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 ›
Tag Archive for ‘Patent Trolls’
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 ›
Federal Court Orders That Patent Troll Can’t Hide Its Machinations
A federal judge has ordered that prolific patent troll Uniloc cannot hide its shell games from the public. After EFF filed a motion to intervene seeking access to sealed court records, Judge William H. Alsup of the Northern District of… Read More ›
EFF Wins Final Victory Over Podcasting Patent
Back in early 2013, the podcasting community was freaking out. A patent troll called Personal Audio LLC had sued comedian Adam Carolla and was threatening a bunch of smaller podcasters. Personal Audio claimed that the podcasters infringed U.S. Patent 8,112,504,… Read More ›
New Hampshire Court: First Amendment Protects Criticism of “Patent Troll”
A New Hampshire state court has dismissed a defamation suit filed by a patent owner unhappy that it had been called a “patent troll.” The court ruled [PDF] that the phrase “patent troll” and other rhetorical characterizations are not the… Read More ›
IPR Process Saves 80 Companies From Paying For a Sports-Motion Patent
The importance of the US Patent Office’s “inter partes review” (IPR) process was highlighted in dramatic fashion yesterday. Patent appeals judges threw out a patent [PDF] that was used to sue more than 80 companies in the fitness, wearables, and… Read More ›