.: Software patent news picks

Software patent news picks

ZDNet: Patent reform dead for 2008

1210952798|%e %b %Y — "In software, patent claims are often broad, and can cover a host of different packages which may be unrelated to the claimed invention. A single piece of software may also be subject to hundreds of patents, as Microsoft claims Linux is. To me, the most effective form of patent reform was not on the table. That is, eliminate software patentability entirely. Copyright provides plenty of protection, and what you’re patenting, in the end, is math."

Ars: Analysis: appeals court unlikely to fix software patent mess

1210950921|%e %b %Y — "T.B. Lee analyzes the recent oral hearing //In Re Bilski// and comes to the conclusion that "it's extremely unlikely that the Federal Circuit will have the stomach to formally overturn //State Street//. Even if the judges were persuaded that the decision was a mistake, they would be conscious of the fact that thousands of companies have invested hundreds of millions of dollars obtaining patents on software and other abstract concepts, and they would not be comfortable invalidating those patents with the stroke of a pen.""

Commission: Conference on Counterfeiting and Piracy: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1210946275|%e %b %Y — "Is there a link with the Community patent strategy? Yes. The creation of a Community patent and a unified litigation system would strengthen the EU in the fight against fake goods. A unitary title providing equal protection throughout the entire territory of the EU would enhance and render more effective the fight against counterfeiting and the copying of products which are protected by patents owned by European companies. Complete geographical protection without any loopholes would help to prevent the entry of counterfeit products into the EU."

PLI: Action-Reaction Should Be Patentability Test

1210868784|%e %b %Y — "Where to begin with Bilski? I suppose I should start by openly acknowledging that I have been enormously critical of the Federal Circuit, which is not a shock by any stretch of the imagination, at least for those who regularly read this blog. I do stand by my frequent criticisms, because I think the Court has made a number of bad choices over the last year particularly. Nevertheless, when I attended the en banc hearing in Bilski I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised to see that the Court genuinely seemed concerned about treading into the waters of 101 to determine what should be considered patentable subject matter."

News: Who hasn't Microsoft signed a patent deal with?

1210860498|%e %b %Y — "With Microsoft's announcement of yet another patent cross-licensing deal this week, it would seem nearly everyone has a deal with Redmond. The company has inked a lot of deals since it began its patent deal push a few years back, signing folks from Sun Microsystems to Novell to Samsung. So it's getting a lot less interesting to write up each one of these things. As the latest one crossed my desk earlier this week, I had an idea. Rather than write up a story on how another name got added to the list (Pentax), I'd focus on something far more interesting--who's not on the list."

TheInquirer: Patent for Internet typo redirection awarded

1210858216|%e %b %Y — "Interweb administrator's Verisign has been awarded a patent for a service that helps Internet users find sites when they mistype addresses. The news sparked fears that Verisign was thinking of dusting off its Site Finder service, which was shut down because it was so annoying."

Olswang: Software patents: IPO revises practice and High Court makes another pro- patentee decision

1210858124|%e %b %Y — "The Intellectual Property Office has revised its guidance on claims relating to computer programs, reflecting the more permissive stance taken by the High Court in the recent Astron Clinica case. The High Court has made a further pro-patentee ruling, this time in the case of Symbian's application for an improved method of accessing a dynamic link library."

IPKat: Recent publications

1210858034|%e %b %Y — "The Technology Update produced by law firm Olswang for the Second Quarter, 2008, is now available online here. The contents of this issue (22 pages) include: [...] * Software patents: IPO revises practice and High Court makes another pro-patentee decision."

BoingBoing: US and EU commissioner trying (again!) to sneak software patents into Europe

1210857899|%e %b %Y — "@Jeff Money of course, if US software patents became enforceable in the EU, US software companies could look forward to a royalty bonanza and power over their European rivals. As the patent regime in Europe is still largely sane, most European software companies do not have a software patent portfolio to fight back with. Also the US is a large exporter of IP in general, making it the state departments default attitude that more US style IP law should be fought for at every turn."

ScienceBusiness: Lost in translation: language barriers still hold back the Community Patent

1210857768|%e %b %Y — "But the arrival last month of a new Spanish minister in charge of science and innovation, molecular biologist Cristina Garmendia, gives reason to hope for a change in the Spanish position, Konteas said. “The Spanish government seems ready to change the focus of the economy from tourism and construction towards innovation-led pursuits. They seem to be going in the right direction.”"

AP: VeriSign wins patent for Internet typo redirection

1210857696|%e %b %Y — "The company that runs many of the Internet's core directory systems has won a patent for its controversial service that helps Internet users find sites even when they mistype addresses. [...] Site Finder sought to help guide surfers mistyping ".com" or ".net" names — which VeriSign runs — by offering a list of likely alternatives, including pay-for-placement listings for which VeriSign got a share of revenues when users clicked on one."

SeTexasRecord: Recent patent infringement cases filed in U.S. District Courts

1210857466|%e %b %Y — "Plaintiff Fotomedia has filed two separate complaints for patent infringement against 50 different defendants. According to the original complaints, Fotomedia owns the rights to three patents: U.S. Patent No. 6,018,774 for a Method and System for Creating Messages Including Image Formation, issued Jan. 25, 2000. U.S. Patent No. 6,542,936 B1 for a System for Creating Messages Including Image Information, issued April 1, 2003. U.S. Patent No. 6,871,231 B1 for a Role-Based Access to Image Metadata issued March 22, 2005."

BoycottNovell: Latest Attempt to Expand Software Patents to Europe; Microsoft Shenanigan Revisited

1210779988|%e %b %Y — "Now comes the following, thanks to our reader who E-mailed a headsup that says “Most Important: Software Patents in the EU through the back door tried again.” Here is the urgent message from FFII."

TechDirt: The Delusions Of Nathan Myhrvold

1210776720|%e %b %Y — "Nathan Myhrvold may not have done much of note yet with Intellectual Ventures, but he sure is good at getting press attention. It seems to come in waves, too, with multiple stories popping up all around the same time. So, after last week's Malcolm Gladwell-penned story on Myrhvold that accidentally made the case for why Intellectual Ventures isn't needed, PC World is running an unintentionally hilarious interview with Myrhvold, where he says some of the most ridiculous things, and the interviewer doesn't call him on a single one."

FFII: McCreevy wants to legalise Software Patents via a US-EU patent treaty

1210702045|%e %b %Y — "Brussels, 13 May 2008 -- European Commissioner McCreevy is pushing for a bilateral patent treaty with the United States. This Tuesday 13 May in Brussels, White House and European representatives will try to adopt a tight roadmap for the signature of a EU-US patent treaty by the end of the year. Parts of the proposed treaty will contain provision on software patents, and could legalise them on both sides of the Atlantic."

Heise-online: Microsoft appeals record EC fine

1210624393|%e %b %Y — "The current dispute is over the last and most technically critical of these three demands, related to the way patents and interoperability protocols are licensed to competitors. At the EC's behest, Microsoft makes such information available to competitors, but on terms that the EC argues are unusable by open source software projects. Microsoft argues that the licensing terms demanded by the EC violate its intellectual property rights."

Heise-online:

1210624330|%e %b %Y — "At the EC's behest, Microsoft makes such information available to competitors, but on terms that the EC argues are unusable by open source software projects. Microsoft argues that the licensing terms demanded by the EC violate its intellectual property rights."

Slideshare: European Union vs European Patent Organisation

1210590614|%e %b %Y — "EPO in EU or EU in EPO: "The EPO should become part of the European Union, like the OHIM in Alicante. To keep the EPO outside that framework is quite ridiculous at a time when the EU is expanding to the political and historical boundaries of Europe." -- Alfons Schafers, german lawyer and President of GRUR"

IPKat: Freetards today, Greentards tomorrow?*

1210588299|%e %b %Y — "Those who object to software patents today at least have an arguable point regarding whether software is patentable at all, but how could anyone argue that patents for innovations in one particular category definitely not excluded by law could or should be treated differently?"

CNN: Appeals Panel Reviews Standard For Business-Method Patents

1210587868|%e %b %Y — "In a rare 12-judge session, the Federal U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said it was using the Bilski case, which involves a process for reducing weather-based risk in commodities trading, to consider stemming a tide of business-process patents that has followed the panel's 1998 ruling in State Street Bank & Trust. The State Street case involved a process for handling mutual-fund assets and said processes could be awarded if they achieve a "useful, concrete and tangible" result."

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