After pushing for more than three years to access court records in a lawsuit brought by a notorious patent troll, Uniloc, against Apple, EFF is challenging a federal appellate court’s decision that imperils the public’s ability to understand what happens… Read More ›
Tag Archive for ‘Patent Trolls’
The Federal Circuit Helps a Patent Troll Block Public Access to Court Records
For more than three years, EFF has been fighting for public access to court records in a patent case between Uniloc, one of the world’s most prolific patent trolls, and Apple, one of the world’s biggest tech companies. The district… Read More ›
Podcast Episode: Saving Podcasts from a Patent Troll
Podcast Episode 110 Imagine getting a letter in the mail—and then another, and then another—telling you that if you don’t pay $25,000 to a company you’ve never heard of, you’ll have to shut down the small business that you’ve worked… Read More ›
Fighting For A More Open, Balanced Patent System: 2021 in Review
At EFF, we’ve always stood up for the freedom to tinker and innovate. Unfortunately, our patent system doesn’t promote those freedoms. In some areas, like software, it’s causing much more harm than good. And the system is rife with patent… Read More ›
Our Patent Review System is Ten Years Old. It’s Time to Make It Stronger.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) grants more than 300,000 patents each year. Some of those patent grants represent genuine new inventions, but many of them don’t. On average, patent examiners have about 18 hours to spend on each… Read More ›
The Public Should Know Who Profits From Patent Troll Lawsuits
It’s often impossible to find out who owns a United States patent. Even people who get sued over patents often can’t figure out who is demanding money from them. That’s even more true when the lawsuit comes from a patent… Read More ›
Washington State Has Sued a Patent Troll For Violating Consumer Protection Laws
Landmark Technology, a patent troll that has spent 20 years threatening and suing small businesses over bogus patents, and received EFF’s Stupid Patent of the Month award in 2019, has been sued by the State of Washington. Washington Attorney General… Read More ›
Fighting Abusive Patent Litigation During a Year of Health Crisis: 2020 Year In Review
The coronavirus dominated the news cycles, and our personal lives, in 2020. Scientists around the world raced forward to create a vaccine. Alongside that massive effort to create a critical new invention, we saw a renewed debate about patents and… Read More ›
It’s Time to Kick Patent Trolls Out of the International Trade Commission
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 ›
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 ›