● 10.12.12

●● Even Patent Maximalists Sometimes Complain About Software Patents

Posted in America, Patents at 2:52 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Summary: Those who promote software patents are reluctantly revealing their dilemma

Dennis Crouch, a patents maximalist, writes an interesting post about software patents. He states: “I recently asked the courts for a decision on whether software is patentable. In my short essay, I argued that we have a de facto system that allows the issuance of software patents, but only after the innovative software elements are “hidden by innuendo and obfuscation.” This makes software patents “harder to find, harder to examine, harder to understand, and thus much more problematic than they need to be.””

So even software patents proponents admit this. It is important as it helps weaken their position. There is an anonymous account on Twitter which took the hastag swpats and currently uses it to promote software patents. The Financial Post and patent lawyers do not agree with the New York Times piece that Hugo of the FSFE summarises.

Here is a new example of the impact of patents on Cisco and Motorola, which became victims of a patent bully. As Masnick puts it: “Last year, we wrote about a crazy patent troll, named Innovatio, who had sued a ton of restaurants and hotels, claiming that anyone who used WiFi was violating its patents. It was even claiming that individuals who use WiFi at home infringed too — but that it wouldn’t go after them “at this time.” Instead, it preferred to focus on shaking down tons of small businesses, offering to settle for $2,500 to $3,000 — which is cheaper than hiring a lawyer to fight it, no matter how bogus. We noted at the time that Motorola and Cisco had gone to court to try to get a declaratory judgment to protect its customers.

“Well, it seems that the effort to stop these lawsuits has been taken to the next level. Cisco, Motorola and Netgear have now filed an amended complaint which rips Innovatio apart, and doesn’t just seek a declaratory judgment of non-infringement, but outlines a parade of lawbreaking by Innovatio, arguing that it’s actually involved in racketeering and conspiracy among other things.”

Motorola is often named as a patent aggressor (by foes like Apple and Microsoft), but the above helps show that even a company with a heap of patents is getting fed up, alleging “racketeering and conspiracy”. █

Share in other sites/networks: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.

Permalink  Send this to a friend

----------

➮ Sharing is caring. Content is available under CC-BY-SA.