Related Updates
Supreme Court Ends Texas’ Grip On Patent Cases
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...
Stupid Patent of the Month: Storing Files in Folders
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...
One Step Closer to Reclaiming University Innovation From Trolls
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...
EFF to Supreme Court: Patent Holders Shouldn’t Be Allowed to Cherry Pick the Courts
Washington, D.C.—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) urged the Supreme Court to overturn a court decision that tilted the scales in favor of patent trolls by making it easier for them to venue shop and file lawsuits in certain courts. Venue shopping, also called forum...
TC Heartland v. Kraft Foods
TC Heartland v. Kraft Foods is a case that effectively asks the court to decide whether patent owners can sue in practically any corner of the country. The current law allows patent owners to pick and choose between federal courts, often opting for courts that are perceived to have rules...
EFF To Patent Office: Supreme Court Limits On Abstract Patents Are a Good Thing
EFF has submitted comments to the Patent Office urging it not to support efforts to undermine the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Alice v. CLS Bank . The Patent Office had called for public submissions regarding whether “legislative changes are desirable” in response...
District Court Undoes Fee Award Against Patent Bully
A district court judge has issued a disappointing ruling reversing an earlier decision to require an abusive patent litigant to pay an EFF client’s attorney’s fees. Judge Jerome Simandle of the District Court of New Jersey held that, even thought the patent was invalid, the relevant...
Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Case that Could End Texas’ Grip on Patent Cases
The Supreme Court has granted certiorari in TC Heartland v. Kraft Foods , a case that effectively asks the court to decide whether patent owners can sue in practically any corner of the country. EFF supported TC Heartland, the petitioner, at the Court of Appeals for the...
Stupid Patent of the Month: Movies From the Cloud
The Onion once ran a piece titled “ I invented YouTube back in 2010 .” The joke, of course, is that YouTube launched in 2005. This month’s Stupid Patent of the Month is just as ridiculous. US Patent No. 8,856,221 , titled ‘System and method for storing...
Stupid Patent of the Month: Changing the Channel
Is somebody really claiming to have invented a method for switching from watching one video to watching another? This question comes from a lawyer at the New York Times, as an aside in an interesting article about the paper’s response to a defamation...
