Press Releases related to Patents
Patent Office Grants EFF's Request for Reexamination of Online Gaming Patent
Fifth Successful Result for Patent Busting Project
San Francisco - Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has won reexamination of a bogus online gaming patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) -- the fifth successful reexamination request from EFF's Patent Busting Project.
Sheldon F. Goldberg was awarded the illegitimate patent for online gaming systems that use tournament-style play, advertising, and real-time updates of ladder-rankings in multi-player games. Goldberg has used this bogus patent to coerce licensing fees from numerous small businesses.
In the reexamination request, EFF along with Paul Grewal and Brad Waugh of Day Casebeer Madrid & Batchelder show that the technology covered by the Goldberg patent had been widely disseminated in the public domain for years before Goldberg made his claim. The Patent Office took quick action on the request, recognizing this substantial new question of patentability less than a month after the request was filed.
"The patent process was designed to encourage invention, investment, and disclosure and was not meant to be used as a tool to threaten legitimate businesses," said EFF Intellectual Property Fellow Emily Berger. "Reexamination proceedings like these are essential in protecting the public from patents that should never have been granted in the first place."
This reexamination request is part of EFF's Patent Busting Project, which combats the chilling effects bad patents have on public and consumer interests. So far, the project has killed one patent covering a system and method of creating digital recordings of live performances. Four more reexaminations, including this one, are under review by the USPTO due to the Patent Busting Project's efforts.
"Undeserved patents cause significant harm to innovation and competition in the information age," said Paul Grewal. "We are pleased that the PTO recognized the substantial questions of patentability raised in EFF's request and look forward to the PTO's ultimate decision on the merits."
Students from the Cyberlaw Clinic at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School also carried out extensive research for the reexamination request, helping locate much of the critical evidence of prior use of technologies covered by Goldberg's patent. Members of the Netrek online gaming community also provided technical analysis and legal declarations that figured prominently in the PTO's decision to grant EFF's reexamination request.
For the full reexamination order:
http://w2.eff.org/patent/wanted/sheldon/reexam/goldberg-reexam-granted.P...
For more on the Patent-Busting Project:
http://www.eff.org/patent/
Contacts:
Emily Berger
Intellectual Property Fellow
Electronic Frontier Foundation
emily@eff.org
Paul Grewal
Partner
Day Casebeer Madrid & Batchelder
pgrewal@daycasebeer.com
EFF Takes Aim at Bogus Online Gaming Patent
Illegitimate Patent Chills Innovation in Multi-Player Internet Games
San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is challenging a bogus online gaming patent threatening small businesses and innovators of multi-player Internet games.
Sheldon F. Goldberg was awarded the illegitimate patent for the "method and system of playing games on a network," and claims to own rights in all online gaming systems that use tournament-style play, advertising, and have real-time updates of ladder-rankings in multi-player games. Goldberg has used this bogus patent to coerce licensing fees from numerous small businesses, demanding payments that are excessive yet less than potential litigation.
In a reexamination request filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) today, EFF and Paul Grewal and Brad Waugh of Day Casebeer Madrid & Batchelder show that the technology covered by the bogus patent was used extensively by other online gaming companies before Goldberg made his claim.
"The Internet has allowed small businesses and individuals seeking to develop new technologies to operate on a level playing field with larger corporations," said EFF Intellectual Property Fellow Emily Berger. "This equality is threatened by those who seek to procure patents from our government that they were never entitled to hold in the first place."
One of the key sources of information in EFF's reexamination request came from Netrek, one of the first online multi-player games. Netrek primarily consists of open-source software, and its code development has been archived online.
"Real innovation by others suffers in light of meritless claims like those in Mr. Goldberg's patent," said Paul Grewal. "We are confident that the Patent Office will carefully review the arguments we have presented in our petition."
Students from the Cyberlaw Clinic at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School also carried out extensive research for the reexamination request, helping locate much of the critical evidence of prior use of technologies covered by Goldberg's patent.
This reexamination request is part of EFF's Patent Busting Project, which combats the chilling effects bad patents have on public and consumer interests. So far, the project has killed one patent covering a system and method of creating digital recordings of live performances. Three more reexaminations are underway by the USPTO due to the Patent Busting Project's efforts.
For the full reexamination request: http://w2.eff.org/patent/wanted/sheldon/reexam/goldberg_reexam_request.p...
For more on the Goldberg Patent:
http://w2.eff.org/patent/wanted/patent.php?p=sheldon
For more on the Patent Busting Project:
http://w2.eff.org/patent/
Contacts:
Emily Berger
Intellectual Property Fellow
Electronic Frontier Foundation
emily@eff.org
Paul Grewal
Partner
Day Casebeer Madrid & Batchelder
pgrewal@daycasebeer.com
EFF Wins Reexamination of Bogus Internet Subdomain Patent
Fourth Successful Challenge from EFF's Patent-Busting Project
San Francisco - San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has won reexamination from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) of a bogus patent on Internet subdomains -- the fourth successful reexamination request from EFF's Patent Busting Project.
The patent, now held by Hoshiko, LLC, claims to cover the method of automatically assigning Internet subdomains, like "action.eff.org" for the parent domain "eff.org." Previous patent owner Ideaflood used this illegitimate patent to demand payment from website hosting companies that offer such personalized domains, including Freehomepage.com, T35 Hosting, and LiveJournal, a social networking site where each of its three million users have their own subdomain.
In the reexamination request, EFF and Rick Mc Leod of Klarquist Sparkman, LLP, showed that the method Ideaflood claimed to have invented was well known before the patent was issued. In fact, website developers were having public discussions about how to create these virtual subdomains on an Apache developer mailing list for more than a year before Ideaflood made its patent claim. The open source developers established a public record of the technology development, providing the linchpin to EFF's patent challenge.
"The hard work of open source developers should not be taken out of the public domain and used to threaten other legitimate innovators," said EFF Senior Staff Attorney Jason Schultz, who heads EFF's Patent Busting Project. "Fortunately, the open source approach to development helped protect Apache and other web projects by creating the evidence needed to challenge this illegitimate patent."
The challenge to the Ideaflood patent is part of EFF's Patent Busting Project, which combats the chilling effects that bad patents have on public and consumer interests. So far, the project has killed one bogus patent and won reexamination of three others.
"Based on the PTO's initial analysis in the reexamination order, it appears likely that all claims will be rejected in view of the techniques disclosed by Apache developer Ralf Engelschall and others," said Rick Mc Leod, who drafted EFF petition. "We look forward to the PTO's detailed analysis of our request."
For the full reexamination order:
http://w2.eff.org/patent/wanted/ideaflood/re-exam_order.pdf
For more on EFF's Patent Busting Project:
http://www.eff.org/patent
Contacts:
Jason Schultz
Senior Staff Attorney
Electronic Frontier Foundation
jason@eff.org
Rick Mc Leod
Klarquist Sparkman, LLP
rick.mcleod@klarquist.com
EFF Supports Consumer Right To Repair, Resell Patented Goods
Urges Supreme Court to Crack Down on Post-Sale Restrictions
San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) today urged the U.S. Supreme Court to protect consumers' traditional right to use, repair, and resell the products they own, even if those products are patented. At stake is the enforceability of "single use" and "not for resale" labels on patented products.
The amicus brief -- submitted on behalf of EFF, Consumers Union, and Public Knowledge -- was filed in Quanta v. LG Electronics, currently pending before the Supreme Court. The case will test the vitality of the "patent exhaustion" doctrine, which entitles a consumer to use, repair, or resell patented products that they have purchased.
The issue is of increasing importance to consumers, who often face "single use only" and "not for resale" labels on patented products, interfering with legitimate aftermarkets for parts and service. Lexmark, for example, has used "single use only" labels to limit the market for refilled toner cartridges. Similarly, "not for resale" labels could interfere with used and refurbished product sales on eBay and Craigslist. EFF's brief urges the Supreme Court to prohibit patent owners from using patent infringement suits to enforce these kinds of post-sale use restrictions on the products they sell.
"Patent owners are trying to use 'label licenses' to deprive consumers of their right to use, repair and resell the products they own," said EFF Senior Intellectual Property Attorney Fred von Lohmann. "It's time for the Supreme Court to step in and put a stop to it."
The case is No. 06-937. The Solicitor General, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, and Gateway all urged the Supreme Court to review the case, and oral argument is expected in early 2008.
For the full amicus brief:
https://www.eff.org/files/filenode/quanta_v_lg/quanta_amicus.pdf
Contact:
Fred von Lohmann
Senior Intellectual Property Attorney
Electronic Frontier Foundation
fred@eff.org
EFF Wins Reexamination of Bogus Patent
Patent Office to Take Second Look at Meritless Claims Threatening Mobile Information Access
San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has won reexamination from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) of a bogus patent threatening mobile information access. The reexamination order is the third granted by the PTO after challenges from EFF's Patent Busting Project.
NeoMedia Technologies, Inc., claims to own rights to all systems that provide information over computer networks using database-like lookup procedures that rely on scanned inputs, such as a barcode. NeoMedia has used these claims to threaten and sue innovators in the mobile information space. But EFF's reexamination request, filed in conjunction with Paul Grewal and James Czaja of Day Casebeer Madrid & Batchelder, showed that the functionality covered by NeoMedia's bad patent was repeatedly included as part of prior patent applications from other companies.
"Overbroad and invalid patents threaten to chill important innovations, especially for startups and other nascent entrepreneurs," said EFF Senior Staff Attorney Jason Schultz. "It's important that technology in the public domain stays there."
NeoMedia has the opportunity to file comments defending the patent before the PTO makes its final determination. However, the PTO has narrowed or revoked roughly 70 percent of patents it has decided to reexamine.
"Re-examination is an essential part of the patenting process," said Paul Grewal, a partner at Day Casebeer Madrid & Batchelder. "We are pleased that the Patent Office has decided to examine NeoMedia's efforts to claim for itself what the public has long enjoyed."
The successful reexamination request for the NeoMedia patent is the latest big victory for EFF's Patent Busting Project, which combats the chilling effects bad patents have on the public interest and innovation. So far, the project has helped kill a bogus patent covering a system and method of creating digital recordings of live performances. The PTO has also granted another EFF reexamination request for an illegitimate patent for online test-taking.
For the full reexamination order:
http://w2.eff.org/patent/wanted/order_granting_reexam_neomedia.pdf
For more information about the NeoMedia patent reexamination:
http://www.eff.org/patent/wanted/patent.php?p=neomedia
For more on the Patent Busting Project:
http://www.eff.org/patent/
For more on Day Casebeer Madrid & Batchelder:
http://www.daycasebeer.com
Contacts:
Jason Schultz
Senior Staff Attorney
Electronic Frontier Foundation
jason@eff.org
Paul Grewal
Partner
Day Casebeer Madrid & Batchelder
pgrewal@daycasebeer.com
EFF Challenges Bogus Patent on Internet Subdomains
Illegitimate Patent Used to Threaten Website Hosting Companies
San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is challenging a bogus patent on Internet subdomains that has been used to threaten small businesses and innovators.
Ideaflood, a self-proclaimed "intellectual property holding company," used this illegitimate patent to demand payment from website hosting companies that offer virtual, personalized subdomains -- like "action.eff.org" for the parent domain "eff.org." But in a reexamination request filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) today, EFF and Rick Mc Leod of Klarquist Sparkman, LLP show that the method Ideaflood claims to have invented was well known before the patent was issued. In fact, website developers were having public discussions about how to create these virtual subdomains on an Apache developer mailing list for more than a year before Ideaflood made its patent claim.
"This illustrates how an open-source project can establish a public record of technology development and thwart invalid patents," said EFF Senior Staff Attorney Jason Schultz. "The public discussions on the Apache and other mailing lists have shown that Ideaflood's patent claims were without merit and that the patent should be revoked before it causes any more damage to innovation on the Internet."
The companies that Ideaflood threatened include Freehomepage.com, T35 Hosting, and LiveJournal, a social networking site where each of its three million users have their own subdomain. The patent has since been reassigned to a company called Hoshiko, LLC.
"Our patent system is intended to encourage innovation, not damage it by encroaching on the public domain," said Rick Mc Leod, who drafted EFF's petition. "Unfortunately, in recent years the PTO has been deluged with applications, making it difficult to determine whether many patents should be issued or rejected. When a 'bad' patent targets something as ephemeral as the Internet, it can be even more difficult to get that patent invalidated. Fortunately, a diligent, prior art searcher sent us a key reference."
The challenge to the Ideaflood patent is part of EFF's Patent Busting Project, which combats the chilling effects that bad patents have on public and consumer interests. So far, the project has killed one bogus patent and requested the reexamination of two others.
For the full reexamination request:
http://www.eff.org/patent/wanted/ideaflood/reexam/ReqReexam_746.pdf
For more on EFF's Patent Busting Project:
http://www.eff.org/patent
Contacts:
Jason Schultz
Senior Staff Attorney
Electronic Frontier Foundation
jason@eff.org
Rick Mc Leod
Klarquist Sparkman, LLP
rick.mcleod@klarquist.com
Novell and EFF Team Up to Reform Software Patents
Organizations Will Jointly Lobby Governments and International Organizations
Novell to Support EFF 'Patent Busting' Initiative
San Francisco (Open Source Business Conference) - Novell and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) today announced they are teaming up to work on reforms to software patents worldwide.
"It is increasingly obvious that software patents are not a meaningful measure of innovation," said Jeff Jaffe, executive vice president and chief technology officer at Novell. "As a long-time innovator in the industry and a holder of many significant patents, we understand the rationale behind the patent system in general. But we believe that software patent system reform is necessary to promote software innovation going forward."
Novell and EFF will work to lobby governments and national and international organizations to develop legislation and policies around patents designed to promote innovation. A key area of focus will be the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), where member governments of the United Nations meet to coordinate positions on intellectual property issues. Given the ease with which software ideas and code cross borders, a global approach to the issue is required.
In addition, Novell will contribute significant resources to EFF's ongoing "Patent Busting" project. Launched in 2004, the project is designed to attack patents that impose particularly heavy burdens on software developers and Internet users by identifying prior art that can be used to invalidate those patents and by pursuing invalidation of those patents through re-examination efforts.
"EFF has long been at the forefront in addressing the key challenges of the digital age, including worldwide intellectual property issues," said EFF Executive Director Shari Steele. "The support of Novell -- a company founded on the proprietary software development model but now strongly embracing the open source approach -- will be a great boon to our efforts to rid the industry of innovation-killing patents. We hope Novell's example encourages other software vendors to join the effort."
An early innovator in networking, word processing and messaging technologies, Novell holds more than 500 patents, many of which are fundamental to technologies in the market today. Having shifted its business to focus more on open source and open standards-based solutions, Novell recognizes the new model for innovation is open source, and the existing patent system is detrimental to open source development. Novell has already taken several steps to promote the use of patents to protect open source, including a 2004 pledge to use its own patents to defend against patent attacks on open source, and the contribution of patents and significant financial resources to Open Invention Network, an intellectual property company Novell co-founded in 2005 to promote Linux by using patents to create a collaborative environment.
"Today's announcement is a logical next step for Novell in its efforts to make patents a non-issue for the software community," said Nat Friedman, chief strategy and technology officer for open source at Novell. "Software patents hobble open standards and interoperability, impede innovation and progress, threaten the development of free and open source software, and have a chilling effect on software development. Our partnership with EFF is about creating a world where software developers and users do not to have to worry about patents."
For more on EFF's Patent Busting project:
http://www.eff.org/patent
Contacts:
Shari Steele
Executive Director
Electronic Frontier Foundation
ssteele@eff.org
Bruce Lowry
Director, Global Public Relations
Novell, Inc.
blowry@novell.com
About EFF:
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading civil liberties organization working to protect rights in the digital world. Founded in 1990, EFF actively encourages and challenges industry and government to support free expression and privacy online. EFF is a member-supported organization and maintains one of the most linked-to websites in the world at http://www.eff.org/
About Novell, Inc.:
Novell, Inc. (Nasdaq: NOVL) delivers infrastructure software for the Open Enterprise. We are a leader in enterprise-wide operating systems based on Linux and open source and the security and systems management services required to operate mixed IT environments. We help our customers minimize cost, complexity and risk, allowing them to focus on innovation and growth. For more information, visit http://www.novell.com.
Novell is a registered trademark of Novell, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. All other third-party trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
EFF Challenges Bogus Patent Threatening Consumer Awareness Products
Illegitimate Patent Inhibits Innovation in Market for Mobile Information Access
San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) took aim today at a bogus patent threatening innovative technologies that enhance consumer awareness, requesting a reexamination by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO).
NeoMedia Technologies, Inc., claims to own rights to all systems that provide information over computer networks using database-like lookup procedures that rely on scanned inputs, such as a barcode. NeoMedia has used these claims not only to threaten and sue innovators in the mobile information space, but also to intimidate projects focused on increasing awareness among consumers about the social and environmental impact of the products they buy. For example, the Consumer Information Lab at the College of Natural Resources at the University of California at Berkeley uses such technology to examine how health, environmental, and social information affects consumers' shopping behavior and decision-making. Were NeoMedia to control the patent rights to this technology, such projects could be severely limited and potentially shut down.
"NeoMedia should not be allowed to use this bogus patent to inhibit consumer awareness, education, or research into the impact of information on consumer choice," said EFF Staff Attorney Jason Schultz. "This is the opposite of 'progress,' something the patent laws are supposed to promote."
EFF's reexamination request shows that the functionality covered by NeoMedia's bad patent was repeatedly included as part of prior patent applications from other companies -- demonstrating that the idea of forming a network connection from scanned items was well-known before NeoMedia made its claim. EFF, in conjunction with Paul Grewal and James Czaja of Day Casebeer Madrid & Batchelder, ask the PTO to revoke the patent based on this and other evidence.
"Our patent system is supposed to protect innovation, not block it. Everyone loses if the Patent Office allows these kinds of abuses to continue," said Grewal, a partner at the Day Casebeer firm.
The challenge to the NeoMedia patent is part of EFF's Patent Busting Project, which combats the chilling effects bad patents have on public and consumer interests. So far, the project has helped kill a bogus patent covering a system and method of creating digital recordings of live performances. The PTO has also granted another EFF reexamination request for an illegitimate patent for online test-taking.
For the full NeoMedia patent reexamination request:
http://www.eff.org/patent/wanted/patent.php?p=neomedia
For more on EFF's Patent Busting Project:
http://www.eff.org/patent/
For more on Day Casebeer Madrid & Batchelder:
http://www.daycasebeer.com
For more information on the Consumer Information Lab at UC Berkeley's College of Natural Resources:
http://nature.berkeley.edu/infolab/projects/informationtoolsdevelopmentproject
Contacts:
Jason Schultz
Staff Attorney
Electronic Frontier Foundation
jason@eff.org
Paul Grewal
Partner
Day Casebeer Madrid & Batchelder
pgrewal@daycasebeer.com
EFF Kills Bogus Clear Channel Patent
Patent Busting Project Wins Victory for Artists and Innovators
San Francisco - The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) has announced it will revoke an illegitimate patent held by Clear Channel Communications after a campaign by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).
The patent -- owned by Instant Live, a company formerly owned by Clear Channel, and now owned by Live Nation -- covered a system and method of creating digital recordings of live performances. Clear Channel claimed the bogus patent created a monopoly on all-in-one technologies that produce post-concert digital recordings and threatened to sue those who made such recordings. This locked musical acts into using Clear Channel technology and blocked innovations by others.
However, EFF's investigation found that a company named Telex had in fact developed similar technology more than a year before Clear Channel filed its patent request. EFF -- in conjunction with patent attorney Theodore C. McCullough and with the help of Lori President and Ashley Bollinger, students at the Glushko-Samuelson Intellectual Property Clinic at American University's Washington College of Law -- asked the PTO to revoke the patent based on this and other extensive evidence.
"Bogus patents like this one are good examples of what's wrong with the current patent system," said EFF Staff Attorney Jason Schultz. "We're glad that the Patent Office was willing to help artists and innovators out from under its shadow."
The Clear Channel patent challenge was part of EFF's Patent Busting Project, aimed at combating the chilling effects bad patents have on public and consumer interests. The Patent Busting Project seeks to document the threats and fight back by filing requests for reexamination against the worst offenders.
"The patent system plays a critical role in business and the economy," said McCullough. "Everyone loses if we allow overreaching patent claims to restrict the tremendous benefits of new software and technology development."
For the notice from the Patent Office:
http://www.eff.org/patent/wanted/clearchannel/notice_of_intent_to_cancel.pdf
For more on EFF's Patent Busting Project:
http://www.eff.org/patent
Contacts:
Jason Schultz
Staff Attorney
Electronic Frontier Foundation
jason@eff.org
Theodore C. McCullough
Registered Patent Attorney
theo702000@yahoo.com
[Updated: 3/13/07]
Dangerous Patent Law Ruling Threatens Free and Open Source Software
EFF Asks Supreme Court to Protect Open Source Innovation
San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has asked the United States Supreme Court to overturn a dangerous patent law ruling that could pose a serious threat to Free and Open Source Software projects.
In a recent decision, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed its own "suggestion test" as the main method for determining when a patent should be found obvious over knowledge in the public domain. Under this test, even the most obvious incremental advances and add-ons can be patented unless the Patent Office or a defendant in court produces a document that shows someone else suggested it prior to the patent being filed.
"The Federal Circuit's suggestion test forces litigants to search through reams of technical papers for a document in which someone, somewhere, bothers to state the obvious," said EFF Staff Attorney Corynne McSherry, who co-authored the amicus brief. "This is inefficient and burdensome, and contrary to the principles, policies, and standards the Supreme Court has upheld."
In its amicus brief filed Tuesday, EFF shows how this "suggestion test" has led to a massive surge in bogus patenting, especially in software. These bad patents then become weapons against legitimate innovators -- especially those working on Free and Open Source Software projects.
"Free and Open Source Software projects have become an integral part of the software industry and our nation's economy," said EFF Staff Attorney Jason Schultz, a co-author of the brief. "They often lack the resources or formal documentation to fight against bogus patents under the suggestion test, so it is principally important that the Supreme Court set the appropriate standard to prevent the approval of bogus patents."
The case, KSR International Co. v. Teleflex, Inc., and Technology Holding Co., is scheduled for oral argument in front the Supreme Court this fall.
For the full amicus brief:
http://www.eff.org/legal/cases/KSR_v_Teleflex/ksr_amicus.pdf
Contacts:
Corynne McSherry
Staff Attorney
Electronic Frontier Foundation
corynne@eff.org
Jason Schultz
Staff Attorney
Electronic Frontier Foundation
jason@eff.org
