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Appeals Court Affirms Old Polaroid Patent Invalid

Posted by Unknown on from the bite-the-dust dept.

mpicpp (3454017) writes with news of a notoriously abused (basically "method of displaying images on a machine") software patent being declared invalid. From the article: The ruling from last week is one of the first to apply new Supreme Court guidance about when ideas are too "abstract" to be patented. ... The patents in this case describe a type of "device profile" that allows digital images to be accurately displayed on different devices. US Patent No. 6,128,415 was originally filed by Polaroid in 1996. After a series of transfers, in 2012 the patent was sold to Digitech Image Technologies, a branch of Acacia Research Corporation, the largest publicly traded patent assertion company. ... In the opinion, a three-judge panel found that the device profile described in the patent is a "collection of intangible color and spatial information," not a machine or manufactured object. "Data in its ethereal, non-physical form is simply information that does not fall under any of the categories of eligible subject matter under section 101," wrote Circuit Judge Jimmie Reyna on behalf of the panel.

45 comments

  1. Kill em all, let the kernel sort 'em out. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Oh, just think what would happen if we got some particle theorists as judges?

    All patents invalidated because matter is energy is information.

    1. Re: Kill em all, let the kernel sort 'em out. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or at least a lot more patents would seem obvious.

  2. KODACHROME PATENT STILL VALID!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    "Kodachrome"

    When I think back
    On all the crap I learned in high school
    It's a wonder
    I can think at all
    And though my lack of education
    Hasn't hurt me none
    I can read the writing on the wall

    Kodachrome
    They give us those nice bright colors
    They give us the greens of summers
    Makes you think all the world's
    a sunny day
    I got a Nikon camera
    I love to take a photograph
    So mama don't take my Kodachrome away

    If you took all the girls I knew
    When I was single
    And brought them all together
    for one night
    I know they'd never match
    my sweet imagination
    Everything looks worse
    in black and white

    1. Re:KODACHROME PATENT STILL VALID!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Interesting

      Gosh, does that bring back memories. It was September of 1981. We didn't fully realize it yet, but our great nation's economy and future were going to be destroyed by the horrific policies of our new president, Ronald Reagan. The moderate Republican Party of Eisenhower had been ravaged by right-wing crazies. New York City had already been suffering badly since the 1970s, and racial tensions were high. Black supremacist groups were causing havoc in Harlem and The Bronx, their cocaine-fuelled rage causing strife with the ever-growing Latino community in the north of the city.

      But there I was, in Central Park. Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel were on stage. And out of the speakers I hear those glorious words:

      KODA-CRO-OW-OWM!

      It was at that moment that America died for me. Things would never get better than those two seconds. It was all down hill from there.

    2. Re:KODACHROME PATENT STILL VALID!! by Bob_Who · · Score: 5, Interesting
      Amen, Brother.

      Its amazing how being at a certain age and place and social consciousness that a common experience and thinking is shared. We all knew that things would always change in time, but its strange to look back and see how that all played out in the aftermath... In some ways, we didn't have a clue, but in terms of the results that we just KNEW would result from three decades of "trickle down" economics and other forms of short sighted policy enacted by people are no longer alive: Here we are! Right where we knew we would be. I was born in Rochester, New York - home of Kodak, but I never thought I or Paul Simon would outlive that company's prosperity or exemplary ethics. It certainly could have survived in all of its glory if it had continued to care about people more then about shareholder profits, plain and simple. That's how George Eastman would have wanted it.

      It was at that moment that America died for me. Things would never get better than those two seconds. It was all down hill from there.

      Americas not dead yet, my friend, but I do understand exactly how you are feeling about all of the lost ground. We remember our losses more profoundly then our gains. Its human nature, I guess, just like the rest of the experience.

    3. Re:KODACHROME PATENT STILL VALID!! by PopeRatzo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Some of us look and see that the words of our founders "A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the majority discovers it can vote itself largess out of the public treasury.

      Except, no "founder" ever said that.

      Unless you consider Ronald Reagan one of the founders, which considering your sentiment, is quite possible. Either people have the right to consent to their government or they don't. Whether or not there are social programs does not change that. What that quote (from the 1950's) is really saying is, "We'd be better off if people who disagree with me weren't allowed to vote".

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    4. Re:KODACHROME PATENT STILL VALID!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Either people have the right to consent to their government or they don't. Whether or not there are social programs does not change that. What that quote (from the 1950's) is really saying is, "We'd be better off if people who disagree with me weren't allowed to vote".

      Oh, please. There's no reason to present this as a false dichotomy between blithely accepting the faults of democracy vs wide-scale disenfranchisement. There are inherent, structural flaws in democracy. It's fundamentally metastable and prone to issues like demagoguery and tyranny of the (50% + 1) majority. However, the alternatives we have tried throughout history seem to be fundamentally worse. Communism killed many millions in the 20th century.

      Instituting a democracy for a government is like building a house on a beach. It requires constant work to keep it from collapsing. It seems like an insane choice unless the only other option is to build the house in the caldera of an active volcano.

      Pointing out a flaw in a system does not imply that someone automatically is advocating for the polar opposite. Check your assumptions.

    5. Re:KODACHROME PATENT STILL VALID!! by steelfood · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Unless you consider Ronald Reagan one of the founders

      He's one of the founders of the current oligarchy, certainly.

      --
      "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."
    6. Re:KODACHROME PATENT STILL VALID!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "always to be followed by a dictatorship, then a monarchy."

      I just wanted to step in and say that neither of them necessarily is worse than democracy. While dictatorships often is it since you pretty much have to be a power hungry person with a willingness to walk over bodies to become a dictator. (Much of the same mentality you need to become president in a republic but you seldom need to kill in that instance.)
      As for a monarchy it all depends on the monarch. Without any requirement on competence a monarch can be both good and bad. (Well, I live in a country that used to be a non hereditary electoral monarchy once upon a time where when a king was elected he had to travel through the nation to be accepted by the people. Only if he survived the trip could he become king.)
      Even in hereditary monarchies we see that it only takes one king who isn't power hungry to move the country back to democracy. That is how my country eventually moved into becoming a full democracy.

    7. Re:KODACHROME PATENT STILL VALID!! by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      My assumption is anyone that would mistake a quote from some 1950's John Birch guy for a statement from a Founder is probably more worried about black people or Mexicans voting than preserving government by, of and for the People.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    8. Re:KODACHROME PATENT STILL VALID!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That may or may not be true for that other AC. I'm sure you didn't assume there was only one replying to you.

      The quote may be misattributed, but it has truth. So, I'm concerned about the structural flaws of democracy while simultaneously not wanting to disenfranchise anyone.

      I don't perceive why this is so hard to believe. I presume you are in favor of freedom of speech... all speech, including speech you personally find to be offensive. Yes, that means some disturbing expression is circulated, but the alternative (prior restraint) is far worse.

    9. Re:KODACHROME PATENT STILL VALID!! by NatasRevol · · Score: 1

      America isn't dead yet?

      It's been in an unresponsive coma with no hope of returning ever since Bush put in the war powers resolution.

      America, as originally intended, is gone. Hold a funeral and move on.

      --
      There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
    10. Re:KODACHROME PATENT STILL VALID!! by NatasRevol · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Communism didn't kill many millions in the 20th century.

      Tyranny did. And its continuing in the 21st century. You probably don't call it tyranny though.

      --
      There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
    11. Re:KODACHROME PATENT STILL VALID!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Communism didn't kill many millions in the 20th century.

      "No true Communism"... haha.

    12. Re:KODACHROME PATENT STILL VALID!! by PopeRatzo · · Score: 2

      I see a lot of that attitude today and it's always by leftists who are utterly frustrated that opposition is allowed to exist.

      We have state after state where Republicans are trying to keep old people, minorities and students from voting.

      Tell me where Democrats are trying to keep anyone from voting. It's always projection with you guys, isn't it.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    13. Re:KODACHROME PATENT STILL VALID!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Tell me where Democrats are trying to keep anyone from voting.

      Of course the Dems aren't trying to keep people from voting! They love it when people vote multiple times... and even when people vote after they're dead! Well, the Dems love it as long as those people vote Democratic, that is. Which is what happens, funnily enough.

  3. suggested tag by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    sudden-outbreak-of-common-sense

  4. Hardly a shocker by SlaveToTheGrind · · Score: 5, Informative

    The district court held the patent invalid under the old standard that was, in practice, more generous toward software algorithm patents. Then the Supreme Court decided CLS Bank, making software algorithm patents more difficult to obtain/keep. Under those circumstances, it would have been newsworthy if the Federal Circuit hadn't affirmed in this case.

    1. Re:Hardly a shocker by steelfood · · Score: 2

      Given how pro-patent the Federal Circuit has been in the past, this is noteworthy. Remember that it was the Federal Circuit who opened the gateway for software and business method patents.

      I have a suspicion the supremes are a bit peeved at them right now for all the shitty decisions they've been making since the 90's, and they really are concerned that their authority will be undermined by the SCOTUS' recent decisions and the lower courts applying them.

      The way I see it, this is basically them saying, "Hey everybody, we're still relevant!"

      --
      "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."
  5. tl;rambj by fibonacci8 · · Score: 0

    too long, read against my better judgement Wading through the patent, it just seems to describe the process of converting a vector image to a raster image. I don't see anything novel.

    --
    Inheritance is the sincerest form of nepotism.
    1. Re:tl;rambj by tyme · · Score: 1

      What patent were you reading? There is not a single mention of conversion of vector images to raster images!

      The patent describes a set of recorded data that corrects for color and "spatial" distortion of an image by an input our output device. All the claims pertain to various features of that data set, or of the process of applying the corrections to an image.

      --
      just a ghost in the machine.
  6. amazing... by guygo · · Score: 4, Funny

    a common-sense decision from a Patent Court.

    1. Re:amazing... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      a common-sense decision from a Patent Court.

      And so it begins....

    2. Re:amazing... by martin-boundary · · Score: 1

      Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

    3. Re:amazing... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Unless it's a 24 hour clock.

  7. "patent assertion company" by CanEHdian · · Score: 2

    Well, well... is Slashdot joining the PoliCor movement? A "patent assertion company"? Those companies must be the Pride and Joy of the American Enterprising spirit!

    --
    When the copyright term is "forever minus a day", live every day like it's the last.
  8. "Patent Assertion Company" by ZipK · · Score: 4, Funny

    Nice euphemism you got there.

  9. One down... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... several million more to go.

  10. Extortion Assertion Company by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...would be a shame if something were to happen to it.

  11. What does it mean for ZIP file encryption? by DavidLeeLambert7357 · · Score: 1

    Does this mean that the 2012 patent to PKware for high-strength encryption applied to individual members of an archive, #8090942, is ripe for challenge?

    --
    Somehow I have three Slashdot UIDs, lowest is "lamber45" (658956)
  12. Refund! by TomGreenhaw · · Score: 1

    If a "Patent Assertion Company" or "Non-Practicing Entity" is found to have collected royalties on an invalid patent, they should be required to return the royalties.

    --
    Greed is the root of all evil.
    1. Re:Refund! by coinreturn · · Score: 1

      If a "Patent Assertion Company" or "Non-Practicing Entity" is found to have collected royalties on an invalid patent, they should be required to return the royalties.

      I disagree, if the royalties were collected under a contract that was not forced upon the payors via court action or threat thereof.

    2. Re:Refund! by TomGreenhaw · · Score: 1

      Then I think we agree. Most royalties paid to patent trolls are under threat of lawsuit.

      --
      Greed is the root of all evil.
    3. Re:Refund! by coinreturn · · Score: 1

      Sorry, I overlooked your introductory clause.

  13. Re:Time for communism! by Barsteward · · Score: 1

    "The trolls are why I come here.The trolls are why I come here." - you need to get out more

    --
    "The hands that help are better far than lips that pray." - Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899)
  14. Off to California by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    and dealing with slide to unlock?

  15. Definition of Intelectual Property by ArhcAngel · · Score: 1

    "Data in its ethereal, non-physical form is simply information that does not fall under any of the categories of eligible subject matter under section 101,"

    Intellectual property is ownership of ethereal, non-physical ideas so couldn't this be used to combat IP across the board?

    --
    "A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K
  16. Gg by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You forgot to cite the notoriously abused statement of opinion.