're so wasteful, not because they're ill-defined. They're not incentivizing invention, disclosure, and bringing-to-market in the computing field, and are probably hindering it. Since patents are meant to cause more of those things, at the least public cost, the best option for software would be to not offer patents. Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:05:57 +0000 zoobab 2946 http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/07/15/235236

]]> http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-74719 http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-74719/arstechnica:ars-book-review:patent-failure Bessen and Meurer propose requiring that applications for software patents be required to describe their inventions in greater detail (known as "enablement" in patent jargon). They express sympathy for a formal prohibition on software patents, but ultimately do not endorse that reform out of fears that defining software patents would prove too difficult. Wed, 16 Jul 2008 14:59:51 +0000 zoobab 2946 http://arstechnica.com/articles/culture/book-review-7-08.ars/2

]]> http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-74278 http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-74278/wowgold:patent:6-264-560-uspto-grants-re-exam-request The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office agreed to re-examine online-gaming patent 6,264,560 after the Electronic Frontier Foundation challenged it on the grounds that the technology covered by the patent had been used extensively before it was issued. The patent is entitled “Method and system of playing games on a network” and allegedly claims all Internet gaming systems that use tournament-style play, display advertisements and have real-time updates of rankings in multiplayer games. Seems pretty broad, except for the fact that it potentially has priority back to December, 1996. The patent issued on July 24, 2001. Mon, 14 Jul 2008 12:19:56 +0000 zoobab 2946 http://wowgoldeu.hipbloggers.com/2008/07/12/patent-6264560-uspto-grants-re-exam-request/

]]> http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-74270 http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-74270/wsj:patent-gridlock-suppresses-innovation New drugs require great specificity to earn a patent, whereas patents are often granted to broad, thus vague, innovations in software, communications and other technologies. Ironically, the aggregate value of these technology patents is then wiped out through litigation costs. Our patent system for most innovations has become patently absurd. It's a disincentive at a time when we expect software and other technology companies to be the growth engine of the economy. Imagine how much more productive our information-driven economy would be if the patent system lived up to the intention of the Founders, by encouraging progress instead of suppressing it. Mon, 14 Jul 2008 11:35:22 +0000 zoobab 2946 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121599469382949593.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

]]> http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-74263 http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-74263/patently-o:business-system-patents HP's patent application focused on software used to discover networked devices. Claim 32 was rejected for lack of statutory subject matter. 32. A device discovery service stored on a computer-readable medium, the service comprising: logic configured to discover devices directly connected to a network that are not directly connected to a computer; and logic configured to provide a user home service accessible with a network browser with a list of at least one discovered device that is available for use on the network. This claim is interesting because like Wasynczuk, it involves a system claim that is not patentable subject matter. Mon, 14 Jul 2008 10:52:37 +0000 zoobab 2946 http://www.patentlyo.com/patent/2008/07/business-system.html

]]> http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-74260 http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-74260/silicon-flatirons:evaluating-software-patents Over the last several years, the Supreme Court and the Federal Circuit have taken a number of steps suggesting that the law governing software patents is still very much in flux. In terms of the scope of patent law's reach (Bilski) to applicable remedies (Ebay), the courts have taken seriously concerns about the state of the patent system and its impact on innovation the software and information technology sectors. At the same time, Congress--spurred by a coalition of IT firms--has considered a number of reform measures geared to address concerns that the patent system is rewarding bad patents and encouraging inefficient litigation. Mon, 14 Jul 2008 10:42:01 +0000 zoobab 2946 http://www.silicon-flatirons.org/events.php?id=486

]]> http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-74255 http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-74255/mike-dillon:firestar In 2006, Red Hat was sued by Firestar Software, Inc. in the Eastern District Federal Court in Texas. Firestar alleged that Red Hat's then recently acquired JBoss technology infringed one of it's patents. Most often these events are viewed (sometimes happily) as a competitor's issue to deal with. In this case, however, we considered Red Hat both a competitor and a brother-in-arms. And, given the breadth of the Firestar patent and the likelihood that it would be asserted against others in the community, we decided to invest the time and resources in a prior art search. Mon, 14 Jul 2008 10:16:15 +0000 zoobab 2946 http://blogs.sun.com/dillon/entry/firestar

]]> http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-74254 http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-74254/lwn:sun-invalidates-the-firestar-patent Mike Dillon, Sun's general counsel, has put up a weblog entry describing that company's efforts to invalidate the Firestar patent - the one Red Hat just licensed. Mon, 14 Jul 2008 10:15:14 +0000 zoobab 2946 http://lwn.net/Articles/289747/

]]> http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-73820 http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-73820/arn:barracuda-countersues-trend-micro-in-patent-case Despite his new patent portfolio, Drako is still critical of the software patent system. "I would much rather spend my time and money and energy finding ways to make the Internet safer and better than bickering over patents," he says. "The Internet has a bunch of bad stuff on it and it would be better for everyone if if were a safer place." Fri, 11 Jul 2008 15:03:00 +0000 zoobab 2946 http://www.arnnet.com.au/index.php/id;1239581977;fp;4194304;fpid;1

]]> http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-73801 http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-73801/iam:ibm-spells-out-position-on-business-method-patents-in-iam-exclusive Under IBM’s proposed test, a patentable process must either (1) be tied to a particular machine or apparatus, or (2) cause transformation or reduction of an article to a different state or thing, and in either instance produce technologically beneficial results. IBM’s approach is not only consistent with the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court, it is also substantially consistent with prevailing international standards, including those of the EPO and its member states. Fri, 11 Jul 2008 13:20:57 +0000 zoobab 2946 http://www.iam-magazine.com/blog/Detail.aspx?g=b71c3d0c-ddb1-4381-af15-778386e75686

]]> http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-73716 http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-73716/techdirt:owner-of-infamous-jpeg-patent-tries-to-line-jump-the-re-exam-process You may recall the infamous "JPEG patent" we've talked about recently. It's the one that patent attorney Ray Niro, about whom the phrase "patent troll" was initially coined, has used to sue all sorts of critics or companies he doesn't appear to like. The history of the patent in question is incredibly questionable. Thu, 10 Jul 2008 23:47:45 +0000 zoobab 2946 http://techdirt.com/articles/20080708/0049511620.shtml

]]> http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-73715 http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-73715/techdirt:nobel-prize-winners-continue-to-explain-how-ip-hurts-innovation It's great to see Stiglitz continue to point out the problems caused by the patent system (and great to see other Nobel winners noticing as well). While Stiglitz has normally focused on pharmaceutical patents, in this speech he also touched on software patents. While Stiglitz hasn't yet come around to believing that patents should be abandoned, he is quite convinced that they're doing plenty of harm in many cases, often locking up innovation and costing society a lot more than they benefit it. Thu, 10 Jul 2008 23:47:06 +0000 zoobab 2946 http://techdirt.com/articles/20080707/1725271612.shtml

]]> http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-73714 http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-73714/centredaily:edward-jones-acquires-patent-rights-from-datatreasury-corporation-for-electronic-check Financial services firm Edward Jones has acquired a license to utilize six of DataTreasury's financial transaction patents on a worldwide basis. These patents relate to technologies involved in the electronic processing of checks and other financial instruments. This Agreement was reached through mutual negotiation in preparation for deployment of centralized check processing and archival capability throughout Edward Jones' branch office network. Thu, 10 Jul 2008 23:45:41 +0000 zoobab 2946 http://www.centredaily.com/business/technology/story/700228.html

]]> http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-73713 http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-73713/tradingmarkets:wlgc:files-patent-infringement-lawsuit-against-mercedes-benz-usa The company through its wholly owned subsidiary 602531 British Columbia Ltd., which holds the Company's patent and patent pending portfolio, will be seeking damages for patent infringement for use of their car navigation system in certain 2007, 2008, and 2009 Mercedes-Benz models under US Patent No. 7293231 titled "DATA ENTRY FOR PERSONAL COMPUTING DEVICES". WordLogic believes that this infringement was willful. Thu, 10 Jul 2008 23:44:12 +0000 zoobab 2946 http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/1742429/

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