Against Intellectual Monopoly
,----[ Quote ]
| Many – including myself - believe that a better description of copyright and
| patents is to call them “intellectual monopolies”, since they are just that:
| state-granted monopolies that give the power to exclude others from using
| certain kinds of ideas.
|
| Once you move away from the loaded “intellectual property”, you can examine
| objectively whether such intellectual monopolies are, in fact, beneficial for
| society – both in terms of those holding them, and those who must operate
| with them.
`----
http://www.computerworlduk.com/toolbox/open-source/blogs/index.cfm?entryid=427&blogid=14
UK High Court Follows Bad US Decision To Allow Software Patents
,----[ Quote ]
| It looks like the UK is about to make the same dangerous mistake that US
| courts made a while back. A decision there has now stated that the Patent
| Office shouldn't automatically reject patent apps on software.
`----
http://www.personalbee.com/215/27150923
Other patent news:
Patent Cases and Multi-District Litigation
,----[ Quote ]
| On another note, Michael Martin has a post on the pending patent reform in
| the Senate. He explains why the proposed reforms could help solve the problem
| of patent thickets. He even backs off his earlier conclusion that damages
| apportionment may be disastrous for the emerging market for ideas.
`----
http://trolltracker.blogspot.com/2008/01/patent-cases-and-multi-district.html
Business Standard: Infosys to increase patent filings
,----[ Quote ]
| Infosys Technologies Limited, the country’s second largest IT company,
| expects patent filings to increase with its primary R&D centre, Software
| Engineering and Technology Labs (SETLabs), expanding the scope of research to
| new areas.
`----
http://www.business-standard.com/common/news_article.php?autono=311913&leftnm=8&subLeft=0&chkFlg=
Patent fights:
Sprint sues for VoIP patent infringements
,----[ Quote ]
| Sprint has also gone to court, claiming 15 infringements of their patented
| VoIP technology by several small providers, Nuvox Communications, BroadVOX
| Holdings, Big River Telephone and Paetec Communications.
`----
http://www.fiercevoip.com/story/sprint-sues-voip-patent-infringements/2008-01-28?utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss
Sprint sues little guys over VoIP patents
,----[ Quote ]
| Following up on its $80 million settlement from its Vonage lawsuit last year,
| Sprint is milking its 115 VoIP patents by suing NuVox Communications,
| Broadvox Holdings, Big River Telephone and Paetec Communications.
`----
http://www.fiercebroadbandwireless.com/story/sprint-sues-little-guys-over-voip-patents/2008-01-28?utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss
Related:
Ray Niro Offers $5,000 Bounty For Information On My Identity
,----[ Quote ]
| Yes, Ray Niro has decided to offer $5,000 to find out who I am. According to
| the article, he wants to know "who is saying all those nasty things" about
| him. I don't think that's fair. I may have disparaged the validity of Acacia
| U.S. Patent 5,253,341, and I may have claimed that Niro was asserting
| the '341 patent against me just to shut me up, as he did to Greg Aharonian so
| many years ago (something that the article's author also implies), but that's
| not nasty. Is it?
`----
http://trolltracker.blogspot.com/2007/12/ray-niro-offers-5000-bounty-for.html
Digging in the Comments: Patents
,----[ Quote ]
| Patent licensing is probably the most important aspect for all third parties
| that want to implement or use the Open XML specification. Unfortunately the
| Ballot Resolution Meeting cannot discuss these aspects because only technical
| and editorial issues would get resolved.
|
| [...]
|
| When you have a patent which covers Open XML and you refuse to license it,
| the standard process gets stalled. Large companies in the standardization
| process are reluctant to use that nuke option. Given the ambush that the
| software patent practice means today it is quite possible that Open XML
| infringes a patent and all parties eventually have an obligation to license
| it.
`----
http://www.noooxml.org/forum/t-31491/digging-in-the-comments:patents
Patent threat looms large over OOXML
,----[ Quote ]
| "If OOXML goes through as an ISO standard, the IT industry, government and
| business will encumbered with a 6000-page specification peppered with
| potential patent liabilities" said NZOSS President Don Christie.
|
| "Patent threats have already been used to spread doubt amongst organisations
| keen to take advantage of the benefits of open source. No one knows whether
| such claims have any merit, but it is calculated to deter the development and
| use of open and alternative toolsets."
`----
http://nzoss.org.nz/node/179
Cyberlaw OOXML Seminar 14 December
,----[ Quote ]
| However, this raises the issue - what assurance does a developer have that
| such a large specification is not the subject of third party patent claims?
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
| The pedigree of the specification is certainly no reason for hope, Microsoft
| has been the target of third party patent claims for some time now including
| some high profile losses in patent suits. The fact that the specification has
| been developed behind closed doors and on a fast track means that there has
| been no adequate opportunity to evaluate the likelihood of third party patent
| claims against the specifications. The sheer size of the document suggests
| there will be at least a couple hiding in there somewhere.
`----
http://brendanscott.wordpress.com/2007/12/13/cyberlaw-ooxml-seminar-14-december/
ISO warned about possible patent violations of DIS29500 (aka OOXML)
,----[ Quote ]
| I have just send the following email to ISO members (you can find some of
| their email addresses on the INCTIS website) to warn them about the possible
| patent ambush...
`----
http://jeremywang67.blogspot.com/2008/01/iso-warned-about-possible-patent.html
|
|
