Abolish The Patent, Vanquish The Troll
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Abolish The Patent, Vanquish The Troll
1–10 of 143 posts
Re: Abolish The Patent, Vanquish The Troll
#2I really hope this is successful. I will begrudgingly admit that some patents probably are useful (that's a separate argument), but in the specific case of software, so many were granted at a time when general knowledge was very naive and so were unintentionally made to broad sweeping. Eliminating them is the best course of action.
The fact that it will take an independent committee up to 1 year to do so for each one is rather less encouraging.
Re: Abolish The Patent, Vanquish The Troll
#3This type of behavior is commendable. Cheers Rackspace.
Re: Abolish The Patent, Vanquish The Troll
#4Nothing makes me want to become a rackspace customer more than posts like this. I adore integrity.
Re: Abolish The Patent, Vanquish The Troll
#5If IPR for screen-rotation ends up with nullifying the patent, can organizations like EFF start doing that pro-actively for other ridiculous patents like One-Click-Buy and Swipe-to-Unlock? Or does the patent-holder have to be proven as a troll?
Re: Abolish The Patent, Vanquish The Troll
#6On the topic, this is quite an interesting TED talk given by Drew Curtis.
"You need to know that the average patent troll defense costs $2M and takes 18 months... when you win."
Drew Curtis: How I Beat a Patent Troll
Re: Abolish The Patent, Vanquish The Troll
#7"IPRs can be risky and costly. We know this IPR will cost us more than the $75,000 that Rotatable wanted to extort from us. But we are not just fighting for us; we are fighting for all the app developers who are also in the line of fire."
Clearly the patent system is defective and needs to be fixed radically (or patents entirely eliminated in the software space, which I personally believe is preferable).
Nevertheless the above suggests a possibility for a shorter-term fix. If companies could proactively band together in some kind of association to fund IPRs for every single troll attack, spreading out the costs of the IPR amongst the member companies, it would seem that this would make life for the trolls much harder. Indeed, simply listing your company membership in such an association on your website might be sufficient to ward them off, same as sticking alarm decals on car windows wards off many would-be car thieves.
Re: Abolish The Patent, Vanquish The Troll
#8Without a doubt, one of the most honourable deeds that a company can do for the rest of the world. The courage and altruism displayed by Rackspace should serve as a reminder to any company:
We cannot afford to let patent trolls win.
Re: Abolish The Patent, Vanquish The Troll
#9"IPRs can be risky and costly. We know this IPR will cost us more than the $75,000 that Rotatable wanted to extort from us. "
Would love to have the breakdown of where the legal fees are going to file the inter parties review. To me seems like several hundred hours of legal work involved. (75000/400 approx.)
http://www.uspto.gov/aia_implementation/bpai.jsp#heading-1
(Wondering also whether the IPR stays any legal proceedings that have started or prevents any legal proceedings.)
Re: Abolish The Patent, Vanquish The Troll
#10"IPRs can be risky and costly. We know this IPR will cost us more than the $75,000 that Rotatable wanted to extort from us. But we are not just fighting for us; we are fighting for all the app developers who are also in the line of fire." Clearly the patent system is defective and needs to be fixed radically (or patents entirely eliminated in the software space, which I personally believe is preferable). Nevertheless…
Wondering about a) antitrust issues with that and b) standing to file the IPR from an entity such as an association.
(Question, not a statement to which I know the answer.)