Patent Reform

Source: www.networkworld.com --- 11 days ago
$300,000 was the amount that Cisco parted with in Q2 to lobby legislators on Patent Reform, trade measures and efforts to crack down on cybercrime, reports the Associated Press . The money was also spent getting across its views on network neutrality, and efforts to spread broadband connections. Cisco also lobbied on a bill that would make it illegal for U.S. online content providers to hand over users' personal information to governments that restrict Web access. Read more ...

Source: techdailydose.nationaljournal.com --- 21 days ago
Tuesday's CongressDaily PM Edition included an article about how stakeholders involved in the debate over legislation that would overhaul the U.S. Patent system are already strategizing for the 111th Congress. The bill they were bickering over this year fizzled in the Senate and a companion measure passed the House amid objections from by the pharmaceutical industry, small high-tech firms and those whose business models depend on Patent licensing. The story did not include the perspectives of a very vocal (and feisty) contingent -- independent inventors -- and although I wrote about their concerns multiple times over the past year or so, I received a 1,500 word e-mail about it on Wednesday. So, I figured the least I could do was give them some space on Tech Daily Dose. I'm sure their views will spur even more dialogue over this hot topic. In the e-mail, inventor Stephen Wren argues that "all this talk of a need for Patent 'deform' is but a red herring fabricated by a handful of large tech firms as a diversion away from the real issue... that they have no valid defense against charges they are using other parties' technologies without permission." "It’s not about reforming the system. It’s about legalizing theft," he alleges. He also argues that corporate America's aim is "not to fix the Patent system, but to destroy it or pervert it so only they may obtain and defend patents; to make it a sport of kings." Wren goes on to say that ...

Source: www.genengnews.com --- 36 days ago
...

Source: www.topix.com --- 10 days ago
In How Patent Law Changes Could Hurt Small Inventors, Tamara Monosoff correctly reports that proposed Patent "Reform" hurts small inventors, but gets several facts wrong. ...

Source: twitter.com --- 13 days ago
arstechnica: Apple lobbied for Patent Reform, clean energy, more in Q2 - http://ping.fm/uuu1z ...

Source: www.topix.com --- 37 days ago
The race for Patent Reform has stalled - for now. Advocates for Reform see a day when a Patent for the crustless peanut butter and jelly sandwich is unthinkable - J. M. Smucker Co. ...

Source: www.lowenstein.com --- 55 days ago
...

Source: www.topix.com --- 41 days ago
On 15 July 2008, Slashdot had a post titled: MSM Noticing That Patent Gridlock Stunts Innovation, which includes text--> that most traditional of mainstream media, the Wall Street Journal, arguing the point ... ...

Source: www.policybytes.org --- 7 days ago
The Wall Street Journal recently ran has an important article by Stuart Weinberg, "Caught in the Crossfire." It describes the difficulties that small firms face in licensing patents to large firms. The fuss about bad patents and so called "Patent trolls"--firms that own patents, but do neither research nor production, and that make their money from suing other firms--has lead legislators and courts to consider steps to make it easier to challenge and less disastrous to infringe patents. But the result is significantly less protection for small firms that do invent and then license. "Caught in the Crossfire," describes the efforts of one firm, which was in the midst of negotiations to license its patents to Microsoft, when Microsoft initiated proceedings at the Patent office questioning the validity of all its patents. Whatever the merit of the technology at issue, clearly this sort of proceeding has a bad flavor. ... ...

Source: innovationcommercialization.wordpress.com --- 55 days ago
I am no expert on Patent law, but I do know that the purpose of the Patent system is to encourage the advancement of the state of technology. Without patents, which grant special rights to inventors allowing them to benefit from their work, the incentive to innovate is diminished. Weakening the value of a [...] ...

Source: www.marylandiplaw.com --- 44 days ago
     35 U.S.C. § 156(d)(1) requires the submission of a Patent term extension (PTE) application within 60 days from the date the patentee obtains permission from the FDA to commercially market or use a drug product that is the subject of a new drug application (NDA). This provision was enacted because FDA review of NDAs may take years after a Patent covering the drug that is the subject of the NDA has issued by the PTO.      On June 23, 2008, the U.S. House of Representatives passed by voice vote H.R. 6344 , which had been introduced the same day by Rep. Delahunt (D-MA), and is similar to a provision included in the House version of the Patent Reform Act of 2007. The current bill is entitled "To provide emergency authority to delay or toll judicial proceedings in United States district and circuit courts, and for other purposes." Sec. 4 states: "The Director may accept an application under this section that is filed not later than three business days after the expiration of the 60-day period provided in subsection (d)(1) if the applicant files a petition, not later than five business days after the expiration of that 60-day period, showing, to the satisfaction of the Director, that the delay in filing the application was unintentional."      The bill would retroactively cover Massachusetts-based The Medicines Company, which filed a PTE application for U.S. Patent No. 5,196,404 on the 62d day after FDA approved its NDA for ANGIOMAX, an ...

Source: articles.moneycentral.msn.com --- 12 days ago
WASHINGTON (AP) - Adobe Systems Inc. spent $98,849 in the second quarter to lobby on Patent Reform and legislation intended to ensure that individuals with disabilities have access to the Internet and video programming, according to a recent disclosure report. ...

Source: articles.moneycentral.msn.com --- 12 days ago
WASHINGTON (AP) - Cisco Systems Inc. spent $300,000 in the second quarter to lobby on Patent Reform, trade measures and efforts to crack down on cybercrime, according to a recent disclosure form. ...

Source: articles.moneycentral.msn.com --- 11 days ago
WASHINGTON (AP) - Oracle Corp. spent nearly $1.3 million in the second quarter to lobby on Patent Reform, tax issues, trade measures and other issues, according to a recent disclosure form. ...

Source: articles.moneycentral.msn.com --- 13 days ago
WASHINGTON (AP) - Apple Inc. spent $450,000 in the second quarter to lobby on Patent Reform, trade measures, consumer product safety legislation and more, according to a recent disclosure form. ...

Source: articles.moneycentral.msn.com --- 27 days ago
WASHINGTON (AP) - Microsoft Corp. spent more than $2.3 million in the second quarter to lobby on cyber security, Patent Reform, trade measures, tax issues and various other matters, according to a recent disclosure report. ...

Source: www.moreover.com --- 14 days ago
WASHINGTON A unit of French telecommunications and computer networking equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent spent $621,313 in the second quarter to lobby the U.S. government on Patent Reform, trade measures, educational programs and more, according to a ...

Source: networks.feedburner.com --- 22 days ago
If you live in the U.S., it's hard to escape news about the upcoming presidential elections, but that isn't the only thing happening on the political front. There's a movement afoot to locate congressional candidates in the U.S. House and Senate who support copyright Reform and other technology issues, and mobilize the open source community to get them re-elected. GeekPAC , originally known as BytesFree.org, is a grassroots campaign designed to build political support and effect change in legislation surrounding net neutrality, copyright and DCMA Reform, Patent Reform, and other issues near and dear to the open source and tech communities at large. The group's founder, John Mark Walker , says, “Many of us in the technology community have done a poor job of communicating to the general public why they should care about these issues. With GeekPAC, we hope to change that by driving thought leadership in this area and building a critical mass of concerned citizens who will be able to get the attention of their local politicians.” To get things underway, Walker is hosting a Birds of a Feather (BoF) session at LinuxWorld Expo Wednesday evening called "Hacking the Election." It's part fundraiser, part getting-to-know-you opportunity. Walker and other GeekPAC members will be on hand to answer questions about the group's goals and organize volunteers. As with any volunteer-led campaign, a small amount of working capital is needed to fund so ...

Source: www.infoworld.com --- 20 days ago
A tech vendor-backed company that buys up patents in an effort to protect the Linux community from intellectual property (IP) litigation will soon launch a Web site to help inventors file defensive publications -- documents that make details of an invention public, preventing others from later making Patent claims on it. "The more we can mobilize this community, the fewer patents that will actually be granted," said Keith Bergelt, who recently became CEO of the Open Invention Network. "Whatever happens in the Patent Reform world in the next [U.S.] administration is great, but we have to act now to stop the granting of patents that threaten Linux and open-source in general." In coming weeks, OIN will reveal more details of the site, which Bergelt described as "a production environment where we educate and train people to do this. We'll work with them to make sure it's put in a form that is acceptable." The effort will serve as a counterpart to OIN's existing strategy, under which it provides its patents royalty-free to companies in exchange for a commitment that they won't assert their patents against the Linux system. Its backers include NEC, IBM, Novell, Philips, Red Hat, and Sony. Google, Oracle, and Alfresco are among the licensees . The fund tends to acquire patents tied to areas like virtualization and networking, he said: "Those are kind of the key areas to Linux as it moves forward." Bergelt declined to provide the specific ...