[FSFE PR][EN] FSFE Newsletter
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| A new antitrust case may be undertaken after complaints by Opera Software
| that Microsoft has willfully distorted the web browser marketplace. It's
| also important to note that this does not in any way solve the problem
| with patents on software. Such patents are still being granted by the
| European Patent Office (EPO) in violation of current law, and the FSFE is
| encouraging the European Commission to take actions to permanently abolish
| patents on software, both in theory and practice.
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http://mail.fsfeurope.org/pipermail/press-release/2008q1/000193.html
Patents, Microsoft, and the Future
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| Fact: According to the latest annual report on patents released this month,
| the number of patents awarded in 2007 by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
| was down a full 9.5 percent from 2006’s all-time high. In addition, some 80
| percent of the companies on the list of top recipients (including IBM,
| repeating for its 14th straight year at the top of the list) received fewer
| patents than they had the year before. Only one American company in the top
| 25 earned more patents in 2007 than it had the year before: Microsoft.
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http://lewisshepherd.wordpress.com/2008/01/28/patents-microsoft-and-the-future/
And people used to give Doug a hard time when he complained about software
patents in a Linux forum...
1. Buy lobbyists
2. Make new laws in the US
3. Extend broken laws to other countries
4. [...]
5. Make competition illegal (Profit!)
Related:
Microsoft patents by Brian Jones
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| For fun we just did a quick search of published US patent applications
| with "Brian Jones" as an author, and "Microsoft" as the assignee.
|
| [...]
|
| Some of these, like the packing ones, seem to apply directly to OOXML. What
| isn't clear to us is why Microsoft would pursue patent protection for patents
| rights that their are promising that they won't assert over users of OOXML.
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http://www.noooxml.org/forum/t-35323/microsoft-patents-by-brian-jones
Cyberlaw OOXML Seminar 14 December
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| 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.
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http://brendanscott.wordpress.com/2007/12/13/cyberlaw-ooxml-seminar-14-december/
ISO warned about possible patent violations of DIS29500 (aka OOXML)
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| 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...
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http://jeremywang67.blogspot.com/2008/01/iso-warned-about-possible-patent.html
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