“Blockchain” Hype and “FinTech”-Like Buzzwords Usher in Software Patents Everywhere, Even Where Such Patents Are Obviously Bunk
“On a computer” patents (lacking physical, concrete components and usually lacking novelty)
Summary: Not only the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) embraces the “blockchain” hype; business methods and algorithms are being granted patent ‘protection’ (exclusivity) which would likely be disputed by the courts (if that ever reaches the courts)
THE EPO grants software patents even though it’s not supposed to. So does the USPTO in spite of 35 U.S.C. § 101/Alice. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) inter partes reviews (IPRs) would certainly invalidate these with the Federal Circuit affirming these decisions.
“All of these patents are bogus, bunk software patents”We’ve already expressed many criticisms of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS), where patent maximalists and even software patents are being tolerated. The same goes for SIPO in China, but not quite the JPO and KIPO in Japan and South Korea, respectively.
Singapore is basically racing to the bottom with software patents, as confirmed only hours ago (“How Singapore Is Fast-Tracking FinTech Patent Applications”). A FinTech patent is just a software patent with a buzzword, yet apparently IPOS is happy to glorify such patents:
The box-office smash hit, “Crazy Rich Asians”, is on everyone’s lips (and social media feeds) nowadays. The Singapore-set Hollywood movie, featuring an all-Asian cast, comically peers into the lives of the one-percenters strutting their stuff in famously up-market Singapore. Love it or hate it, the movie nails one thing for sure: Singapore is a playground for the financially savvy; a haven for financial technology (commonly known as “FinTech”).
In this spirit, the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (“IPOS”) has launched a fast-track patent scheme determined to accelerate innovation for finance sector inventions. This one-year scheme, dubbed the FinTech Fast Track (“FTFT”) initiative, began in April and will end on 26 April 2019. Essentially, FTFT provides for expedited prosecution of FinTech patent applications – a much welcomed initiative for the sector.
[…]
As for the general question, a 2013 Working Paper by the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment found that while participation was low, the priority given did speed processes up. As such, the initiative did succeed in accelerating development of clean technologies during the first years after the publication of the patents. As for Singapore, this blogger spoke with several FinTech patent examiners, who noted that to prevent abuse, priority for genuine Fintech patents is protected by trained examiners, who detect patent applications unrelated to FinTech but that are (mis)applied for under FTFT.
There’s no good reason to do this. The same goes for many other digital advancements in the area of finance, including Bitcoin and blockchains. Any “blockchain” patent is just another software patent, yet we keep seeing reports about such patents being pursued and sometimes awarded. Days ago we saw “Hedera Hashgraph, A Blockchain Distributed Ledger Tech Rival, Wants Patent Law Protection” and “Blockchain Market Continues to Grow as Record Number of Patents Were Filed in 2017″ (we covered the subject before).
All of these patents are bogus, bunk software patents. They’re a waste of time and paper. NBC Right Now is responsible for the latter article which says this:
According to a research report published by Global Market Insights, the blockchain market size is expected to surpass USD 16 Billion by 2024. The blockchain technology builds a secure record of transactions between two parties, eliminating the need for a third-party intermediary. The technology was first applied in cryptocurrency and now, it is widely used in various industry. The market is expected to witness rapid growth as the technology can significantly reduce the cost of operation and enhance efficiency for businesses. As a result, the financial sector is expected to benefit the most from the development of the technology. Victory Square Technologies Inc. (OTC: VSQTF), Pareteum Corporation (NYSE: TEUM), Seven Stars Cloud Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: SSC), Appian Corporation (NASDAQ: APPN), Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (NYSE: BBVA).
Well, measuring adoption of something in terms of patent applications is lying. It’s hype.
Separately, an article was published to say that “China Accelerates Blockchain Patent Activity” — merely a reminder that China is the only large economy in the world which officially permits — at its own peril — patents on software. To quote the nonsensical sentences which precede it all:
In tech, innovation is everything. In innovation, intellectual property is, well, almost everything — it can be the hardware, the software, the processes that comes from the creative endeavor. You might consider patents a form of competitive advantage.
News came last week that, when it comes to patents tied to the blockchain landscape, Thomson Reuters has found that China, and Alibaba, have had an outsized showing, and seem to be accelerating their patent filing activity.
The said Reuters article was covered here last weekend. What it arguably shows is a bunch of large firms — including banks — looking to guard themselves from competition and therefore creating a patent thicket. How does this contribute to innovation? Moreover, how are such patents not abstract? Many of these firms just stockpile lots of these patents, knowing that if leveraged inside or outside the court ‘in bulk’ they would be hard (and expensive) to invalidate/disprove exhaustively. It’s troubling to see patent offices playing along. We’ve been talking about this for a very long time. █
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) Helps Prevent Frivolous Software Patent Lawsuits
PTAB with its quality-improving inter partes reviews (IPRs) is enraging patent maximalists; but by looking to work around it or weaken it they will simply reduce the confidence associated with US patents
Abstract Patents (Things One Can Do With Pen and Paper, Sometimes an Abacus) Are a Waste of Money as Courts Disregard Them
A quick roundup of patents and lawsuits at the heart of which there’s little or no substance; 35 U.S.C. § 101 renders these moot
“Blockchain” Hype and “FinTech”-Like Buzzwords Usher in Software Patents Everywhere, Even Where Such Patents Are Obviously Bunk
Not only the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) embraces the “blockchain” hype; business methods and algorithms are being granted patent ‘protection’ (exclusivity) which would likely be disputed by the courts (if that ever reaches the courts)
Qualcomm’s Patent Aggression Threatens Rationality of Patent Scope in Europe and Elsewhere
Qualcomm’s dependence on patent taxes (so-called ‘royalties’ associated with physical devices which it doesn’t even make) highlights the dangers now known; the patent thicket has grown too “thick”
Months After Oil States the Patent Maximalists Are Still Desperate to Crush PTAB in the Courts, Not Just in Congress and the Office
Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) inter partes reviews (IPRs) improve patent quality and are therefore a threat to those who profit from spurious feuding and litigation; they try anything they can to turn things around
IAM, Watchtroll and the EPO Still Spread the Mentality of Patent Maximalism
The misguided idea that the objective (overall) should be to grant as many monopolies as possible (to spur a lot of litigation) isn’t being challenged in echo chamber ‘events’, set up and sponsored by think tanks and pressure groups of the litigation ‘industry’
Watchtroll and Other Proponents of Patent Trolls Are Trying to Change the Law Outside the Courts in Order to Bypass Patent Justice
35 U.S.C. § 101 (Section 101) voids almost every software patent — a reality that even the most zealous patent professionals have come to grips with and their way of tackling this ‘problem’ is legislative, albeit nowhere near successful (so far)
Links 16/9/2018: Windows Plays ‘Nice’ Again, Elisa Music Player 0.3 Beta and Latte Dock 0.8.1
Links for the day
Slamming Courts and Judges Won’t Help the Patent Maximalists; It Can Only Make Things Worse
Acorda Therapeutics sees its stock price dropping 25% after finding out that its patent portfolio isn’t solid, as affirmed by the Federal Circuitn(CAFC); the only way out of this mess is a pursuit of a vastly improved patent quality, thorough patent examination which then offers legal certainty
Patent Trolls Are Still Active and Microsoft is Closely Connected to Many of Them
A roundup of patent trolls’ actions in the United States; Microsoft is connected to a notably high number of these
Advancements in Automobile Technology Won’t be Possible With Patent Maximalism
Advancements in the development of vehicles are being discouraged by a thicket of patents as dumb (and likely invalid) as claims on algorithms and mere shapes
Battistelli “Has Deeply Hurt the Whole Patent Profession, Examiners as Well as Agents” and Also the Image of France
A French perspective regarding Battistelli’s reign at the EPO, which has not really ended but manifests itself or ‘metastasises’ through colleagues of Battistelli (whom he chose) and another French President (whom he also chose)
António Campinos Needs to Listen to Doctors Without Borders (MSF) et al to Salvage What’s Left of Public Consent for the EPO
Groups including Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and Médecins du Monde (MdM) have attempted to explain to the EPO, with notoriously French-dominated leadership, that it’s a mistake to work for Gilead at the expense of the public; but António Campinos is just another patent maximalist
The Max Planck Institute’s Determination on UPC’s (Unitary Patent) Demise is Only “Controversial” in the Eyes of Rabid Members of Team UPC
Bristows keeps lying like Battistelli; that it calls a new paper “controversial” without providing any evidence of a controversy says a lot about Bristows LLP, both as a firm and the individuals who make up the firm (they would not be honest with their clients, either)
Links 15/9/2018: Wine 3.16, Overwatch’s GNU/Linux (Wine) ‘Ban’, New Fedora 28 Build, and Fedora 29 Beta Delay
Links for the day
Max Planck Institute Pours More Water on the Dying Unitary Patent (UPC)
The Max Planck Institute gives another sobering reality check for Team UPC to chew on; there’s still no sign of any progress whatsoever for the UPC because even Team UPC appears to have given up and moved on
EPO Seals Many Death Sentences With Acceptance of EP 2604620
Very disappointing news as EP 2604620 withstands scrutiny, assuring that a lot of poor people will not receive much-needed, life-saving treatments
Links 13/9/2018: Compiz Comeback, ‘Life is Strange: Before the Storm’
Links for the day
Now We Have Patents on Rooms. Yes, Rooms!
The shallow level of what nowadays constitutes “innovation” and merits getting a patent for a couple of decades
EPO Granted a Controversial European Patent (Under Battistelli) Which May Literally Kill a Lot of People
The EPO (together with CIPA) keeps promoting software patents; patents that are being granted by the EPO literally put lives at risk and have probably already cost a lot of lives
Links 13/9/2018: Parrot 4.2.2, Sailfish OS Nurmonjoki, Eelo Beta
Links for the day
Patents on Life at the EPO Are a Symptom of Declining Patent Quality
When even life and natural phenomena are deemed worthy of a private monopoly it seems clear that the sole goal has become patenting rather than advancement of science and technology; media that’s controlled by the patent ‘industry’, however, fails to acknowledge this and plays along with privateers of nature
Defending the World’s Most Notorious Patent Trolls in an Effort to Smear the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) is an Utterly Poor Strategy
The ‘case’ for patent maximalism is very weak; those who spent years if not decades promoting patent maximalism have resorted to attacks on judges, to defense of trolls like Intellectual Ventures, defense of patent scams, and ridiculous attempts to call victims of patent trolls “trolls”
The Belated Demise of Propaganda Sites of the Litigation ‘Industry’
Sites that promote the interests of Big Litigation (patent trolls, patent law firms etc.) are ebbing away; in the process they still mothball the facts and push propaganda instead
Links 11/9/2018: OpenSSL 1.1.1, Alpine Linux 3.8.1, Copyright Fight in EU
Links for the day
Patentability of Software Constantly Pushed by the EPO Under António Campinos With Help From IAM, CIPA, IPO and Other Litigation Front Groups
The rogue EPO, which has lowered patent quality and is broadening patent scope much further under the leadership of António Campinos, isn’t even hiding its strong ties to the litigation ‘industry’ (not anymore)
Fresh Rumours of Further Accelerated Layoffs at the European Patent Office (EPO)
The latest rumours that swirl in Munich is that layoffs are coming that aren’t just ‘shadowed’ and, adding insult to injury, these will involve literally insulting fired examiners (blaming them rather than the management’s deliberately bad strategy)
Links 10/9/2018: Nano 3.0, Nextcloud 14, Elive 3.0 and Git 2.19 Released
Links for the day
Links 9/9/2018: New Mesa and Nitrux 1.0.15
Links for the day
Renaming Patents on Algorithms to Make Them Look and Sound Less Abstract Than They Really Are
How companies continue to receive software patents from the US patent office with substitution of words and an embrace of vague/broad buzzwords
Original Source