News picks
Articles from other sources; copy title, first paragraph, and put URL in body of post.
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Microsoft Corp. and Pioneer Corp. signed a patent cross-licensing agreement that furthers the development of each company’s product lines and will expand technological innovation to enhance the overall customer experience. The cross-licensing agreement covers a broad range of consumer products, including Pioneer’s auto navigation products and televisions, as well as Microsoft’s software products. The agreement allows greater mutual access to each partner’s respective patent portfolio. The agreement, recently signed by representatives of both companies, expands the relationship between Microsoft and Pioneer to promote the incorporation of patented technologies in their respective products. Although the contents of the agreement, including the specific financial terms, are confidential, the parties indicated that Microsoft is being compensated by Pioneer.
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by:  zoobab 1221665726|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover |
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Over the past few years, the former Microsoft Corp. executive has quietly amassed a trove of 20,000-plus patents and patent applications related to everything from lasers to computer chips. He now ranks among the world's largest patent-holders -- and is using that clout to press tech giants to sign some of the costliest patent-licensing deals ever negotiated.
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by: zoobab 1221665627|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover |
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Acacia Technologies is the most litigious non-practising entity/troll (delete according to preference) in the United States. According to research done by PatentFreedom, which is featured in an article to be published in the next issue of IAM, Acacia has been involved in a total of 308 cases in the US courts, 239 of which have been filed since 2003.
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by: zoobab 1221576959|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover |
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The question now is whether the program can be scaled to review hundreds or even thousands of applications that extend far beyond the technology arena. So in its second year, Peer-to-Patent is being expanded to include claims covering electronic commerce and so-called "business methods," a controversial category of patents vital to the financial services sector.
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by: zoobab 1221575065|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover |
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In some fields, there may be no getting around the practical difficulty of detecting patent infringement. For example, patents for computer-based inventions are often directed to the inner workings of computer hardware or software, which may not be readily apparent from the operation of an infringing device. Reverse-engineering competitors’ products may provide insight as to whether infringement is likely.
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by: zoobab 1221574746|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover |
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I don’t think that there will be too many people at management level inside the EPO who would disagree with a proposition that some Administrative Council members do not necessarily have their main focus on what is good for the European patent system. Self interest has always been an issue when it comes to patents in Europe, as the Community patent negotiations have shown us time and again. However, not all Council members are the same. And the EPO management itself has frequently clashed with member states over a range of issues, including financing and sending EPO work to national offices.
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by: zoobab 1221572404|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover |
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Some of the biggest players in the technology industry complain that the U.S. patent system is broken -- putting too many patents of dubious merit in the hands of people who can use them to drag companies and other inventors to court. An experimental program aims to give the public, including inventors, more of a voice in the patent system. An experimental program aims to give the public, including inventors, more of a voice in the patent system.
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by: zoobab 1221558313|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover |
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The Patent Office reports that it has issued preliminary decisions on 40 of the 74 applications that have come through the program so far. Of those, six cited prior art submitted only through Peer-to-Patent, while another eight cited art found by both the examiner and peer reviewers... [I]n its second year, Peer-to-Patent is being expanded to include claims covering electronic commerce and so-called 'business methods'..."
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by: zoobab 1221558046|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover |
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100 T-shirts with the Red Dove and the Stop Software Patents slogan arrive tomorrow at the Brussels office, so pre-order yours! The previous yellow one is a collector now.
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by: zoobab 1221547382|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover |
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Thomas Klein took the legal view, but his claim has a strong business case as well. In a patents war, the startup is weak, and is constantly getting weaker. The larger companies have become patent machines. IBM is proud of its patent portfolio, and the fact that they produce patents at a rate of 10 a day. With such an extensive arsenal of patents, backed by unlimited legal funds – what chances are left for the VC backed company? This is like the US going to war against Micronesia.
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by: zoobab 1221491757|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover |
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"Our success in increasing the pace and breadth of our innovation was the driving force for identifying a more efficient and integrated system for managing InterDigital's patent portfolio," said Lawrence F. Shay, InterDigital's President of Patent Licensing. "We reviewed the different options in the marketplace and chose Anaqua. The new system will tie our invention and patent workflow processes together to provide a lifecycle record for each invention, allowing us to categorize our portfolio by any number of classifications and monitor related spending."
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by: zoobab 1221491223|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover |
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In the wake of free software leader Richard Stallman’s visit to New Zealand, state-owned radio network Radio New Zealand has begun delivering some of its shows in the Free Software Foundation’s favoured Ogg Vorbis format. [...] The Ogg format is not encumbered with software patents and is designed for efficient streaming. It is maintained by Xiph.org.
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by: zoobab 1221490951|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover |
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Heiner Flocke, president of an association set up by German small and medium-sized enterprises to protect their interests in patent affairs, supports SUEPO. He said in an interview that the weaknesses of the European patent system result mainly from the lack of patent quality and the resulting flood of patents. Speaking for the interests of small and medium-sized enterprises, he deplores the fact that "patents are increasingly being used tactically and as offensive weapons or as instruments of power – This abuse of the patent system is endangering many promising innovations by the small and medium-sized enterprises that are the backbone of the German economy."
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by: zoobab 1221490372|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover |
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An EPO spokesperson told heise online that the increasing number of patent applications does not mean that the world is coming up with more innovations. Rather, inventors and companies that already hold patents in one country are lining up at many other national patent offices to get patents for other markets. "If the decision takes time, the result is a period of legal uncertainty", a spokesperson explained.
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by: zoobab 1221490221|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover |
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One of the most irritating things about taking photos with a cameraphone is the stupid filenames they're given. Wouldn't it be much better to squiggle something on the back of the pic like you do with prints? Well, Nokia has decided this would be a jolly good idea and has filed a patent here in the USA for a technique that enables users of cameraphones or digital cameras to scribble 'back-of-photo'.
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by: zoobab 1221486033|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover |
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According to an EPO internal staff survey of June 2008, only 9% of the EPO examiners believes that "Brimelow and the Vice-Presidents actively promote patent quality". Brimelow is progressing, since Alain Pompidou, the former President, had a trust of only 7%.
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by: zoobab 1221480513|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover |
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A report has been completed. It says, the inventive steps required to qualify for patents should be considerable, and the resulting patents must be well defined, as to mininise litigation and maximise the scope for subsequent innovators. In particular software and business method patenting is an Australian concern.
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by: zoobab 1221480474|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover |
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In particular, they identify software and business methods as an issue, and state that large companies are using the patent system to build thickets that effectively keep competitors out of markets. The report then goes on to say that a major problem is that IP has been seen as a legal issue in Australia – and, therefore, one that should be left to IP owners and the legal profession. This approach is flawed, it believes. IP is primarily an economic issue, the report’s authors explain, and it should be viewed as such by the government.
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by: zoobab 1221465621|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover |
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I think that in most cases, open source projects should just ignore the patent system. Of course, if a particular patent is brought to your attention, you have to deal with it. But in almost all cases when you're dealing with open source, the best thing that you can do is to start publishing your source code, which is very conveniently done through the public CVS and Subversion and Git repositories that are out there. That is the easiest protection for open source projects generally. Now there are so many patents out there—particularly software patents. I once heard a licensing executive express the opinion that there's no large and substantial piece of software out there that doesn't infringe at least one patent. There's just too much stuff out there.
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by: zoobab 1221212370|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover |
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Klausner Technologies has gained new strength from its lawsuits against AT&T, eBay and Apple and after some court rulings in their favor, they are now taking on two bigger giants Verizon and Google. According to Klausner Technologies some of the tech in visual voicemail infringes on their patents. But it doesn’t stop there. They are also after Cox Communications, LG Electronics, Comverse Technology, Embarq, PhoneFusion, RingCentral, and Grand Central, which was acquired by Google last year.
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by: zoobab 1221210796|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover |
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