patents

Intellectual property rights: You can't have it both ways

Have you ever, I mean ever, copied software, a CD, a DVD, or a video tape without permission or paying? How about downloading music, video, pictures, or art?

If you answered yes, congratulations, you're just like everybody else.

On the other hand, you probably also think U.S. screenwriters are being screwed by the studios. And that China and other countries shouldn't be illegally copying and selling material copyrighted in the U.S.

That, my friend, is called a double standard.

Something else to consider:

Did you read this post about Trend Micro suing Barracuda Networks for patent infringement. Do you agree with the blogger? Do you think companies like Qualcomm, Rambus, or Trend Micro are patent trolls that unjustly enrich their shareholders at the expense of consumers?… Read more

Sometimes we get it right: FTC slaps down N-Data's improper use of patents

The US patent system is a morass of ill-begotten gains and poor oversight. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), however, has offered up a slight ray of hope, swatting down N-Data's attempts to milk excessive amounts of cash from its IP:

In an unusually broad exercise of power by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), patent enforcement company Negotiated Data Solutions (N-Data) has been ordered to stop allegedly anticompetitive enforcement of its patents covering the communications technology....

"We [the FTC] recognize that some may criticize the Commission for broadly (but appropriately) applying our unfairness authority to stop the conduct alleged … Read more

Trend Micro sues Barracuda, potentially raises the cost of security for all

We're used to patent trolls being shifty little bozo operations like Acacia Research that serve no useful purpose beyond proving that some life forms never evolve. Sometimes, however, patent trolls come in larger sizes and have otherwise legitimate businesses. Such is the case today with Trend Micro's apparently specious lawsuit against Barracuda Networks and, indeed, the entire open-source community.

As Justin Mason, vice president of the Apache Software Foundation, notes:

Trend Micro's actions are clearly an attack on free and open-source software and its users, as well as on Barracuda Networks. The '600 patent covers a trivial method, one which was obvious to anyone skilled in the art at the time (the patent was written), and should be rendered invalid as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, our patent system only makes sense on paper. Once it hits the courts, all bets are off. This is why repudiating silly claims like Trend Micro's is so important, and why a collective response is critical.

Here's what happened in a nutshell:… Read more

Sprint & Verizon to ride the patent gravy train

Sprint Nextel and Verizon Communications both see an opportunity to make a buck on their IP telephony patents after successfully suing Vonage Holdings last year.

On Thursday, Sprint Nextel said in a U.S. District Court in Wichita, Kan., that it was suing four small phone companies. Sprint alleges that Nuvox Communication, BroadVOX Holdings, Big River Telephone, and Paetec Communications are infringing on six of its patents.

Those patents, part of a larger portfolio of patents that cover voice over IP technology owned by Sprint, are the same ones used to successfully sue Vonage. The two companies eventually settled the … Read more

Microsoft revs its patent machine

Microsoft, which once was only a modest customer of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, has been one of its biggest customers in recent years.

In just the past two months, more than 500 applications from the Redmond, Wash., software maker have been published. (That's actually a reflection of how active the company was in mid-2006, since patent applications aren't generally published until 18 months after their filing).

But it's one particular filing that has been grabbing headlines in recent days. That patent covers a means by which a computer that can use factors such as … Read more

Microsoft signs patent deal with JVC

Microsoft said Tuesday that it has signed a patent cross-licensing deal with Japan's JVC, the latest of many such deals.

The companies did not release financial details, other than to say that money will be headed in Microsoft's direction. And, unlike many recent patent deals, the press release did not specifically mention Linux.

Not missing was the flowery language that typically accompanies such agreements. "When technological industry leaders collaborate through intellectual property licensing, we foster greater innovation that will benefit the customer, the consumer and the overall IT ecosystem," Microsoft intellectual licensing VP Horacio Gutierrez said … Read more

IBM to save the earth with patents

IBM, Sony, Pitney Bowes, and Nokia have joined in a patent collective designed to help the environment. Similar to patent collectives that IBM has helped form before, the premise behind the patent pool is that its participants pledge not to assert the patents against "anyone who is using them in an environmentally friendly way:

The project, dubbed the "Eco-Patent Commons," builds on the experience of the open-source software movement..., said David Kappos, IBM's assistant general counsel for patent law...."The advantage of using this commons approach is efficiency, scale and visibility."

It's unfortunate … Read more

Nigerian firm demands $20 million from One Laptop Per Child

Remember that Nigerian company headed by a convicted felon that sued the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project for patent infringement?

Well, the suit has finally been brought...in a Nigerian court...with $20 million in damages on the table.

The cheekiness is breathtaking.

As Groklaw reports, there is also:… Read more

Cold water on Apple's 'piping hot innovation'

Forbes is reporting on a patent filed by Apple this month that would save customers the hassle of waiting in line to order coffee at Starbucks or a burger at the nearest fast food joint. It's described as "a wireless system that would allow customers to place an order at a store using a wireless device such as a media player, a wireless personal digital assistant or a cell phone."

Cool, but you can already do that via simple text message.

Read full story at Forbes: "Apple's piping hot innovation."

Kodak settles patent suit with Matsushita

Eastman Kodak will receive royalties from Matsushita Electric Industrial through a settlement of a July patent infringement suit, according to a regulatory filing Thursday.

On December 21, Kodak settled suits with Matsushita, better known in the United States by its Panasonic brand, and with a Matsushita subsidiary, Victor Company of Japan (JVC).

Under terms of the settlements, the companies signed cross-licensing agreements granting each company access to the others' patents, Kodak said in the filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Both settlements are "royalty-bearing to Kodak," the company said.