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FOSS Community Can Combat Bad Patents

Posted by kdawson on from the layers-of-barbed-wire dept.

An anonymous reader lets us know about a new initiative designed to help shield the open source software community from threats posed by patent trolls. The initiative, called Linux Defenders (the website is slated to go live tomorrow, Dec. 9), is sponsored by a consortium of technology companies including IBM. "The most novel feature of the new program... will be its call to independent open source software developers all over the world to start submitting their new software inventions to Linux Defenders... so that the group's attorneys and engineers can, for no charge, help shape, structure, and document the invention in the form of a 'defensive publication.' Linux Defenders will then also see to it that the publication, duly attributing authorship of the invention to the developer who submitted it, is filed on the IP.com Web site, a database used by the US Patent and Trademark Office and other patent examiners throughout the world when they are trying to determine whether a proposed patent is truly novel..."

9 of 58 comments (clear)

  1. Why does it have be just Linux? by actionbastard · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Why can't this be a defender of all FOSS? To be just a defender of just FOSS OS limits its ability to represent anyone who wishes to create free software.

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    Sig this!
    1. Re:Why does it have be just Linux? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The same reason a single hospital cannot cure everyone, limited resources.

  2. I could be mistaken here by Aussenseiter · · Score: 4, Insightful

    But isn't the goal of patent trolling to win settlements from suing large, established corporations? Why would they go after the open source community, which by its nature tends to not be swimming in green papery things?

    1. Re:I could be mistaken here by Miseph · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Because this isn't intended to fight that form of patent trolling. This is intended to combat the type of patent trolling where large established companies file frivolous patent infringement lawsuits against small rivals in order to stifle competition and ensure profitability.

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      Try not to take me more seriously than I take myself.
    2. Re:I could be mistaken here by GMonkeyLouie · · Score: 2, Insightful

      So I guess it's a way of saying that you're not confident you could pay to win a legal battle against a large established company who goes patent trolling?

      Nice. Now being inventive is effectively taxed by the presence of bigger fish. Way to go, patent law.

    3. Re:I could be mistaken here by MaskedSlacker · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Um, welcome to decades ago? This shit isn't exactly new.

  3. Re:Does this count as prior art? by theoddball · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If the article is accurate, then no, this is not about examination.

    The point of this initiative is to get information about innovations that exist in the wild and document it ("publish" it for statutory purposes) -- and make it easy for examiners to locate it if they want to.

    This is about creating prior art that will serve as a bar under 35 USC 102(a). Examiners may find it, or they may not, but if nothing else, the publication will be sitting there for someone to assert in litigation / reexamination -- and quite possibly able to invalidate a bad patent.

  4. Bad start by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

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    Maybe that wasn't the best place for open discussion on a topic designed to fight proprietary strangeholds.

  5. Re:Does this count as prior art? by Elektroschock · · Score: 2, Insightful

    There is only one efficient initiative and it is legislative reforms.

    I would recommend to donate to the FFII.