The International Trade Commission, or ITC, is a federal agency in Washington D.C. that investigates unfair trade practices. Unfortunately, in recent years, it has also become a magnet for some of the worst abusers of the U.S. patent system. Now,… Read More ›
Tag Archive for ‘Patent Trolls’
Courts Shouldn’t Stifle Patent Troll Victims’ Speech
In the U.S., we don’t expect or allow government officials – including judges–to be speech police. Courts are allowed to restrain speech only in the rarest circumstances, subject to strict limitations. So we were troubled to learn that a judge… Read More ›
The International Trade Commission Is Opening the Door to Abusive Patent Owners and Endangering U.S. Businesses
The International Trade Commission, or ITC, is a forum that’s meant to protect U.S. industries from unfair trade practices. But in recent years, the prime beneficiaries of the sprawling ITC haven’t been American manufacturers, but patent owners, patent lawyers, and—you guessed… Read More ›
The “Inventor Rights Act” is an Attack on True Invention
Certain patent owners just can’t get enough of the monopoly power patents bestow. That’s why they keep trying to make it easier to get and sue over patents, despite Supreme Court rulings that point in the opposite direction. Their latest… Read More ›
Court Orders Hearing in Uniloc’s Patent Case Against Apple to be Conducted by Phone, Citing COVID-19 Risks
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, citing public health efforts to mitigate the risks of COVID-19 transmission, ordered that an April hearing in the Uniloc v. Apple patent case be conducted by phone rather than in person… Read More ›
How a Patent on Sorting Photos Got Used to Sue a Free Software Group
Taking and sharing pictures with wireless devices has become a common practice. It’s hardly a recent development: the distinction between computers and cameras has shrunk, especially since 2007 when smartphone cameras became standard. Even though devices that can take and… Read More ›
Video: Ruth Taylor Describes Her Win Against an Online Voting Patent
We’ve been fighting abuses of the patent system for years. Many of the worst abuses we see are committed by software patent owners who make money suing people instead of building anything. These are patent owners we call patent trolls…. Read More ›
Price Setter LLC Falsely Claims Online Ad Invention, Demands Money from Android Devs
Unfortunately, app developers are facing another onslaught of letters demanding money they shouldn’t have to pay. This time, the sender is Jorge Maass, a patent owner who also runs a real-estate business in Texas. In recent months, Maass has been… Read More ›
Entrepreneurs Tell USPTO Director Iancu: Patent Trolls Aren’t Just “Monster Stories”
Patent trolls aren’t a myth. They aren’t a bedtime story. Ask a software developer—they’re likely to know someone who has been sued or otherwise threatened by one, if they haven’t been themselves. Unfortunately, the new director of the U.S. Patent… Read More ›
Video: How Justus Decher Beat a Patent Troll, With Help From Alice
Thousands of patent lawsuits are filed each year, and most of them deal with computer technology and software. Nearly 90 percent of those high-tech patent lawsuits are filed by shell companies that offer the public no products or services whatsoever…. Read More ›