The argument for pharma patents: making new medicines is expensive, and medicines are how we save ourselves from cancer and other diseases. Therefore, we will award government-backed monopolies – patents – to pharma companies so they will have an incentive to invest their shareholders’ capital in research. There’s plenty wrong with this argument. For one Read more about Uncle Sam paid to develop a cancer drug and now one guy will get to charge whatever he wants for it[…]

The European Commission today proposed new rules to improve the protection of intellectual property (IP) in Europe, covering patents relating to industry standards, compulsory licensing of patents in crisis situations, and the revision of the legislation on supplementary protection certificates. These will work hand-in-hand with the unitary patent system that 17 EU countries are to Read more about Commission sets out to harmonise EU patent rules[…]

Russia has effectively legalized patent theft from anyone affiliated with countries “unfriendly” to it, declaring that unauthorized use will not be compensated. The Washington Post reports: The decree, issued this week, illustrates the economic war waged around Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as the West levies sanctions and pulls away from Russia’s huge oil and gas Read more about Something good from the war: Russia Says Its Businesses Can Use Patents From Anyone In ‘Unfriendly’ Countries[…]

To hear many politicians (and, tragically, many academics) tell the story, patents and patent policy are keys to innovation. Indeed, many studies trying to measure innovation use the number of patents as a proxy. For years, we’ve argued that there is little evidence that patents are in any way correlated with innovation. Indeed, in practice, Read more about If Patents Are So Important To Innovation, Why Do Innovative Companies Keep Opening Up Their Patents Rather Than Enforcing Them?[…]

Artificial intelligence has myriad use cases, but it turns out inventing devices isn’t one of them — at least in the eyes of the US Patent and Trademark Office. The agency issued a decision on two patent applications for devices created by an AI system, determining that only humans can legally be credited as inventors. Read more about AI can’t be legally credited as an inventor, says US Patent Office[…]

Techdirt has just written about the extraordinary legal action taken against a company producing Covid-19 tests. Sadly, it’s not the only example of some individuals putting profits before people. Here’s a story from Italy, which is currently seeing more new coronavirus cases and deaths than anywhere else in the world. Last Thursday, a hospital in Read more about Volunteers 3D-Print Unobtainable $11,000 Valve For $1 To Keep Covid-19 Patients Alive; Original Manufacturer Threatens To Sue[…]

Remember Theranos? The blood-testing company worth billions whose CEO Elizabeth Holmes became a celebrity right up until the point when it became clear its revolutionary testing machines didn’t actually work as described? Well, Theranos is dead, and Holmes is still dealing with the legal repercussions, but her vampire company has come alive again – and Read more about Theranos vampire lives on: Owner of failed blood-testing biz’s patents sues maker of actual COVID-19-testing kit[…]

Partly in response to this licensing mess, and HEVC’s high per-device cost, the Alliance for Open Media was formed in September 2015: Seven leading Internet companies today announced formation of the Alliance for Open Media — an open-source project that will develop next-generation media formats, codecs and technologies in the public interest. The Alliance’s founding Read more about Former Refrigerator Manufacturer Says Companies Using Open Source, Royalty-Free Video Technology Must Pay To License 2,000 Patents – wait what?![…]

The GNOME Foundation is facing a lawsuit from Rothschild Patent Imaging, LLC. Rothschild allege that Shotwell, a free and open source personal photo manager infringes its patent. Neil McGovern, Executive Director for the GNOME Foundation says “We have retained legal counsel and intend to vigorously defend against this baseless suit. Due to the ongoing litigation, Read more about GNOME is Being Sued Because Shotwell Photo Manager can wirelessly transfer images. The US Patent Office really gave a patent to transfer images and label them to a patent troll.[…]

Google has won a patent dispute over its famous “I’m feeling lucky” button that immediately connects a user to its top-raking search link with a single click. The search engine giant was sued in 2016 by Israeli company Spring Ventures (previously Buy2 Networks) for allegedly infringing on its patent, US 8,661,094, that covers displaying a Read more about Do you feel ‘lucky’, well, do you, punk? Google faces down magic button patent claim[…]

Qualcomm Inc. says its fight with Apple Inc. over how much the chipmaker can charge for essential patented technology used in iPhones and iPads is getting pricey. “They’re trying to destroy our business,” Qualcomm lawyer Evan Chesler said at a hearing Friday in federal court in San Diego. “They’re now $7 billion dollars behind in Read more about Qualcomm Says Apple Is $7 Billion Behind in Royalty Payments[…]

The Portuguese Courts issued today a decision against Google in relation to the injunction filed by Aptoide. It is applicable on 82 countries including UK, Germany, USA, India, among others. Google will have to stop Google Play Protect from removing the competitor Aptoide‘s app store from users‘ phone without users‘ knowledge which has caused losses Read more about Aptoide, alternative app store: EU National Court Rules Against Google in Anti-Trust Process, it has to be shown in the Play Store and can’t be removed by Google[…]

Microsoft has applied to patent a brain control interface, so you’ll be able to “think” your way around a computer device, hands free.Last year, Facebook claimed to have 60 engineers engaged in BCI [brain computer interface] but Microsoft isn’t going to take this sitting down. It’s erm, sitting down and thinking really hard.The application Changing Read more about Microsoft wants to patent mind control – show how stupid the patent system really is[…]

If you’ve read our coverage of the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s “Stupid Patent of the Month” series, you know America has a patent quality problem. People apply for patents on ideas that are obvious, vague, or were invented years earlier. Too often, applications get approved and low-quality patents fall into the hands of patent trolls, creating Read more about These experts figured out why so many bogus US patents get approved[…]

Two founders of The Pirate Bay have been ordered by a court in Finland to pay record labels more than $477,000 in compensation. Fredrik Neij and Gottfrid Svartholm were found liable for ongoing copyright breaches on the site. Neither appeared to mount a defense so both were found guilty in their absence. In November 2011, Read more about Pirate Bay Founders Ordered to Pay Music Labels $477,000[…]

When a patent owner sells a product the sale exhausted patent rights regardless of any restrictions the patentee attempts to impose on location of the sale. Source: Supreme Court rules Lexmark sales exhausted patent rights domestically and internationally – IPWatchdog.com | Patents & Patent Law Earlier this morning the United States Supreme Court issued an Read more about Supreme Court rules Lexmark sales exhausted patent rights domestically and internationally[…]

A question mark over whether the GNU GPL – the widely used free-software license – is enforceable as a contract may have been resolved by a US federal judge. In a California district court, Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley refused [PDF] to accept what has been an uncomfortable legal precedent for the past decade. She ruled Read more about For now, GNU GPL is an enforceable contract, says US federal judge • The Register[…]

Rather than a corporation that hires outside lawyers to pursue infringement claims, Blackbird is a small law firm strapped to a war chest of patents. It is an all-in-one form-filling, claim-filing robot. It has no extra baggage and no expensive legal bills to pay, making it a rather lean and mean machine. “In the past, Read more about Cloudflare goes berserk on next-gen patent troll Blackbird, vows to utterly destroy it using prior-art bounties[…]

Pear Technology, which produces digital mapping software and services, applied for the pear logo in 2014 and was almost immediately challenged by Apple, which claimed it was confusingly similar to its own apple-with-a-bite-out-of-it silhouette logo. The Cupertino intellectual property lawyers claimed that despite one being a picture of a pear and one being a picture Read more about iPhone lawyers literally compare Apples with Pears in trademark war – and win![…]

Video game fans have been anticipating the latest franchise from CD Projekt Red, Cyberpunk 2077, for years. But only recently did it come to light that the makers of The Witcher franchise had trademarked the term “Cyberpunk” and this week some fans cried foul. Now, the developer is insisting that everything is ok and they’ll Read more about Video Game Maker Sparks Outrage With Trademark of ‘Cyberpunk’[…]

Indeed, Costco might just be trying to beat Acushnet at a legal game that the ball maker has mastered—court sport. Acushnet has managed to muscle out other upstarts easily, simply by filing complaints. Tiny manufacturers who can’t afford to litigate have been forced to fold based on Acushet’s accusations alone, with no proof of infringement. Read more about Costco golf ball suit shows how threatening with unfounded patent accusations causes companies to die[…]

Today, the Supreme Court heard arguments in a case that could allow companies to keep a dead hand of control over their products, even after you buy them. The case, Impression Products v. Lexmark International, is on appeal from the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, who last year affirmed its own precedent allowing Read more about Patents Are A Big Part Of Why We Can’t Own Nice Things: the Supreme Court Should Fix That[…]

In this case, Apple claimed that Samsung infringed patents for the slide-to-unlock feature, autocorrect and a way to detect phone numbers so they can be tapped to make phone calls. The bulk of the award, $98.7 million, was for the detection patent that the earlier panel said wasn’t infringed. The February decision also said the Read more about Apple Wins Appeal Reinstating $119.6 Million Samsung Verdict, showing insanity of patent law[…]