Open-government: Principles for an Open Transition - "Similarly, if the transition chooses to make video accessible on YouTube, releasing the same video simultaneously in a standard, universal format will allow other video sites to syndicate that content as well. Ideally, that format should be nonproprietary. But so long as the content is freely licensed (Principle #1), and free access is secured (Principle #2), transcoding would not be inhibited. The transition would thus not be supporting one platform to the exclusion of others."

Commission: ICT Standardisation - "ICT standardisation faces an increased impact from the inclusion of "patented" technologies in ICT standards and specifications which raises a number of questions to be addressed. For ICT standardisation to continue its role as a major instrument to support competitiveness, to increase interoperability and to respond to industry expectations and societal needs, an adequate balance has to be found between the need for standardised approaches and the interests of IPR owners. Standards developing organisations should be able to implement effective IPR policies while respecting the requirements of competition law."

FSFE: Analysis on balance: Standardisation and Patents - "Software patents have been a hugely controversial debate, with lines of battle drawn primarily between large corporations holding large patent portfolios and engaged in multiple cross-licensing deals, and the Have-Nots, entrepeneurs, small and medium enterprises, and software users from the student using GNU/Linux all the way to institutional users in governments. This debate got a lot quieter with the rejection of the software patent directive in 2005. Its place in the headlines was taken by other debates, such as standardisaton. Open Standards have been a buzzword for years, but never has this term been discussed more intensively."

EcommerceTimes: Can You Still Patent a Method of Doing Business? - "As e-commerce and related technologies underwent rapid growth in the 1990s, innovation increasingly focused on the manipulation of information. In 1998, a federal appeals court held that methods of doing business and manipulating data were patentable. The same court, however, recently issued a highly anticipated ruling that redefines the scope of patentable subject matter. [...] Moreover, the court indicated that "[p]urported transformations or manipulations simply of public or private legal obligations or relationships, business risks, or other such abstractions cannot meet the test, because they are not physical objects or substances, and they are not representative of physical objects or substances.""

Irving Wladawsky-Berger: Software Patents - "It is ironic that if software patents were disallowed altogether, it might cause legitimate software innovations to then be protected as trade secrets, and thus keep them away from open source projects."

Patently-O: Standard Setting and Waiver of Patent Rights - "Because the patentee intentionally failed to disclose its patents, the court agreed that the patents were unenforceable under the equitable doctrine of implied waiver. However, the court limited the scope of the waiver only to products that were compliant with the new (H.264) standard."

OpenDotDotDot: IBM's ex-Mr GNU/Linux Joins Obama Policy Group - "Hmmm... I hope he's taken a closer look at the rationale behind and practical economics and realities of the patent system since this: http://blog.irvingwb.com/blog/2005/08/software_patent.html This is the real danger, Glyn: not idiots like Gene Quinn, but thoughtful people like IW-B who nevertheless seem to believe that inventions naturally 'deserve' patents, that the patent system is in trouble but is fundamentally beneficial (irrespective of field or 'industry') and can be made to work by 'rewarding' only 'good' inventions etc. The patent system mythology is strong and unless people like IW-B begin to see through it and ask the fundamental economic and ethical questions, we will have software patents (sorry - CII patents ;)."

SSP: EPO lobbying for a Central Patent Court - "The European Patent Office does not only grant software patents, it also lobbies the legislators to validate them through the creation of a central patent court. Here is what they recently said in a press release: "The report repeatedly calls for the creation of a centralised European patent judiciary and above all, a Community patent to do away with some of the most obvious shortcomings of the present European patent system, a stance which the EPO wholeheartedly endorses. Moreover, the EPO welcomes the report as it provides further insight into applicant behaviour, bringing support to some of the Office's initiatives intending to safeguard or increase the quality of European patents, such as "Raising the bar", to introduce stricter rules related to the filing of divisional applications." Despite the fact that the EPO is only an executive institution, it has also lobbying powers when it comes to define the kind of patent law that the society needs."

EPO: EPO lobbying for a Central Patent Court - "The European Patent Office does not only grant software patents, it also lobbies the legislators to validate them through the creation of a central patent court. Here is what they recently said in a press release: "The report repeatedly calls for the creation of a centralised European patent judiciary and above all, a Community patent to do away with some of the most obvious shortcomings of the present European patent system, a stance which the EPO wholeheartedly endorses. Moreover, the EPO welcomes the report as it provides further insight into applicant behaviour, bringing support to some of the Office's initiatives intending to safeguard or increase the quality of European patents, such as "Raising the bar", to introduce stricter rules related to the filing of divisional applications.""

Mondaq: United States: Federal Circuit Narrows Patent Eligible Subject Matter In In Re Bilski - "Worth noting, however, is that Bilski did not claim a computer implementation of the recited method or a software claim. Thus, the "machine" prong of the machine-or-transformation test remains untested by the Federal Circuit as a result of the Bilski decision. However, the Court noted that in order to pass muster under the machine prong, the use of such a machine must "impose meaningful limits on the claim's scope." Field of use or insignificant extra-solution activity will not suffice. Moreover, the process claim in issue in Bilski was found to "not ... be a software claim." It therefore also remains open as to how or if a software clam can be written to satisfy the transformation prong of the test."

Slashdot: Ninth Anniversary of Amazon 1-Click Injunction - "Nine years ago Monday, Amazon kicked off the Holiday Season by slapping Barnes and Noble with a court injunction barring BN from using a checkout feature that Amazon said represented illegal copying of its patented 1-Click technology. 'We're pleased that Judge Pechman recognized the innovation underlying our 1-Click feature,' said Jeff Bezos in a press release. But an Appellate Court wasn't quite as impressed with Amazon's innovation. Nor were USPTO Examiners who were asked to take another look at the merits of Amazon's 1-Click patent claims. Still, 1-Click lives on, although Amazon's lawyers are currently fighting two separate rejections by USPTO Examiners, burying USPTO Examiners in paper, and employing canceling-and-refiling tactics that some may find reminiscent of Eddie Haskell's chess end-game strategy. So much for Amazon-led patent reform."

P2PNet: Intellectual Property: setting the record straight - "During my rummagings in quest of Linux-related information prior to first installing a distro, I came across various videos where Richard Stallman talked about the merits (and perils) of patents in regard to software. Stallman makes a persuasive case against software patents, viewing them as a form of subsidy granted to patent-holders. Patents “protection” is about one thing -- punishing unauthorized competition. As he puts it: Instead of speaking of “intellectual property”, which invokes that feel-good idea of property and ownership, we should speak of “intellectual monopolies”. For this is precisely what copyrights and patents are: they are monopolies granted by governments for a limited period as part of a bargain - that, in return, those who are granted those monopolies hand them over to the public domain once the term of the monopoly has lapsed. Viewed in this light, it became ever more ironic when advocates of so-called “Free-market capitalism” defend IP “protection”."

EPO: The Commission examines anti-competitive behaviour in the pharmaceutical sector - ""We note with satisfaction that the report does not call the patent system into question, but focuses on the way in which companies make use of patents in the pharmaceutical market. The EPO holds the view that a well-functioning patent system is vital for a sound competition environment", stated EPO President Alison Brimelow. "The Office welcomes the fact that the findings of the report help us to better understand the drivers for the behaviour of the actors in the patent system." The report repeatedly calls for the creation of a centralised European patent judiciary and above all, a Community patent to do away with some of the most obvious shortcomings of the present European patent system, a stance which the EPO wholeheartedly endorses."

Neurope: We need a patent revolution, not a blame game - "Often, the break-even of a drug is only reached in the last month or weeks of patent duration. Taking this into account, it does not seem unfair that big pharma companies use the possibilities that the European patent system offers. The first offer is for such a European system not to exist at all. After the initial filing of a patent to the European Patent Office, the patent itself is transferred to a jungle-like system of national regulations, making a clear cut after the end of the patent duration impossible. The amount of money spent by the originator as well as generic companies is outrageous. [...] It drives both sides away from their core business and delays generic medicines, resulting in a severe cost burden for our health systems. The Commission should now do the only right thing. It should not start the blame game; it should not condemn big pharma for a legitimate strategy. It should start the process of reforming the European patent system."

EuropeanVoice: Commission accuses drug developers of blocking rivals - "An EU-wide patent? The inquiry has revived calls for the creation of a single European Union patent, an issue that regulators have struggled with for 30 years due to disagreements over the languages used. Kroes said that the preliminary findings of the sector inquiry supported the case for a community patent, which she argued could help avoid litigation and cut costs."

PatentlyO: Patenting Tax Strategies Under Bilski - "Except for the few patent holders and Accenture, the tax strategy business community has been largely anti-patent – going so far as to lobby congress to introduce legislation to create a specific exception that would block enforcement of those patents. In Bilski, the Federal Circuit refused to categorically exclude any particular fields of business or technology from the scope of patent protection. The court specifically mentioned software and business methods as still patentable. Presumably, tax strategies are still patentable as well. The closest the court came to creating an exclusion is for purely 'mental' processes – where each step of the process could be performed in the human mind."

TheAge: Quicker, cheaper solutions needed for patent law - "A further possibility, which is being trialled in the US in relation to software patents, is to expose patent applications to comment from those in industry. This would enable interested players to draw prior art to the attention of the examiner, and potentially also to identify ambiguity or lack of clarity. This would presumably assist examiners greatly in dealing with complex and new technologies."

ZDNet: RPX: Can it defend against patent trolls? - "The startup–RPX Corp.–is a so-called defensive patent aggregator. RPX–short for Rational Patent–aims to reduce the costs associated with non-practicing entities (NPEs). These NPEs–known as patent trolls to you and me–acquire the rights to patents and then launch lawsuits. RPX is more diplomatic in its press release, but that’s the general idea. IBM and Cisco are signed up with RPX, which has funding from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Charles River Ventures. I had a briefing scheduled for today, but it appears the Wall Street Journal has spilled the beans."

LWN: FTC Announces First in Series of Hearings on Evolving Intellectual Property Marketplace - "The US Federal Trade Commission has announced the first of a possible series of public hearings to explore the evolving market for intellectual property (IP). The hearings will be held beginning on December 5, 2008, in Washington, DC. "The patent system has experienced significant change since the FTC released its first IP Report in October 2003, and more changes are under consideration. The courts and patentees are exploring the full implications of Supreme Court and Federal Circuit decisions on injunctive relief, patentability, and licensing issues. Congress has considered sweeping legislative patent reform, and new debates on the appropriate methods for calculating infringement damages have engaged the patent community. New business models for buying, selling and licensing patents have emerged and evolved since 2003. In addition, there is new learning regarding the operation of the patent system and its contribution to innovation and competition.""

Mondaq: India: Patent Protection For Computer Program - "From the above discussion it is clear that probably patent is the most appropriate form of intellectual property protection for computer software and hardware. Unlike copyright, which protects final works, software patents, which protect against the imitation of features, allows the protection of these elementary ideas, and thus prevent whoever to réalise a program implementing a protected idea. Software patents, by allowing their holders to claim elemenary ideas, thus constitutes an extremely powerful monopoly-building tool, because the holder of a single patent can prevent the selling of all software implementing this idea, whatever their application domains can be."

Software Patents stifle innovation

Three years ago the European Parliament stopped the attempt to make software patents enforcable in Europe. An unprecedented community effort made it possible with a relative low awareness about the dangers among larger software companies. Since then litigation and patent traps have become a serious problem for the market and users of software. We need to reduce patent risks which impede innovation and investment.

On a worldwide scale Patent Offices continue to grant these rights and did not adapt their practice. They are facing a patent crisis caused by lowering standards and fail to cope with their examination backlog. In a patent office the main creativity shown is directed towards interpretation of their own legal base. Even without political support the patent community expands what can be made patentable through practice and case law. Though they face a groundswell of interest in stopping software patents their typical excuse is: "We don't grant software patents, we don't really know what software patents are." or "Why exclude software?" or "We just execute the law.". Additionally they lobby the legislator. It is upon democratic forces to bring bureaucracies back under control which live well off with their software patent regimes. It is indispensible that the software community remains organised and responsive.

We want to overcome the software patent crisis. We raise awareness about their devastating effects on the emerging information and knowlege society where software predominates and we make our constructive reform proposals heard. But without your support there would be no way to succeed. Rather the ongoing threads would aggravate.

What to do?

1. Please sign or comment on our Draft Petition
2. Join our Facebook group and invite your friends to join the cause
3. Put a banner on your website and help making new ones
4. Buy a T-shirt
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News

EPO lobbying for a Central Patent Court

The European Patent Office does not only grant software patents, it also lobbies the legislators to validate them through the creation of a central patent court. — Comments: 0 — by zoobab 1228138970|%O ago

Chocolate coins for EPO cash cow

Examiners of the European Patent Office have recently invaded one of the secret meetings of the Administrative Council with chocolate coins, pointing to the conflict of interests between the National Patent Offices (NPOs) and their appetite of "more patents, more money". — Comments: 0 — by zoobab 1226927602|%O ago

Obama proposes patent reform

The new US-President wants to improve "predictability and clarity" in the patent system as well as "patent quality". His reforms would "reduce the uncertainty and wasteful litigation that is currently a significant drag on innovation" — Comments: 0 — by arebenti 1226090999|%O ago

ACTA - fuel for patent trolls?

ACTA, a multi-lateral treaty currently being discussed secretly behind closed doors, might export the dangerous IPRED1 directive to the United States, which allow patent trolls in Europe to preventively freeze bank accounts of a company in case of "suspicion of infringement". — Comments: 1 — by zoobab 1225704159|%O ago

German television 3sat has a reportage about software patents

German television 3sat has a reportage about software patents. A german programmer highlights that software patents ruin investment in software development. — Comments: 0 — by zoobab 1225703593|%O ago

USPTO does not like killing business method patents?

The New York Times has an article about the recent Bilski decision. The USPTO has requested a change in the title of the article. — Comments: 0 — by zoobab 1225670944|%O ago

Bilski not touching the issue of software patents

The decision on the Bilski case has been published by the specialized patent court in the US (CAFC - Court of Appeal of the Federal Circuit). The judges says that the Bilski case is not helpful to draw the line between what is patentable and what is not in the case of software patents. — Comments: 2 — by zoobab 1225394072|%O ago

Bilski: Be prepared for huge lobbying in Congress?

The outcome of the Bilski case, which should be published in October, might invalidate software patents in the United States. If the CAFC are clever enough to follow the Supreme Court and kick software patents out, you might see the desperate large corporations and their patent department rushing to Congress. Especially if tomorrow the banks values their patent portfolio as void, and not useful to get any credit. — Comments: 1 — by zoobab 1223471354|%O ago

Will the patent system trigger financial collapse in 2008?

This was the title of an article written one year ago. Here is the end, which is happening nowadays: "What does this mean for the patent system? David Martin points out that three separate bubbles are about to pop at the same time: consumer debt, mortgage debt, and patent debt. Each of these bubbles will cause enormous damage to those institutions who were over-committed, and most certainly to those who helped create the bubble. The patent offices will not go unrewarded for helping to create another Great Depression, by printing trillions of Euro worth of funny money." — Comments: 5 — by zoobab 1222708945|%O ago

StopSoftwarePatents wallpapers for your desktop background

Some german contributors sent us some nice SSP wallpapers for your desktop background. So that you remember that the issue of fighting software patents is a daily task. Enjoy! — Comments: 0 — by zoobab 1222555949|%O ago

National Public Meeting on Software Patents in India (4th October, Bangalore)

Several organisations in Bangalore are organising a meeting to discuss the dubious plans of the Indian Patent Office to adopt the same infamous 'technical effect' doctrine of the EPO. The Indian patent law is a copy/paste from the European Patent Convention, containing the 'as such' provision. The Patent Office said it would organise a public meeting, but it seems that organisations prefer to organise their own meeting. — Comments: 1 — by zoobab 1222554640|%O ago

Netherlands Patent Office goes Open Source

Open Source is gaining ground in patent offices. For most patent technocrats "open source" is a synonym of "we don't want software patents". — Comments: 0 — by arebenti 1222465760|%O ago

Microsoft wins against Alcatel-Lucent 457

Alcatel-Lucent again failed to enforce their Nr. 5,341,457, one of the patents they claim is related to MP3, against Microsoft. Thus Microsoft does not have to pay more than one billion. — Comments: 0 — by arebenti 1222423279|%O ago

Government in New Zealand pushes for Software Patents

The Government of New Zealand is proposing a set of amendments to the national patent law, none of them clearly mentions the exclusions of software from the field of patentability. The Government claims that Free Trade Agreements and other international treaties require software patents in New Zealand. — Comments: 0 — by zoobab 1222279242|%O ago

Adobe's position on software patents has changed?

The Adobe's position on software patents seems to have changed since 1994. Or maybe the current one is influenced by the patent department? — Comments: 2 — by zoobab 1222261823|%O ago

Dr Flocke: "50% of the applications are made by only 3% of the applicants"

Half of the patent applications are filed by only 3% of the applicants. Which means that at least half of the patent applications are filed by large corporations. — Comments: 0 — by zoobab 1222195111|%O ago

"Alison demission" shout EPO examiners in Brussels

EPO examiners were asking for the demission of the President of the EPO, Alison Brimelow. Very vew examiners believes she is doing something to tackle quality problems of the EPO. EPO does not stand anymore for quality patents, but for progress (bars) and profit. — Comments: 0 — by zoobab 1222191815|%O ago

Bilski case for October

The Patently-O blog mentions that the judgment on the Bilski case will be published in October. Chief Judge Michel said: "I think it will be a very significant decision. It probably will have broader scope than either In re Comiskey or In re Nuijten". — Comments: 0 — by zoobab 1222188084|%O ago

Conference Knowright2008: Software authors lost their rights

I was arguing at the recent Knowright2008 conference in Krakow (Poland) why software authors lost their rights with software patents. I was explaining why the Berne Convention which protects software under a copyright regime (for source code and binary code) does not give space for software patents. — Comments: 0 — by zoobab 1222009144|%O ago

Kiel Conference with talk about software "patent dirt"

It matters which sort of legal protection you take. Felix van Kourten argues why patent law suits software so badly and why we are better off with copyright law. Oct 10 he will speak at the Kiel Linux and Open Source Days. — Comments: 0 — by arebenti 1221966690|%O ago

McCain wants to hire Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer

The Daily Background has published an article mentioning that McCain wants to hire Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer. McCain is advised by ultra-pro software patents advocates, and he shows now that he is very close to large corporations. — Comments: 2 — by zoobab 1221948646|%O ago

EPO examiners take the streets in Brussels asking to "Save the EPO"

On Thursday, 18 September 2008, staff members of the European Patent Office (EPO) demonstrated in Brussels for a reform of its supervisory board. Examiners are complaining about the broken governance of the Institution. Examiners do not trust neither members of the Administrative Council, neither their President Brimelow. A patent examiner confessed that most of them were against software patents but as civil servants they were not allowed to speak out publicly about their concerns. — Comments: 2 — by zoobab 1221841503|%O ago

StopSoftwarePatents T-shirts arrive tomorrow

100 T-shirts with the Red Dove and the Stop Software Patents slogan arrive tomorrow at the Brussels office, so pre-order yours! The previous yellow one is a collector now. — Comments: 1 — by zoobab 1221546274|%O ago

EPO examiners do not trust Brimelow for her quality reforms

According to an EPO internal staff survey of June 2008, only 9% of the EPO examiners believes that "Brimelow and the Vice-Presidents actively promote patent quality". Brimelow is progressing, since Alain Pompidou, the former President, had a trust of only 7%. — Comments: 0 — by zoobab 1221479337|%O ago

Review of the National Innovation System in Australia

A report has been completed. It says, the inventive steps required to qualify for patents should be considerable, and the resulting patents must be well defined, as to mininise litigation and maximise the scope for subsequent innovators. In particular software and business method patenting is an Australian concern. — Comments: 0 — by arebenti 1221221051|%O ago

Cisco: technology companies more often defendants in patent suits

Mark Chandler - senior vice president of legal services and general counsel of Cisco Systems - said that "technology companies all too often find themselves as defendants in patent suits". Is it a sign that software patents contribute negatively to the benefit balance of the patent system for software firms? — Comments: 1 — by zoobab 1221125962|%O ago

BizJournals: McCain supports software patents

An article published in BizJournals.com mentions that McCain supports software patents. — Comments: 0 — by zoobab 1220971808|%O ago

Banners now available in French

Thanks to a french translator we have the banners available in French. You can also submit banners translated in your language and we will put them on the banners page. — Comments: 0 — by zoobab 1220947729|%O ago

Examiners to demonstrate against broken governance of the EPO next 18th September in Brussels

Examiners of the European Patent Office will demonstrate against the broken governance of the Office next wednesday 18th September in Brussels. It seems that the management of the EPO is meeting in Brussels next 17th-19th September, probably behind closed doors, the EPO is such a transparent organisation. — Comments: 5 — by zoobab 1220867873|%O ago

BSA lobbies Obama for software patents at the Democratic Convention in Denver

IP-watch tell us that BSA went to lobby Obama at the Democratic Convention in Denver with a list of principles, where the first one is "inspire creativity and innovation through strong, comprehensive, and enforceable intellectual property policies, including copyright, patent and trademark laws." Software patents are definitely on the top of the agenda of American multinationals. BSA does not has any small software company in its members, and Microsoft more active then the other members in using the association as a vector for its purposes. — Comments: 1 — by zoobab 1220683705|%O ago

Invite the European Patent Office examiners to join the cause!

A lot of examiners of the European Patent Office are present on Facebook. Invite them to join the cause! — Comments: 1 — by zoobab 1220624925|%O ago

McCain senior advisor Carleton Fiorina

Carly Fiorina found that more patents mean more innovation, so she started patent inflation policy at HP. Now she advises McCain. — Comments: 1 — by arebenti 1220565947|%O ago

AT&T patent perpetrator tries to censor a blogger about their "pursuit of more patents"

AT&T patent perpetrator tries to censor a blogger about their "pursuit of more patents". The blogger has published a picture of an advertisement poster paid by "AT&T Intellectual Property" sponsoring the Democratic National Convention in Denver last week. — Comments: 1 — by zoobab 1220555126|%O ago

McCain advised by software patent & tobacco lobbyists?

McCain is advised by pro-software patent lobbyist Ray Gifford, ex-President of the Progress & Freedom Foundation (a Washington 'think-tank' notably financed by Microsoft lobby proxy CompTIA). Gifford was speaking in a conference Europe about the failed software patent directive with all the pro-software patent lobbyists. Progress & Freedom Foundation runs the IPCentral blog. — Comments: 3 — by zoobab 1220544921|%O ago

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