The first step to fighting patent trolls is to limit software patents to five years
There’s a lot wrong with America’s patent system — it often serves to undercut innovation, limits competition, and rewards trolls. But there’s a relatively easy short-term fix: Cap software patents at five years from issuance, a position adapted from the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s (EFF) Defend Innovation Project. While comprehensive legislation is needed to fix patent law, this first step is critical to reviving and protecting entrepreneurship, R&D, and technological progress in the United States.
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Since 1992,
Fairytale Brownies has sold delicious brownies based on a secret family recipe. It’s a small business founded by two childhood friends who were quick to see the potential of the Internet and registered the domain www.brownies.com in 1995. Fairytale Brownies became an e-commerce website before the first...
San Francisco, California—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) won a
court ruling today affirming that an infamous podcasting patent used by a patent troll to threaten podcasters big and small was properly held invalid by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). A unanimous decision by a three-judge panel...
EFF has asked a federal court to rule in its favor in a
lawsuit we filed against an Australian company that sought to use foreign law to
censor us from expressing our opinion about its patent. While the company, Global Equity Management (SA) Pty Ltd (GEMSA,...
Second court recommends awarding legal fees to defendant hit with patent troll’s lawsuit
Update: On August 9, 2017, District Court Judge Rosenberg rejected Shipping & Transit's objections to the Magistrate Judge's report and recommendation awarding fees. The court ordered Shipping & Transit to pay $36,317.50 plus interest in attorneys'...
Shipping & Transit LLC, formerly known as
Arrivalstar, is one of the most prolific patent trolls ever. It has filed more than 500 lawsuits alleging patent infringement. Despite having filed so many cases, it has never had a court rule on the validity of its patents. In recent years...
This month’s stupid patent, like many stupid patents before it, simply claims the idea of using a computer for basic calculations.
U.S. Patent No. 6,817,863 (the ’863 patent) is titled “Computer program, method, and system for monitoring nutrition content of consumables and for facilitating menu planning.” It claims the...
Patent litigation abuse thrives when patent trolls can force defendants into making a hard choice: pay the troll (even though the claim is absurd) or pay even more to your lawyers. This week, the Federal Circuit issued an
encouraging ruling that will make it harder to use this gambit...
Today the Supreme Court issued a
decision that will have a massive impact on patent troll litigation. In
TC Heartland v. Kraft Foods, the court ruled that patent owners can sue corporate defendants only in districts where the defendant is incorporated or has committed acts of infringement and...
Our ongoing
Reclaim Invention campaign urges universities not to sell patents to trolls. This month’s stupid patent provides a good example of why.
US Patent No. 8,473,532 (the ’532 patent), “Method and apparatus for automatic organization for computer files,” began its life with publicly-funded
Louisiana Tech University...
Last year, EFF, along with our partner organizations,
launched Reclaim Invention, a campaign to encourage universities across the country to commit to adopting patent policies that advance the public good. Reclaim Invention asks universities to focus on by bringing their inventions to the public, rather than selling...
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