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New Delhi: Individual inventors and research organizations here may find their patents turning liquid with the imminent entry of Intellectual Ventures Llc., a controversial company that owns an estimated 20,000 patents and is in the market for as many more as it can lay its hands on. The company has already entered into agreements to buy patents from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, and is close to signing an agreement with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, India’s largest research and development organization, said a person familiar with the developments who did not want to be named.
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by:  zoobab 1222695139|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover |
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Software and services are new subject matter for patents, although to a different extent across countries. The impact of patents on innovation and diffusion in this area has yet to be systematically evaluated, and such evaluation is sorely needed. The quality and breadth of software patents also need to be monitored, and patent offices should keep up their efforts to systematise their experience and knowledge base. The role of patents in the expanding world of open source software also needs to be evaluated.
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by: zoobab 1222693863|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover |
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As a result of our investment in innovation, Microsoft has created a large, diverse portfolio of intellectual property (IP) that is now available for licensing. This portfolio includes source code, schemas, protocols, and documentation as well as associated copyrights, trademarks, patents and trade secrets. Our policy is to license this IP under commercially reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms. Please visit www.microsoft.com
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by: zoobab 1222688566|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover |
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The days when US attorneys would diligently prosecute Ch II amendments in direct dialogue with EPO Examiners. The EPO fax machines were never so hot as they were, back in those days. Frustration, even fury, was the almost inevitable result in most every case, despite goodwill on both sides. The cause was the complete incompatibility between US law and the PCT (that is, EPC Art 52-56, 84 and 123). Harmony and mutual respect between Europe and the USA requires that that awful period never be allowed to happen again, and the wise heads in the EPO know it very well. Anyway, no need to worry. Given the EPO's success (Exrs and management both take a bow please) in getting their EESRs out double quick, I can't imagine any Applicant driving to the EPO on the PPH, and asking for fast track on the basis of a claim already allowed in the USPTO. There won't be a case, and there wouldn't be any point. Why has Alison signed up to the PPH? Well, everybody else has, and I can well imagine that the AC
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by: zoobab 1222676960|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover |
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We are very pleased to have entered into this agreement with Huawei" said Ilkka Rahnasto, Vice President, Intellectual Property Rights, Nokia. "Huawei is the thirty-fifth company to license Nokia patents related to cellular standards and this agreement demonstrates how companies can license intellectual property in a way that encourages industry innovation and fosters a healthy IPR environment.
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by: zoobab 1222675620|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover |
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F/OSS is rife with legal ambiguities and risk. F/OSS is subject to an anomalous, complex, and decentralized licensing scheme that has evolved entirely apart from conventional, commercial licensing models. F/OSS also raises other copyright issues, as well as presents patent and trademark concerns. Of note: software patents may soon be eliminated.
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by: zoobab 1222667383|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover |
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I personally consider patents as an arsenal of business cold war. Companies have plenty of patents for a fear factor. This leads to interesting cross licensing but also in the telecommunication field patents are used to regulate margets so that new and smaller players have trouble getting in. For example about every mobile communication standard has been patented. Patents are controversial and seem to be a big mess. It remains to be seen how big mess it will become after EU decides to make some wise decisions.
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by: zoobab 1222596897|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover |
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The goal of a patent troll (or it may be argued, a patent ‘dealer’) is typically to licence their patent to the alleged infringer. This after-the-fact licensing involves large money for the troll, for no contribution to the field. It has however been argued that ‘patent dealers’ support and encourage the patent system (and therefore innovation) by encouraging use of the patent process.
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by: zoobab 1222595402|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover |
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Some german contributors sent us some nice SSP wallpapers for your desktop background. So that you remember that the issue of fighting software patents is a daily task. Enjoy!
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by: zoobab 1222556188|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover |
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Several organisations in Bangalore are organising a meeting to discuss the dubious plans of the Indian Patent Office to adopt the same infamous 'technical effect' doctrine of the EPO. The Indian patent law is a copy/paste from the European Patent Convention, containing the 'as such' provision. The Patent Office said it would organise a public meeting, but it seems that organisations prefer to organise their own meeting.
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by: zoobab 1222554922|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover |
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The company I work for (we are a one-year-old start-up) has recently started filing patents to protect some of its intellectual property. At the onset of the patent process, one of the executives drafted a very basic Patent Incentive Program (PIP) which is now under full review to ensure that it is both accurate and fair. The basics of our original PIP are that inventors receive (or co-inventors share): $500 for each provisional filing, $1500 for an actual patent filing (with full claim-sets defined), and $5000 for any patent that is granted by the USPTO. While the current program seems fair to our staff, we have been unable to find anything to compare it to.
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by: zoobab 1222553162|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover |
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Property rights have the potential to be strong institutions promoting economic growth. But, as these examples show, if the rights are not well-designed and well-implemented, they can be perverted from this goal. Brian Kahin draws the parallel between the financial/real-estate “bubble” with the still-expanding “bubble” in patents. As Brian suggests, combine that bubble with a Ponzi scheme (Intellectual Ventures) and you might have a real perversion.
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by: zoobab 1222544833|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover |
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She agreed the high number of software and business-methods patents meant it was difficult to advise clients on whether they could head off in a particular direction. But she said the willingness to patent in this area reflected the economic rewards to be gained, which were crucial to protect. Mallesons Stephen Jaques partner Scott Bouvier said raising the bar for obtaining a patent in the services field would be a "retrograde step" and would discourage businesses from innovating.
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by: zoobab 1222542024|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover |
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…in new areas of patenting such as software and business methods, there is strong evidence that existing intellectual property arrangements are hampering innovation. …The inventive steps required to qualify for patents should be considerable, and the resulting patents must be well-defined, so as to minimise litigation and maximise the scope for subsequent innovation.
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by: zoobab 1222541842|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover |
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TIIP points us to the news that the Australian government is considering an overhaul of that country's patent system after being presented with research showing how much the system was actually holding back innovation in that country. Specifically, the report showed that the ease of getting a patent in Australia was leading to way too many bad patents being granted, which were then being used to stifle innovation and investment. It's always good to see at least some folks in governments around the world are finding out that "more patents" does not equal "more innovation."
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by: zoobab 1222541771|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover |
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The staff objections mirror those from opponents of the patent system in Europe and the US and opponents to any extension of patents to cover software. A common argument from those opponents is that examiners are not strict enough in policing patent quality. [...] "These rights can easily be misused to put smaller entities under pressure and stifle rather than promote innovation. We have been warned by the evolution of the American patent system that has provoked much headache and dispute on the other side of the Atlantic. Ultimately, the European consumer will pay the bill for such a distortion of competition," she said.
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by: zoobab 1222540722|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover |
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SUEPO needs to be completely transparent about its motivation, otherwise there will be a suspicion that patent quality is just being used as a tool to attract headlines. That, of course, is a very dangerous game. It can help to reinforce the claims that the patent system is not working. If you don’t believe me, just look at the enthusiastic coverage the strikes are receiving on anti-software patent websites.
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by: zoobab 1222540537|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover |
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Staff at the European Patent Office went on strike accusing the organization of corruption: specifically, stretching the standards for patents in order to make more money. One of the ways that the EPO has done this is by issuing software patents in defiance of the treaty that set it up.
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by  ggiedke1222535475|(%O ago) jump! |
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American Print Management works with print buyers to reduce their measurable hard-dollar costs of print marketing, direct mail, commercial print and packaging. This is accomplished through the combination of a sophisticated workflow and communications system, a menu of professional services and the application of the company’s U. S. patented business method. Government Print Management works with print suppliers to gain U. S. Government Printing Office and other government work.
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by: zoobab 1222517118|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover |
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IV's licensee investors, including Sony, Nokia, Google, eBay, Intel, and Microsoft, are all sworn to secrecy about their involvement. According to the Journal article, other investors include pension funds and university endowments, and Myrhvold will target smaller companies for licensing fees (and equity) in the future. [...] Moreover, much of it has gone underground and "off the books" -- into threatening letters, secret settlements, massive cross-licenses, and a wide variety of privately pooled interests and funds. All of this is beyond the grasp of a Congress that has a hard enough time coming to grips with the doctrinal complexity of patent law and reported cases. Nobody wants to bite the bullet and say, if we're going to regulate innovation with a crude tool like patents, we should do it in a forthright and transparent way that takes economic factors and fundamental industry differences into account.
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