Challenging Patent Validity: Microsoft Asks Supreme Court to Reduce "Clear and
Convincing" Standard
,----[ Quote ]
| After a jury verdict that z4’s patent was infringed and not invalid, the
| Eastern District of Texas district court ordered Microsoft to pay over $100M
| in damages to the patentee (a small Michigan company) The award was affirmed
| by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC).
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http://www.patentlyo.com/patent/2008/04/challenging-pat.html
Bush Administration Speaks Against Patent Overhaul
,----[ Quote ]
| U.S. Senate negotiators are getting closer to hammering out disagreements
| that are holding up a patent system overhaul, but President George Bush's
| administration still has concerns about the bill, an administration official
| said Friday.
|
| [...]
|
| In order for the USPTO to improve the quality of patents granted, "the system
| must focus on the quality of applications," Secretary of Commerce Carlos
| Gutierrez said in a letter to senators dated Thursday. "Stated simply, our
| innovation system can no longer afford the time and the cost of heavily
| subsidizing poor quality patent applications, which crowd out our most
| important innovations."
|
| Each applicant applications costs the USPTO US$4,200, while basic filing fees
| are under $1,000, Dudas added. "It's very easy to apply for something while
| doing only minimal work," he said.
`----
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,144179-pg,1/article.html
Maybe Bush just wants to keep Easten District of Texas rich, owing to abuse.
Patents of Mass Destruction....
Days ago:
Microsoft Told to Pay Alcatel-Lucent $368 Million
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft Corp., the world's biggest software maker, was told to pay $368
| million after a jury found it infringed two patents owned by Alcatel-Lucent
| SA for touch- screen form entry and use of a stylus on computers.
`----
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=axahvgWQPnX8&refer=news
Microsoft and Dell await verdict on patent claim
,----[ Quote ]
| The patents were owned by Lucent Technologies Inc, which Alcatel SA acquired
| in 2006. Lucent sued in 2002 claiming infringement of patents for
| computer-video coding used in digital television, DVDs and video games, a
| method for entering data on computer forms, and the use of a stylus.
`----
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/worldbiz/archives/2008/04/01/2003407949
Avistar baffled over Microsoft patent fight
,----[ Quote ]
| So far, four of Microsoft’s requests have been rejected by the US Patent
| Trademark Office (USPTO) on procedural grounds. If all procedural flaws are
| corrected, the USPTO has approximately two months to decide whether or not to
| grant the requests and hold a full formal re-examination.
|
| Tony Rodde, president of Avistar, said: “Avistar has a lot of questions about
| why Microsoft might be doing this, because some of these patents have nothing
| to do with Microsoft’s technology or business.”
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http://www.vnunet.com/crn/news/2213103/avistar-baffled-microsoft-3916000
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