The patent system has gotten a (sometimes deservedly) bad rap in recent years, but yesterday’s Supreme Court decision in the Tivo v. Echostar case is a great reminder of what patents are SUPPOSED to do: reward real innovators and keep larger competitors from stealing their work. By all accounts, Tivo [...]
While we don't always see eye-to-eye with TechDirt's Mike Masnick on issue of intellectual property, he has a great post today entitled, "Why Shouldn't Competitors Be Able To Weigh In On Patent Applications?" In the article, Masnick suggests that: Another way to test obviousness to those skilled in the art [...]
The blogosphere has been all aflutter with the analysis that Tom Kemp at Centrify has done of the draft protocol-patent mapping provided by Microsoft for its Microsoft Communications Protocol Program (MCPP) and the Work Group Server Protocol Program (WSPP). Many people find it interesting and surprising that 80% of the [...]
The European Parliament has a department called “Scientific Technology Options Assessment” or STOA. STOA has recently announced a report on the European patents system, outlining policy options for improving the system. As readers know, patent systems tend to be a controversial issue and theSTOA’s preliminary report was therefore the hotly [...]
Last week, I posted that it was unfair for Red Hat to complain that Microsoft does not give free patent licenses to competitors, when it doesn't either. I explained that Red Hat's Patent Promise extends a promise not to assert Red Hat patents only to its suppliers or potential suppliers. [...]