Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

EFF Runs Patent-Busting Challenge

Posted by michael on from the one-click dept.

markclong writes "Every year numerous illegitimate patent applications make their way through the United States patent examination process without adequate review. The problem is particularly acute in the software and Internet fields where the history of prior inventions (often called "prior art") is widely distributed and poorly documented. As a result, we have seen patents asserted on such simple technologies as One-click online shopping (U.S. Patent No. 5,960,411.), Online shopping carts (U.S. Patent No. 5,715,314.), The hyperlink (U.S. Patent No. 4,873,662.). The EFF is hosting a patent busting project to fight the most egregious abuses of the patent system."

13 of 173 comments (clear)

  1. An idea... by centralizati0n · · Score: 5, Interesting

    How about a Wiki-type thing that lists some previous art for patents that a watchdog group lists out? Get some serious evidence and archive it in one place so the masses can check and see what patents they don't really have to pay attention to.

    1. Re:An idea... by pjay_dml · · Score: 5, Interesting

      i like your idea. maybe you should submit it to the people from eef.
      why not even go further and create a whole online community, that deals with patents and intellectual property, from a freedom and civil rights perspective.
      this could be a site, with a wiki, as you mentioned, forums for people to discuss current issues, but also to organize teamwork to bust patents, search for previous art, etc.... the site could be financed by offering support to people who have run into trouble with patents.
      also on offer would be an extensive resource collection, to assist researchers.
      blogs, as 'groklaw' could be affiliated with the site. users could create their own blogs at the site, for patent/ip related matters.

      slashdoters! any more ideas? comments?

    2. Re:An idea... by lightknight · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Interesting idea. Have you tried patenting it? j/k.

      Seriously though, with the exception of a few scummy companies/people, patentees like to patent because they believe that their implementation is new, original, and unique. We would drop a patent application if some serious prior art was found (no one likes be to unoriginal).

      Part of the problem is that a prior-art search is supposed to cover this. Lawyers will not be happy. Their clients will be unhappy that they spent money on both the lawyer and the filing fee. It's a shame that you cannot file a provisional app (not a full app, but keeps the door open), send the full app to a site, see if it pans out, then act accordingly (file the full app or abandon).

      Another problem is that there are a lot of services out there (though free/many eyes would help) that are not used. And those services may or may not be legit. And when you get down to it, there is a lot of possible prior art for an app.

      To put things in focus, I first began to fear IBM when I wrote my first app, and came across the shear number of patents they own. Scary stuff.

      As an aside, the masses (of average people) do not care. Which is a problem.

      --
      I am John Hurt.
  2. Take off every 'patent'... FOR GREAT JUSTICE !!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    On June 30, the Patent Busting Project's team of tough lawyers and brainy geeks will announce the contest winners - or losers, depending on how you look at it. And that's when the real fight for great justice begins. We'll be needing your help to research prior art for each patent and offer your technical expertise or historical knowledge. Using a legal process called "reexamination," the Patent Busting Project will ultimately go to the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and attempt to take those bad patents off the books.


    I hope every /.er who has complained about the patent system is going to contribute to this... if not by submitting information, then by submitting some cold hard cash. The EFF gets 80% of their income from donations, and even though they say the lawyers will be donating their time, patent re-examinations don't come cheap: the 2004 fees are $2500 (ex parte) or $8800 (inter partes)
  3. Might this not rather support the patent system? by Baki · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Apparently the current US patent system does not want to spend the time/money to carefully check new patents. Now the EFF and volunteers are doing the USPTO's work for free.

    It might remove the most harmful and obviously insane patents, thus making the idiocy of the current system less visible.

  4. When they say fight... by Ninwa · · Score: 3, Interesting

    When they say fight the outrageous patents, are they referring to the ones that already exist, or future ones? Or both? How would you combat a patent that already exist? Show prior art? Anyway, I think it's rediculous that we have to go as far as to create an organization to stop what should be common sense. Come on, a patent for double click? Oi..

    Then again, if life were perfect, I'd have better things to do than rant on slashdot at 2 am in the morning. Hehe =)

  5. a patent for the wheel by starworks5 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    well, the most nafarious patent of them all was when an ozzie man decided he wanted to patent the wheel, and actually succeded.

    the lawyer patented the " circular transportation facilitation device". so that means anyone who ever produced car, bike, even unicycle in australia would have to pay royalities.

    dont believe me, well check the BBC or CNN

    personally this is a prime example of intellectual rights gone amok. i would rather convert my car to square wheels before paying any damn royalites on a wheel. but i dont think it will be a problem. but just in case, im going to go patent the spherical rolling device. lets see MR. Keogh drive home without any ball bearings.

  6. Speaking of bogus patents, here's some prior art by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    There was a recent slashdot post about Microsoft's patent on the autogenerated TODO list in an IDE. They filed in 2000. Well, as usual, it's pretty easy to find prior art for something like this, if you just search google on the grand-daddy of IDEs.

    I was so confident, I went with "feeling lucky". Sure 'nuff, the very first hit, automated TODO lists in 1999, From Tulane University.

  7. Re:Use the force (of democracy) Luke by Grrr · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Your politicians will do anything for a vote.

    Ah, if only.

    It has turned out to be simpler to block the people most likely from voting a certain way so they can't vote at all.

    The legislators will really do anything for... a campaign contribution.

    Unfortunately, most people can be counted upon to vote for the incumbent, or the slate from the same political party with which their parents identified themselves. And patent reform is too esoteric of a subject to capture the interest of most folks.

    Democracy was great, in theory...

    <grrr>

  8. Peer review by pacc · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Why not implement a deposit sum for patent to be granted to the person that found prior art or faults invalidating it. This would probably end all talk about underpaid or overworked reviewers and spawn a new profession on the internet.

  9. An exelant idea by gd2shoe · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I like this idea quite a bit actually. It sounds a bit like this project is trying to do half of the patent office's job. But even if they were doing their own job, having a full fledged project of this nature would be a boon. Forums, mailing lists, wiki, the whole nine yards. If I was a bit older, and had lived through a little more history, I would gladly help patent bust as a hobby. I think there are many here on slashdot who feel the same.

    It could just fix one problem this way. Without the type of feedback/interaction mechanisms you mention, projects like this tend to disappear from view. If there was a following to the project, there would likely be more items submitted to slashdot, drawing the long term attention of a fair percentage of slashdot users (and other news/forums). The effects could be a mild domino effect, not becoming the best known project in existence, but making its presence felt to those most able to help.

    --
    I won't join Slashcott. OTOH, If Beta goes live, I just won't be back until it's fixed. Sorry Dice.
  10. don't forget CAPS LOCK patent issued june 8 by faber0 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    IBM got a patent on CAPS LOCK status indicator: Here's the link

  11. This patent always bugged me by xyote · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It's patent 5,924,098. It's owned by Sun and it's basically on using the Boehm style GC to do well known lock-free programming techniques, one of which RCU is based on. I even commented on the obviousness of the technique before Sun was issued the patent here. It's not prior art but it does show obviousness to someone (me) versed in the art of lock-free programming. It's a standard technique that depends on some mechanism to delay deallocation of data nodes until they are no longer referenced. Which is by definition Garbage Collection. Specifying a known form of GC in conjunction with this technique is not an invention. Coming up with a new form of GC or proxy GC is an invention.