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Why Rackspace Is Suing The Most Notorious Patent Troll In America

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Re: Why Rackspace Is Suing The Most Notorious Patent Troll In America

#91
post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are overlooking the fact that patent trolls do have real patents. From the blog post, for example: """ Until Congress reforms the patent laws, companies of all sizes and industries could – and likely will – find themselves in the crosshairs of a greedy patent troll looking for a quick cash-grab. No company is immune, and, sadly, small companies can’t afford to fight. If they don’t succumb to the troll’s demands b…

No, I am not overlooking that fact. A "real" patent is simply a document that says you were granted one. It says nothing about the quality of the patent or the merit of it at all. I have read through hundreds and hundreds of patents over the years. I can say that the vast majority of them have been gut-wrenching bullshit patents. Yes, yes, an attorney will argue that there are subtleties to the claims that make them…

I can only imagine the kind of show it would be if Dennis Ritchie happened to patent the curly brace's use? I wonder if someone could bypass BS patents by simply writing an alias language. That is, instead of using English terms (IF, ELSE) they would use (SI, MAS).

Re: Why Rackspace Is Suing The Most Notorious Patent Troll In America

#92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

everyone company who joins this 'kill the trolls' fund would love this until one of their own patents are accused as trollish by another member.

If you're going to sue people for patent infringement you probably shouldn't be joining the patent trolling defense fund. Otherwise, if you've only got defensive patents (or no patents) the patent trolling defense fund isn't going to do any harm to you.

MPEG-LA is a troll company that only exists to create a monopoly on video. Most of the big tech companies are part of it.

Re: Why Rackspace Is Suing The Most Notorious Patent Troll In America

#93
post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are overlooking the fact that patent trolls do have real patents. From the blog post, for example: """ Until Congress reforms the patent laws, companies of all sizes and industries could – and likely will – find themselves in the crosshairs of a greedy patent troll looking for a quick cash-grab. No company is immune, and, sadly, small companies can’t afford to fight. If they don’t succumb to the troll’s demands b…

No, I am not overlooking that fact. A "real" patent is simply a document that says you were granted one. It says nothing about the quality of the patent or the merit of it at all. I have read through hundreds and hundreds of patents over the years. I can say that the vast majority of them have been gut-wrenching bullshit patents. Yes, yes, an attorney will argue that there are subtleties to the claims that make them…

But it is almost surreal to think that the most fundamental act of man, to feed yourself in order to remain alive, requires a license fee paid to government

Slightly OT but in this case, given that unrestricted fishing might well cause the fish to go extinct in short order, so nobody can benefit from them to feed their families (see: tragedy of the commons), some form of government regulation might be a pretty good idea, 'fundamental laws' notwithstanding.

Re: Why Rackspace Is Suing The Most Notorious Patent Troll In America

#94

I've said this here before more than once. The solution is for tech companies to fund a massive entity who's only purpose in life is to mercilessly sue patent trolls. Destroy them. Go after their patents. Invalidate them. Make it so costly to even attempt to enforce a bullshit patent that they will only dare take that step if they have a really good solid patent. If the top 100 companies in tech donated just ten mill…

everyone company who joins this 'kill the trolls' fund would love this until one of their own patents are accused as trollish by another member.

To make it sensible, companies who potentially could join this would have to abide by non aggressive patent stance. So MS and Apple and other patent racketeers can forget it right from the start.

Re: Why Rackspace Is Suing The Most Notorious Patent Troll In America

#95
post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eventually you'd run out of patents that are even remotely defensible... The problem is that more are being assigned all of the time. And if the assignee goes bankrupt, trolls can buy the patent rights for a song.

Right, but a patent X can only be used to attack technology Y if X predates Y. So once all the pre-Y patents have been struck down you're a lot safer. Even though X might be a totally unoriginal patent, if it predates the technology it's attacking, it might still be hard to defend against. Strike down the patent and it's done - and you cnan't assign another patent in the past.

Technologies continue changing. Your core technology may be older, but if you've integrated with some recent Z, you can still be attacked by patent X, even though your core technology is older.

Look at Apple for instance. It is older than all of the patents it is being sued with. Many of the lawsuits that it faces are for cases where the patent is younger than Apple's technology. Apple still gets sued for it though.

Re: Why Rackspace Is Suing The Most Notorious Patent Troll In America

#96
post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, I am not overlooking that fact. A "real" patent is simply a document that says you were granted one. It says nothing about the quality of the patent or the merit of it at all. I have read through hundreds and hundreds of patents over the years. I can say that the vast majority of them have been gut-wrenching bullshit patents. Yes, yes, an attorney will argue that there are subtleties to the claims that make them…

But it is almost surreal to think that the most fundamental act of man, to feed yourself in order to remain alive, requires a license fee paid to government Slightly OT but in this case, given that unrestricted fishing might well cause the fish to go extinct in short order, so nobody can benefit from them to feed their families (see: tragedy of the commons), some form of government regulation might be a pretty good i…

I think this is where we might differ. I believe that people are fundamentally good. Yes, there's an ass in every crowd, but I really believe most people are good and would voluntarily follow reasonable rules.

That said, I don't have a problem with having carefully chosen and crafted laws that punish bad behavior. In other words, I should be able to go fishing without having to pay the government for a permit.

I'll give you a concrete example of the "people are fundamentally good" idea. Yesterday, as I said, I took the kids fishing to a local lake. When we got there we saw a sign that said something like " Cove closed due to spawning. No boat or fishing". We actually motored by the cove en-route to our spot. There were no signs there and only a couple of buoys marking low submerged rocky formations. Not one person was fishing there. Not one boat entered. There must have been dozens of boats on the lake. This area is very isolated. The closest ramp is nearly five miles away. You could go in there and do as you wish, yet people responsibly respected the request to not do so.

I really don't think most sports fishermen would go out and fish at an industrial scale if permits were not required. Today, you'd easily let everyone know of limits, seasons and issues via email/web methods and the vast majority of people would comply. That's what I believe. I could be wrong.

Re: Why Rackspace Is Suing The Most Notorious Patent Troll In America

#97
post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But it is almost surreal to think that the most fundamental act of man, to feed yourself in order to remain alive, requires a license fee paid to government Slightly OT but in this case, given that unrestricted fishing might well cause the fish to go extinct in short order, so nobody can benefit from them to feed their families (see: tragedy of the commons), some form of government regulation might be a pretty good i…

I think this is where we might differ. I believe that people are fundamentally good. Yes, there's an ass in every crowd, but I really believe most people are good and would voluntarily follow reasonable rules. That said, I don't have a problem with having carefully chosen and crafted laws that punish bad behavior. In other words, I should be able to go fishing without having to pay the government for a permit. I'll g…

But if ten thousand fundamentally good people go fishing in a river with nine thousand fish, that fish still goes extinct.

And that doesn't account for the one ass who decides to overfish.

Re: Why Rackspace Is Suing The Most Notorious Patent Troll In America

#98

I've said this here before more than once. The solution is for tech companies to fund a massive entity who's only purpose in life is to mercilessly sue patent trolls. Destroy them. Go after their patents. Invalidate them. Make it so costly to even attempt to enforce a bullshit patent that they will only dare take that step if they have a really good solid patent. If the top 100 companies in tech donated just ten mill…

> The US government ought to also provide a sizable chunk of money to this fund as well as tax-exempt status.

Or it could just, you know, stop this whole patent troll madness altogether.

Re: Why Rackspace Is Suing The Most Notorious Patent Troll In America

#99
post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But it is almost surreal to think that the most fundamental act of man, to feed yourself in order to remain alive, requires a license fee paid to government Slightly OT but in this case, given that unrestricted fishing might well cause the fish to go extinct in short order, so nobody can benefit from them to feed their families (see: tragedy of the commons), some form of government regulation might be a pretty good i…

I think this is where we might differ. I believe that people are fundamentally good. Yes, there's an ass in every crowd, but I really believe most people are good and would voluntarily follow reasonable rules. That said, I don't have a problem with having carefully chosen and crafted laws that punish bad behavior. In other words, I should be able to go fishing without having to pay the government for a permit. I'll g…

Google "tragedy of the commons". People are not fundamentally good. They lie, cheat and steal, if they can get away with it. Good behavior results from successful socialization. Socialization can also result in some pretty bad behavior. Regulation is necessary because not all people are "good" to some arbitrary standard. Even I'm not good. I just had to fork over $277 for going 35 in a 25 mph zone, but I would rather pay my fine than have no police at all.

Re: Why Rackspace Is Suing The Most Notorious Patent Troll In America

#100

I've said this here before more than once. The solution is for tech companies to fund a massive entity who's only purpose in life is to mercilessly sue patent trolls. Destroy them. Go after their patents. Invalidate them. Make it so costly to even attempt to enforce a bullshit patent that they will only dare take that step if they have a really good solid patent. If the top 100 companies in tech donated just ten mill…

The issue with this stance is that your 'opponent' can easily shift assets and IP ownership so as to absorb the loss via litigation in a company which has non-transferable licenses, but maintain ownership over the patents in a seperate corp, essentially shielding them from any substantial loss that litigation would bring. Even if they lose, they just need to open another corp and re-license.

The problem? That means that your mega-corp would be at a net-loss for every patent suit filed. What's more, it would create the issue wherein parties who couldn't adhere to the standards of whatever mega-entity are exiled from the industry.

The only corps that can be sued effectively are those with cash. This is why people are willing to innovate in patented areas; if they succeed, they're rich and can afford to pay for litigation. If they lose, they won't get sued anyways.

Additionally, how exactly do you sue an NPE? They aren't infringing a patent. That's the entire idea behind being an NPE in the first place; you're not dissuaded by counter-patent litigation because you don't practice. NPEs were a reaction to the exact type of litigation broadside that you're talking about, specifically that patent-rich corps (Apple, Google, Microsoft and most of the companies in the telecom industry, for instance are a notable subset) could amass a patent portfolio so large that any encroachment you made into their industry would saddle you with massive search and negotiation costs in order for you to pay licensing fees, or open yourself up to being demolished in court the moment they needed you out of the market.

Non-practicing entities aren't really the issue. Most companies cannot, and do not, have the skills and assets to effectively enforce their rights. If you're a developer, you're better at focusing on developing. Accordingly it makes sense to allow people specialized in IPR enforcement to do that work for you. The idea that 'anything under the sun' can be captured under a method patent is far more sinister, and it accounts for the massive inflation in patents. The fact that protections over electronics are receiving overlapping IPRs from copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret is a far larger issue. It shouldn't be an issue of 'who' is asserting the patent rights, but rather 'what' patent rights they can assert. You bring this up in one of your replies, and I think your follow-up argumentation is a lot closer to a solution than this initial post.

Circuit topography's protection in the law makes a lot more sense, as its tailored to the industry it seeks to regulate. Patent, however, is a circus with too many clowns under the big-top.

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