I am glad that a patent troll has directly attacked one of the software giants. Now hopefully Microsoft with its deep pockets and legal team can crush this troll.
They will probably just pay them off, it's simpler.
Patent troll claims it invented the Windows 8 and Windows Phone “tiles”
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Re: Patent troll claims it invented the Windows 8 and Windows Phone “tiles”
#22I know there has been a spat of these recently, but I always think about Robert Kearns and his lifelong battle against Ford for his intermittent windshield wiper patent. As much as we hate patent trolls, once and a while, there is an exception to rule which proves us all wrong.
Is an intermittent windshield wiper really worthy of a 20-year monopoly?
Re: Patent troll claims it invented the Windows 8 and Windows Phone “tiles”
#23Is it possible to sue a patent troll for time and legal fees if you win the original case? I know they are basically shell corporations, but it would be great to see these patent cases incurring some risk for the trolls.
Absolutely. http://www.flhlaw.com/pubs/xprPubDetail.aspx?xpST=PubDetail&... "Under Section 285 of the Patent statute, courts have discretion to award reasonable attorneys’ fees in patent infringement cases that are deemed “exceptional.” 35 U.S.C. § 285. The Federal Circuit noted that while the threat of enhanced damages for willful infringement under 35 U.S.C. § 284 deters bad faith conduct on the part of the accused…
Additional fee shifting information from a recent federal circuit ruling here:
http://www.patentlyo.com/patent/2012/10/should-we-move-towar...
Re: Patent troll claims it invented the Windows 8 and Windows Phone “tiles”
#24I know there has been a spat of these recently, but I always think about Robert Kearns and his lifelong battle against Ford for his intermittent windshield wiper patent. As much as we hate patent trolls, once and a while, there is an exception to rule which proves us all wrong.
Is an intermittent windshield wiper really worthy of a 20-year monopoly?
Depends on how much you have invested in it.
Re: Patent troll claims it invented the Windows 8 and Windows Phone “tiles”
#25Is it possible to sue a patent troll for time and legal fees if you win the original case? I know they are basically shell corporations, but it would be great to see these patent cases incurring some risk for the trolls.
What is the risk to a company whose only asset is the patent which, should they fail to win their case, is probably useless anyway?
Welcome to the problem of limited liability corporations in general. You think it's irksome to win a judgment against a shell that has no assets in the patent troll context, imagine it in the environmental damage, shareholder fraud, etc, context.
Re: Patent troll claims it invented the Windows 8 and Windows Phone “tiles”
#26I am glad that a patent troll has directly attacked one of the software giants. Now hopefully Microsoft with its deep pockets and legal team can crush this troll.
It doesn't actually do much good to "crush" this company, right? They started this company around one set of patents. They can start other companies for other patents. The act of incorporating shields them from losing much in the case of having to cover legal costs for the defendant.
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Re: Patent troll claims it invented the Windows 8 and Windows Phone “tiles”
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
Microsoft lose in such cases surprisingly often. Smart Tags in Office, onclick activation of plugins in IE...
Yup. Fuck, they lost their right to use "Metro" to describe their now "Modern-UI style." MASSIVE fuck up in my opinion. Microsoft should have raided the coffers to protect using that term.
Agreed it was a massive SNAFU. Metro AG is a huge corp, based in Germany, that wasn't interested in licensing the 'Metro' trademark to MS in a settlement. I don't think any dollar amount was mentioned for continued use of Metro.
Re: Patent troll claims it invented the Windows 8 and Windows Phone “tiles”
#28I am REALLY pissed off. Idiotic patent trolls. GAH
Re: Patent troll claims it invented the Windows 8 and Windows Phone “tiles”
#29For those interested in the actual patent here is a link: http://www.surfcast.com/images/pdfs/US6724403.pdf
I particularly find the following quote interesting from the last line on the first page: "The present invention is intended to operate in a platform independent manner."
Re: Patent troll claims it invented the Windows 8 and Windows Phone “tiles”
#30It sounds like SurfCast owns some pretty valuable intellectual property. Good for them!
Of course, I wonder if they've been paying taxes on that property. If not, then Maine Revenue Services might be interested in the fact that a local corporation has been evading their taxes.
On the other hand, if SurfCast is willing to attest to the Maine Revenue Service that their property has no value and should not be taxed, then I'd like to see Microsoft introduce that into court as evidence that SurfCast can't have suffered financial harm.
So which is it: is SurfCast filing a baseless lawsuit over valueless property or are they tax evaders?