PatentTroll
Latest
US Senate passes patent system reform bill, Obama expected to sign into law
Think it's time to change our patent system? So does Congress. Yesterday, the Senate approved the America Invents Act by an 89-8 vote that could bring about the most drastic changes to the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in five decades. Under the bill, which the House approved back in June, patents would be awarded not to the first person to invent a technology, but to the first one to actually file with the USPTO, bringing US policy in line with protocol adopted in most other countries. It also calls for a streamlined application process and would allow the USPTO to charge set fees for all apps. The revenue generated from these fees would go directly to a capped reserve fund, allowing the office to retain the lion's share of the money, rather than funneling much of it to Congress, as had become the norm. Supporters say this extra revenue will give the USPTO more power to chip away at its backlog of some 700,000 patent applications, while a new third-party challenge system will help eliminate patents that should've never received approval in the first place. Opponents, meanwhile, criticized the bill for not eliminating fee diversion altogether (an amendment that would've placed more severe restrictions was ultimately killed, for fear that it would jeopardize the bill's passage), with Washington Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell questioning the legislation's impact on small businesses, calling it "a big corporation patent giveaway that tramples on the rights of small inventors." But Senator Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat who sponsored the bill, argued that yesterday's approval marks a major and historic inflection point in US patent policy: The creativity that drives our economic engine has made America the global leader in invention and innovation. The America Invents Act will ensure that inventors large and small maintain the competitive edge that has put America at the pinnacle of global innovation. This is historic legislation. It is good policy. The America Invents Act will now make its way to President Obama's desk, where it's expected to receive his signature. For more background on the legislation, check out the links below.
Judge shoots down Personal Audio's second Apple infringement case
Talk about swift justice. It's been less than a week since we reported on Personal Audio's second infringement suit against Apple, and an East Texas judge has already put an end to the litigation. In a statement regarding the company's complaint that the iPad 2, iPhone 4, and latest generation iPods infringed on the same patents put forth in its initial suit, Judge Ron Clark said the $8 million already awarded to the plaintiff should do just fine. He went on to deny the company's request for a second trial. It may not be the last we hear of Personal Audio, but it is a refreshing change of pace from the usual goings on in Eastern District courtrooms.
'This American Life' tackles patent trolls, lives to broadcast about it
The financial crisis, DIY cryogenics, the love songs of Phil Collins -- This American Life has taken on a lot in its 15-plus years on public radio. This week the Ira Glass-helmed show tackles a matter close to our hearts: the patent wars. The show has devoted the entirety of episode 441 to the seedy world of patent trolling. The TAL team focuses in on the practices of Intellectual Ventures, a name that should ring some bells and rattle some bank accounts around these parts. Check out the link to episode below -- and why not subscribe to the podcast while you're there? You can thank us later. [Thanks, Brandon]
Lodsys adds Rovio, Atari, EA and others to patent suit, makes birds even angrier
If you thought Lodsys was done making a spectacle of itself and dragging app developers to court, you were sorely mistaken. The king of the patent trolls has amended its original complaint against mobile devs, removing one company, but adding five new ones -- all of them big names. Rovio, Electronic Arts, Square Enix, Atari, and Take-Two Interactive have been added to the list of defendants in the suit filed back in May. Vietnamese company Wulven Games has been dropped from the complaint, but Lodsys has more than made up for it by directly targeting possibly the largest mobile title out there -- Angry Birds. You can find the completely amended filing at the source link and, if you're in the mood for a bit of a refresher, check out the more coverage link.
Apple coughing up $8 million to Personal Audio in iPod playlist settlement
Ah, the Eastern District of Texas. Home to tumbleweeds, free range cattle and boatloads of patent trolls. Personal Audio, a patent licensing company with a highfalutin' facility in Beaumont, Texas has become the latest outfit to claim victory over a major CE company, with Apple being asked to hand over $8 million to settle a tiff involving iPod playlists. Bloomberg reports that a federal jury in the Lonestar state found that Cupertino's iPod players infringed on patents for "downloadable playlists," right around two years after Personal Audio initially filed the claim for a staggering $84 million. We're told that the inventions cover "an audio player that can receive navigable playlists and can skip forward or backward through the downloaded list," and while Apple unsurprisingly stated that it wasn't actually using those very inventions, that hasn't stopped the courts from disagreeing just a wee bit. Now, the real question: are Sirius XM, Coby and Archos -- also named in the original suit -- going to be facing similar circumstances?
Microsoft turns to crowdsourcing service to swat away patent trolls
We've seen the havoc that patent trolls can wreak on tech companies and Microsoft clearly wants no part of it. That's why Ballmer & Co. have joined forces with Article One Partners -- a New York-based research firm that crowdsources scientific expertise to figure out whether or not patented ideas or inventions are as innovative as they claim, based on prior art. By subscribing to Article One's new Litigation Avoidance service, Redmond hopes "to reduce risk and reduce potential litigation cost" brought by nonpracticing entities (NPEs) -- companies that collect thousands of patents, in the hopes that one may lay a golden egg. No word on how much the service will actually cost, but we're guessing it'll be worth at least a few legal headaches. Full presser after the break. [Image courtesy of Robert MacNeill]
Wi-LAN reaches settlement with Intel over patent dispute, set to receive a 'significant amount'
It's hard to know how to feel about this one, whether it's a case of a patent troll getting a delicious kickback or the little guy slaying the evil, giant, patent-infringing corporation. Whichever interpretation you choose, know that Wi-LAN has apparently been victorious in its long-running dispute with Intel, not actually winning but, according to Chief Executive Jim Skippen, receiving a "significant" settlement due to apparent infringements of the company's various wireless-related patents. There are apparently 16 other defenders left since Wi-LAN sued the world, but Intel throwing up its hands is not a good sign for the others. Or, maybe Intel just decided its legal fees are too high and is settling everything it can.
Apple drops appeal of $21.7 million patent suit against OPTi
Another great day for the patent trolls: Apple has decided to stop throwing good money after bad in its case against OPTi, which has been awarded a US$21.7 million settlement, according to AppleInsider. AppleInsider explains that the patent was for "predictive snooping" of "memory caches that speed the flow of data between a system's memory and processor." I have only a vague idea of what that even means, but apparently OPTi has decided that suing people is better than actually working for a living. AppleInsider says OPTi stopped being a manufacturing business and became a "full time patent-suing operation in 2003." OPTi's found a court that is happy to award patent trolls; Apple seems to have decided that enough is enough, and it will be cheaper to just pay OPTi rather than risk additional financial penalties. It seems like each week we hear of another company that has decided to roll the dice in court to try to make a profit off of an idea, regardless of how obvious an idea it might be, because "they had it first." I'm no lawyer, and I don't even play one on TV, but it seems like this sort of thing was almost unheard of even a few years ago. Now it's commonplace. AppleInsider also noted "Apple has been the most-sued technology company since 2008." A decade ago you couldn't read an article about Apple without the word "beleaguered," but since they've turned things around and started to make significant profits, I guess they have a target on their backs.
Apple loses, challenges patent verdict surrounding Cover Flow and Time Machine
Remember that one random company who sued Apple back in March of 2008 for ripping off its display interface patents? Turns out it was filed in the Eastern District of Texas, a hotbed for patent trolls who know that they stand a better-than-average chance of winning simply because of where their issues are being taken up. Sure enough, Cupertino's stock of lawyers is today being forced to challenge a loss after a jury verdict led to Apple being ordered to pay "as much as $625.5 million to Mirror Worlds for infringing patents related to how documents are displayed digitally." Ouch. Naturally, Apple has asked U.S. District Judge Leonard Davis for an emergency stay, noting that there are issues on two of the three; furthermore, Apple has claimed that Mirror Worlds would be "triple dipping" if it were to collect $208.5 million on each patent. In related news, the Judge is also considering a separate Apple request (one filed prior to the verdict) to "rule the company doesn't infringe two of the patents" -- if granted, that would "strike the amount of damages attributed to those two patents." In other words, this whole ordeal is far from over. We can't say we're thrilled at the thought of following the play-by-play here, but this could definitely put a mild dent in Apple's monstrous $45.8 billion pile of cash and securities. Or as some would say, "a drop in the bucket."
Nintendo escapes patent troll in appeals court -- thanks to Sony
About, oh -- four years ago -- a little Texas company called Anascape sued Nintendo and Microsoft for ostensibly violating its controller patents. Microsoft settled. Nintendo didn't. Anascape won. One $21 million judgment, two years and countless legal bills later, Nintendo has finally emerged victorious over the patent troll. This week, a Federal Circuit Court overturned two earlier decisions, ruling that Nintendo's GameCube, WaveBird and Wii Classic Controllers don't violate Anascape's six-degrees-of-freedom patent, because Anascape only added that 6DOF claim to its patent in 2000... making Sony's original DualShock controller -- released in 1998 -- prior art. Game, set, match.
Apple getting sued again by patent profiteers
It must be hard to be as popular as Apple. You're always fighting the competition, who sometimes come late to the dance with a wannabee product, then deliver snarky punches into the kidneys with their TV ads. Even worse are the lawyers, who circle the company like a flock of vultures, picking away at whatever juicy bits of meat they can get. But the true bottom feeders are the "patent trolls," a specific species of law firm that has picked up patents from companies that usually never brought a product to market. They watch for other companies to come out with products that use a piece of technology that may or may not be covered under the patents they hold, and then either sue the company for patent infringement or force them to pay license fees. This document from legal firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP details the strategy used by patent trolls and how targets can fight back. Apple's latest attack, as reported in Macworld, is coming from St. Clair Intellectual Property Consultants Inc. (SCIPC), a firm made up of two lawyers who purchased patents for US$100,000 from a group of investors who failed to start up a digital camera company. The company says that its patents cover technology that allows digital cameras to save pictures in multiple formats. So far, SCIPC raked in over US$179 million from various other consumer electronics firms (Sony and Canon, to name just two), and now its leveled the sights at Apple. SCIPC filed its lawsuit October 26th in Delaware, suing Apple for violating Patent 5,138,459, entitled "Electronic Still Video Camera with Direct Personal Computer (PC) Compatible Digital Formal Output." The suit is specifically targeting the iPhone and other devices made by Apple that include digital cameras in them. Judging from the legal precedent that has been set by previous SCIPC suits, Apple could easily be about to shell out some big bucks to a happy troll.
Digital Security Systems files patent infringement suit against major Blu-ray players
We've witnessed a few lawsuits related to Blu-ray, but this is the first one we can recall that perfectly fits the "patent troll" mold. The Patent Prospector has it that Acacia subsidiary Digital Security Systems is suing a smorgasbord of big BD players for infringing on a patent that it has held for years. Defendants named include Samsung, Best Buy, Denon, Funai, LG, Matsushita, Panasonic, Philips, Pioneer, and Sharp, though details beyond that are sadly scant. Oh, and if you're wondering where the complaint was filed, it was in the infamous Eastern District of Texas.[Via FormatWarCentral]
Major tech companies joining forces to create massive patent shell company
Yeah, we hate patent trolls as much as anyone, but the Wall Street Journal says that a group of major tech companies have created a patent shield organization to fend off trolls that sounds to us like it'll eventually just be an even worse troll. The foundation, called the Allied Security Trust, will take $250,000 in buy-in money and $5M in escrow from member companies -- Verizon, Google, Ericsson, HP, and Cisco are apparently the founding corporations -- and use it to buy up patents to prevent future litigation. After a member company buys a patent, it will grant itself a non-exclusive license and sell it to AST, which will then license it to the other members. Of course, that means that AST will eventually own a large number of patents on common technology, which means it could very well become a aggressive patent litigant itself. Not to worry, says AST CEO Brian Hinman: the group will "never be an enforcement vehicle," and it isn't anyone's intention to "make money on the transactions." Sure, sure -- but any time players this big start putting this much potential cash on the line, we're not going to take random promises at face value. See you in Marshall, boys.
Wi-LAN claims WiFi and DSL patent infringement, sues everybody
Sadly, we can't say the story of "random company decides it has patents worth milking, sues world + dog" is a new one, but it's still fun for a quick laugh. This time 'round it's Ottawa-based Wi-LAN with a bone to pick with the likes of Apple, Belkin, Best Buy, Dell, HP, Intel, Netgear, Sony and pretty much any other major electronics manufacturer or retailer -- 22 all told. Wi-LAN claims that those companies are swiping its technology related to WiFi and power consumption in DSL products, so anybody making or selling a router, modem or laptop is a target. Apparently Fujitsu struck a licensing agreement with Wi-LAN in July. Like most patent troll suits, this one's going down in Marshall, Texas.
IP Innovation sues Apple over violating obscure GUI patent
Apparently, just about every graphical user interface that Apple churns out was patented and put on lock down years decades ago, as now a patent holding firm (IP Innovation) has filed a much-delayed lawsuit against the Cupertino-based outfit over its use of an OS interface. The patent in question dates back to 1984 via references in a 1991 filing by Xerox, which actually linked to GUI concepts drafted in the 1970s on the company's Alto workstations. Amazingly, the folks involved have just got around to slapping a lawsuit on Apple for selling OS X with "workspaces provided by an object-based user interface that appear to share windows and other display objects." The incredibly vague wording could realistically be used to target nearly every major OS that we've seen, and considering that Apple and Xerox already went a round in the legal ring back in 1989 over similar issues, this one certainly seems to lack substance. As expected, the $20 million claim was filed in the patent troll haven that is Marshall, Texas, and while we haven't heard word from an Apple spokesperson regarding the matter, we'd say there's a more pressing matter on the table for Jobs & Co. right now anyway.
Hitachi sues LG over plasma patent infringement, tries to halt US sales
Just when Hitachi had us all believing that it was planning on reaching new heights in the plasma market thanks to a ginormous PDP set and a thirsty overseas crowd, now we're seeing the fallback plan. Of course, we can't really suggest that Hitachi's latest lawsuit on LG's (surprise, surprise) plasma displays have anything to do with the firm's dreary numbers, but it has nevertheless filed a lawsuit in the ill famed "district court in Texas" (read: patent troll heaven) saying that "the South Korean company infringed its plasma display-related patents." The suit seeks the obligatory "monetary compensation for damages," but more interesting is the tidbit that requests a "permanent injunction prohibiting LG's plasma display panel product sales in the United States." According to a Hitachi spokesperson, the two outfits had "been in talks regarding the appropriate licenses for these seven patents," but apparently, neither side is backing down anytime soon.
Honeywell sues myriad of LCD TV makers for anti-flicker technology
If you think LG has a mess on its hands, it's suddenly not alone, as six other manufacturers touching one point or another in the LCD TV supply chain are now facing a patent lawsuit from Honeywell. In what smells awfully like another patent instance of patent trolling, Honeywell is suing Acer, AU Optronics, BenQ, Chunghwa Picture Tubes, Renesas Technology, and Denmos Technology as it claims that a patented "method of stopping liquid-crystal displays from flickering" has been unrightfully used. The firm has reportedly "sustained damages and will continue to sustain damages in the future," which they feel should translate into receiving incredible amounts of cash in order to resolve the situation. Reportedly, five of the six outfits under the lawsuit said that they "had not been informed" about the issue just yet, but we doubt it'll be too much longer before it floats to their respective legal departments.[Via Inquirer]
NTP's lawsuit against Palm officially put on hold
We already know how all that fighting eventually proved futile for Research in Motion, but it looks like Palm just might escape its own bout with NTP unscathed. Thanks to a federal judge in control of the situation, a stay of proceedings in the patent infringement case has been granted, which means that Palm can sit back, twiddle its thumbs, and hope with everything it has that the ongoing review by the US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) deems the issue invalid. Back in 2005, it was insinuated that patent owner's arguments were "nonpersuasive," but it still hasn't been thrown out just yet. Of course, if the past is any indication, Palm has about half a billion (if not more) reasons to hope it will be.
Apple, SanDisk, and Samsung sued by Texas MP3
It's not like Apple, SanDisk, and Samsung haven't waded through their fair share of lawsuits in the past, and this most certainly isn't the first (nor the last, sadly) patent troll story you'll ever hear of, but a presumably off-kilter (and incredibly desperate) individual has filed a suit claiming that he masterminded the MP3 player. The current company, dubbed Texas MP3 Technologies, filed a currently ungranted patent application the very day before the suits were filed, but tried a little trickery by linking back to two previous patents -- one held by SigmaTel and the other by MPMan -- in order to force the giants to pay their dues. If you're suddenly scratching your noggin' over that last company, you'll probably recall that it actually was (loosely) deemed the first producer of an MP3 player, but considering that this latest company "shares a street address with one of its lawyers" in the patent lawsuit capital of the world Marshall, Texas, practically every ounce of credibility that might've been held just flew the coop. C'mon Texas, we all thought those "obvious patent laws" were going to be relaxed.[Via TechDirt]
