Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Creator Of The X-Plane Flight Simulator Seeks Help Fighting A Patent Troll

techcrunch.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 101 posts

Re: Creator Of The X-Plane Flight Simulator Seeks Help Fighting A Patent Troll

#41

Post by devmach »

emmelaich wrote: post #37
devmach wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm studying in Germany abroad and i have a u.s. green card. After reading so much crap about u.s. patent system, i'm really considering staying in Germany or immigrate to another country ( like Singapore ?? ) and start a business there. I know, one person doesn't make a difference furthermore i'm not a "very important super mega top ninja hipster talented programmer" and every county has it's own problems. The thing…

I believe German trademark law has been (ab)used, too, so don't think you're completely safe.

I'm aware that i'm not completely safe but from my perspective it looks like, if the situation affecting the economy , Europeans will react and do something about it.

Patent trolling is a problem in U.S. since a long time but nobody want's to fix it. Politicians seems doesn't care, big corporations simply pay fees and reflect them to their customers or like in this case, companies let patent trolls screw their suppliers / business partners.

Entrepreneurs & companies spending billions[0] for nothing, current patent system ironically hinders innovation, which is clearly bad for the economy and the country, everybody complains but nothing changes. I'm really having a hard time understanding why is this happening [1]

[0] : http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/06/study-...

[1] : Just to clarify, i'm not saying country a is better than country b. I'm just really trying to understand.

Re: Creator Of The X-Plane Flight Simulator Seeks Help Fighting A Patent Troll

#43

Post by neurotech1 »

IANAL But this patent screams of "obviousness", or technically "would a person skilled in the art or science, consider this non-obvious and novel". Most likely not.

I find it stupid how by obfuscating, rephrasing and refactoring claims to avoid a prior art search by the examiner, and by making it sound confusingly novel, patents actually get granted for things like this.

Re: Creator Of The X-Plane Flight Simulator Seeks Help Fighting A Patent Troll

#44

Post by neurotech1 »

triplesec wrote: post #29

I'm not really sure on this, but Uniloc owner Ric Richardson doesn't seem prima facie to fit the normal patent troll profile: he appears to be a bona fide inventor, but then I only looked at wikipedia and his blog http://ricrichardson.blogspot.co.uk/ . Doesn't mean I support his action, of course and the whle legal system is fcked, hence the problem of the trolls, like Nathan Myrhvold's "Intellectual Ventures" https:…

Doesn't mean this patent is "non-obvious", not excessively vague/broad. He attracted negative attention by going after X-Plane based on a vaguely scoped patent.

Re: Creator Of The X-Plane Flight Simulator Seeks Help Fighting A Patent Troll

#45

Post by jpark »

mkhattab wrote: post #34

It's interesting to note that the number of patent cases in East Texas quadrupled from 2003 to 2004, from 14 to 59 cases, then increased again to 236 in 2006 [1]. Is there an economic benefit for the citizens in that district? [1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_District_Court_fo...

Yes, that is why it is very difficult to get a change of venue out of the Eastern District.

That's just one of the reasons why ED Texas is so deadly.

Others:

In the ED, it is extremely difficult to get a motion to stay pending review of the patent by the USPTO. The court also moves very quickly, which compresses the financial burden of defense into a short time period. The fast moving court also makes it difficult to get a review completed by the USPTO in time before trial.

That said, the AIA compels the USPTO to rule much quicker, increasing the probability that you can get the patent invalidated before it reaches trial. However, the cost of the new review process is incredibly expensive: hundreds of thousands of dollars if you have an average lawyer. Could be a million if you have a top law firm billing you.

Re: Creator Of The X-Plane Flight Simulator Seeks Help Fighting A Patent Troll

#47

Post by neurotech1 »

hagios wrote: post #12
melling wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't see a link to donate. Wouldn't it be better for the FSF to create a generic fund that agressively went after these trolls? I'd give a couple hundred dollars a year.

I'd donate at least a couple hundred a year if the FSF/EFF did this exactly.

EFF is involved in this https://www.eff.org/patent-busting Feel free to donate :)

Re: Creator Of The X-Plane Flight Simulator Seeks Help Fighting A Patent Troll

#48

Post by hakaaaaak »

coditor wrote: post #21
revelation wrote: post #11

Google has completely jumped the shark and is now being controlled by mindless business drones that will drive the company into the ground in just a few years. For your consideration: They allow a patent troll to potentially set a legal precedent for what constitutes a big part of their app infrastructure. They probably figured that its cheaper to build around the patent and let this one developer eat shit. They are…

At least Apple helped in their version of this. Google ignoring their own technology and customers is the epitome of Be Evil.

What I never understood is why Google's motto wasn't "Be Good". Logically and linguistically, "be good" is simpler than "Don't Be Evil", even if they aren't logically equivalent. And, as any psychologist will tell you, you don't say or think what you are trying to avoid; instead, you focus on something else that achieves the same goal, so if you were trying not to be evil, the word evil shouldn't even be in the motto.

If they had focused on "Be Good", perhaps they would have fully instituted good service from the beginning and embraced personal customer contact.

Re: Creator Of The X-Plane Flight Simulator Seeks Help Fighting A Patent Troll

#49

Post by OGC »

beering wrote: post #24
rossjudson wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

20 years ago I (and many others) had shareware registration systems that did this kind of thing. ShareIt ring a bell with anyone? There's absolutely no way that there isn't prior art for this.

Funnily enough, this patent was reexamined in 2011 and 100% reaffirmed.

(U.S.) Patent System: 100 % fucked.

Re: Creator Of The X-Plane Flight Simulator Seeks Help Fighting A Patent Troll

#50

Post by chris_wot »

beering wrote: post #24
rossjudson wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

20 years ago I (and many others) had shareware registration systems that did this kind of thing. ShareIt ring a bell with anyone? There's absolutely no way that there isn't prior art for this.

Funnily enough, this patent was reexamined in 2011 and 100% reaffirmed.

And yet they missed obvious prior art. Thus shows the patent system is broken, nothing else.
Post reply on HN