http://www.patexia.com Patexia Rss Feed Sat, 18 May 2013 09:19:14 -0700 http://www.patexia.com/feed/google-and-itc-go-through-the-motions-20121211 When Google purchased Motorola earlier this year, their intent to monopolize on Motorola's well-established patent portfolio was clear. As a result, Google's August move to file for an injunction with the International Trade Commission against several Apple products came as no surprise. While the question of infringement is (as usual) a difficult one, this week the ITC ruled against Google's injunction. Quite frankly, Google should have seen this coming (and maybe they did)... Google and ITC go through the motions() at patexia.com Tue, 11 Dec 2012 23:48:48 +0000 http://www.patexia.com/feed/corporate-patent-litigation-20121129 Whenever it comes time to scapegoat someone in the IP world, “patent troll” is the pejorative of choice. Even in polite company, “non-practicing entities” (NPEs) are seldom held in favorable light. The “dark side,” with Nathan Myhrvold as their symbolic leader, argues that the NPE model serves an important role in the IP marketplace, protecting the “little guys” and their ability to monetize their inventions. What’s more, they may have a... Corporate patent litigation() at patexia.com Thu, 29 Nov 2012 21:35:35 +0000 http://www.patexia.com/feed/crowd-sourced-traffic-lawsuit-goes-from-point-a-to-point-b-20121026 Now that the maps debacle of the iPhone 5 has died down, you may feel the need to update your destination for GPS-based schadenfreude. Simply trace the route of Apple partner TomTom, and you'll soon spot (driving at an inconsistent speed on a frontage road alongside the Patent Troll Expressway) a little company called Crowd Sourced Traffic. Crowd Sourced Traffic has been pursuing identical but separate lawsuits against TomTom and Waze since November of 2011, both of whom provide... Crowd Sourced Traffic Lawsuit Goes from Point A to Point B() at patexia.com Fri, 26 Oct 2012 18:30:13 +0000 http://www.patexia.com/feed/amazon-s-winding-course-through-the-patent-jungle-20120810 The tech IP vultures that circled around Nortel's demise reaped a hefty reward of patents, but at the cost of sharing the $4.5 billion patent windfall. Apple took the lion's share, but EMC, Ericsson, Microsoft, RIM and Sony also made out very well. Who was left out? Several likely companies, from Intel and Cisco to stalking-horse front-runner Google, and no-show Amazon. More recently, Amazon began showing more of an interest in IP, but lost an auction to Microsoft for 800-plus ... Amazon's winding course through the patent jungle() at patexia.com Sun, 12 Aug 2012 19:00:00 +0000 http://www.patexia.com/feed/innovator-or-troll-intellectual-ventures-remains-a-mystery-20120808 Intellectual Ventures paints itself a champion of innovation and a liberator of inventors. More and more detractors consider the patent private equity firm steered by polymath Nathan Myhrvold a giant patent troll. Not long ago, Intellectual Ventures was being viewed as something different, something curious and in between, an oasis where inventors get paid and inventions are equity. A magical place where labs, lawyers and licenses form a collective and share in the riches of something called ... Innovator or troll, Intellectual Ventures remains a mystery() at patexia.com Wed, 08 Aug 2012 18:00:00 +0000 http://www.patexia.com/feed/the-purpose-of-patents-why-software-patents-suck-20120806 As if Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook don’t have enough problems, Facebook’s being sued. The patent infringement suit filed by Software Rights Archives LLC (SRA) puts Facebook among the ranks of Twitter, Google, Yahoo, AOL, and Microsoft as a company SRA has filed suit against in the past two years. The three patents in question are software patents derivative of each other and entitled “Method and apparatus for indexing, searching and displaying data.”... Software patents: more a matter of time() at patexia.com Tue, 07 Aug 2012 18:00:36 +0000 http://www.patexia.com/feed/parallel-iron-distributed-data-and-the-shell-game-20120803 The '662 patent is owned by Parallel Iron, whose attorneys have recently filed suit against Internet giants such as Amazon, Facebook, and LinkedIn, and even some heavyweight finance names such as Morgan Stanley and Citigroup (whose resources and lawyers may provide us with a serious fight). The good news is that the proceedings will be held in the District Court of Delaware instead of the Eastern District of Texas, which means that there won't be any of the latter's... Parallel Iron, Distributed Data, and the Shell Game() at patexia.com Mon, 06 Aug 2012 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.patexia.com/feed/even-trucks-and-trailers-can-t-dodge-patent-suits-20120728 Based on recent patent infringement filings in the District Court of Delaware, trucking yards must be the next cradle of innovation. Mobile Logistics LLC, a faceless NPE, launched a sweeping attack on a notable mix of companies employing PINC Solution’s Yard Hound management system. Aimed at Fortune 500 companies operating in the retail, manufacturing, logistics and transportation sectors, Yard Hound is a real-time location system (RTLS) used to monitor and locate trailers stored in... Even trucks and trailers can’t dodge patent suits() at patexia.com Sun, 29 Jul 2012 07:00:00 +0000 http://www.patexia.com/feed/facebook-s-white-hat-counter-trolling-of-yahoo-750-ibm-patents-create-a-minefield-3474 Facebook recently fired a salvo in its defense against Yahoo by purchasing 750 patents from IBM. To backtrack a bit for those who have not been following the latest patent war, Yahoo recently sued Facebook. It’s not hard to see why they did it. Yahoo’s lost nearly five billion dollars for 2011. Compare to Facebook’s $3.71 billion profits for the same time period. The days when Yahoo was one of the hottest buzzwords on the Internet seem far, far away. The days when Facebook... Facebook's 'white hat' counter-trolling of Yahoo: 750 IBM patents create a minefield() at patexia.com Sat, 24 Mar 2012 15:30:30 +0000 http://www.patexia.com/feed/yahoo-a-patent-jackal-covets-the-facebook-ipo-lion-s-share-3026 Engulfed in the bidding frenzy of its upcoming $5 billion IPO, the last thing Facebook needed to hear was what Yahoo had to say to them this past Monday: if Facebook does not agree to pay licensing fees for about 10 to 20 patents that Yahoo holds, Yahoo will sue Facebook for patent infringement. “We must insist that Facebook either enter into a licensing agreement or we will be compelled to move forward unilaterally to protect our rights,” stated a Yahoo spokesperson. I... Yahoo: A patent jackal covets the Facebook IPO lion's share() at patexia.com Thu, 01 Mar 2012 14:43:43 +0000 http://www.patexia.com/feed/the-shell-game-of-intellectual-ventures-and-a-10000-marketing-report-1973 Is Intellectual Ventures (IV) really the ‘King of Patent Trolls’? If so, the company has done its best to earn the title. Objectively speaking, the research credentials of founder Nathan Myhrvold are impressive. After studying under none other than Dr. Stephen Hawking himself, Myrhvold started up a software company (in the Ancient '80s, no less, when tech companies were still mostly run by tech people) which got snapped up by Microsoft. While there, Myhrvold founded... The shell game of Intellectual Ventures and a $10000 marketing report() at patexia.com Mon, 02 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.patexia.com/feed/nih-decision-rescues-alzheimer-s-research-1245 An enlightened decision by the National Institutes of Health has freed up crucial transgenic strains of mice whose use for research was being threatened by a patent troll.   Alzheimer’s disease is one of the major scourges of old age, causing progressive deterioration of brain tissue. The result is symptoms including irritability, confusion, mood swings, difficulties with language, short- and long-term memory loss, and death. On average, once a patient is diagnosed with... NIH decision rescues Alzheimer's research() at patexia.com Wed, 02 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.patexia.com/feed/china-s-shift-from-imitation-to-innovation-20120523 The United States has always been a leader when it comes to innovation and invention.  However, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has become overworked and backlogged in recent years, resulting in a slow patent approval system and the granting of some questionable patents in the process.    One result has been the rise of patent trolls and increased litigation.  In response, the US  recently passed the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (the... China'€™s shift from imitation to innovation() at patexia.com Wed, 02 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.patexia.com/feed/patent-trolls-the-ip-protection-racket-1224 More than ever, patents are big business. And more than ever, there are business that are exclusively concerned with patents. The polite term is “non-manufacturing entities”, or NMEs. The less polite term is “patent trolls” -- the difference may be stark, or it can simply depend upon who is currently using the phrase. Last month, James Bessen, Jennifer Ford and Michael J. Meurer of the Boston University School of Law released "The Private and Social Costs ... Patent Trolls: The IP Protection Racket?() at patexia.com Mon, 31 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.patexia.com/feed/it-s-not-the-trolls-it-s-the-system-83 The latest patent troll case exploded into the U.S. District Court of Delaware earlier this month when Boadin Technology, L.L.C., filed an infringement suit against Bloomberg, Dow Jones & Company, the New York Times, CNBC, Fox News, Gannett, and Marketwatch. After filing, Boadin announced offering at auction (through ICAP Patent Brokerage) a covenant not to sue for infringement of these patents and others in their portfolio. This is a bit different from a license to practice the... It's not the trolls — it's the system!() at patexia.com Mon, 19 Sep 2011 12:51:01 +0000 http://www.patexia.com/feed/the-age-of-patent-trolls-either-attack-or-hide-65 Consider a hypothetical situation where the MD of ‘Techomigo’, a budding small software-technology company, receives a notice of infringement one fine afternoon and wonders what could be its cause since his company wasn’t involved in any technology-‘borrow or steal’ business. The notice demands an exorbitant amount for settling the matter or else threatens with a lawsuit. Or take another situation where ‘Extremesoft’, the leading software company of... The Age of Patent Trolls: Either attack or hide!() at patexia.com Tue, 26 Jul 2011 07:00:00 +0000