Patent trolls don’t care much about innovation. Their lawsuits and threats are attempts at rent-seeking; they’re demanding money from people who make, use, or sell technology just for doing what they were already doing—for crossing the proverbial “bridge” that the… Read More ›
Tag Archive for ‘Stupid Patent of the Month’
Who’s A Patent Troll, and Who’s An Inventor?
Two Congressmen recently introduced a bill that would create a special type of patent called an “Inventor-Owned Patent.” Having classified a group of “inventors,” the Inventor Rights Act (H.R. 5478) goes on to give them a long list of special… Read More ›
Design Patents Are Useless. So Why Are They Getting a Boost in DC?
When we talk about patents, we’re usually talking about “utility” patents. Utility patents protect inventions that claim to have some practical application or use. (A lot of them still claim things that are actually useless, but they’re supposed to be… 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 ›
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 ›
How LBS Innovations Keeps Trying to Monopolize Online Maps
Stupid Patent of the Month For years, the Eastern District of Texas (EDTX) has been a magnet for lawsuits filed by patent trolls—companies who make money with patent threats, rather than selling products or services. Technology companies large and small… Read More ›
Stupid Patent of the Month: IBM’s Software Patent on Texting and Driving
In the smartphone era, “distracted driving” is a serious, and well-known, problem. Official warnings about poor driving habits are as old as the automobile itself. The New York Times published a Pulitzer-winning series on distracted driving back in 2009. Increasingly,… Read More ›
Stupid Patent of the Month: Facebook Joins the Online Dating Arms Race
Earlier this month, Facebook announced that it will wedge its way into an already-crowded corner of online commerce. The social networking site plans to use its giant storehouse of personal data to create a dating service, promising to help users… Read More ›
Stupid Patent of the Month: A Token of Troll Appreciation
In 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court decided a case that, for the most part, banned the kind of “do it on a computer” style patents that have plagued the U.S. patent system for decades. Ever since then, IP maximalists have… Read More ›
Stupid Patent of the Month: Buying A Bundle of Diamonds
This month’s Stupid Patent shows what happens when the patent system strays outside its proper boundaries. US Patent No. 8,706,513 describes a “fungible basket of investment grade gems” for use in “financial instruments.” In other words, it’s a rating and… Read More ›