IBM Breaks Promise; Threatens Open Source Company Over Patents
from the so-much-for-'reform' dept
For a while now, IBM has been positioning itself as being in favor of really fixing our broken patent system (even as it's remained at the top of the food chain in terms of companies filing for patents). However, we've always been a bit skeptical of IBM's claims about this -- as they quite often seemed to be more of a PR positioning move, rather than any real commitment to fixing the patent system. Almost exactly five years ago, the company made a big stink about freeing up approximately 500 patents for use in open source offerings. At the time, even that seemed like more of a PR stunt than anything else, but still, you'd at least think they'd live up to their word.Not so apparently.
Slashdot points us to the news that IBM has threatened an open source project with some patents -- including two that were in that list of 500 (along with over 100 others). In the past, when IBM's nastier patent activities have gained attention in the tech-blog world, it's been known to back down, so it wouldn't surprise me to see that happen again here. But the fact that it made this threat in the first place, yet again, calls into question IBM's real commitment towards moving away from supporting patents as a bullying tool.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: open source, patents
Companies: ibm
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
I tell ya
You'd think every one of their employees -- there're only four hundred thousand or so of 'em, after all -- would know the company's stance on patents and open source. It's not like tiny companies like that have trouble disseminating organizational knowledge.
Shame on them!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: I tell ya
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: I tell ya
Your Honor, I'm not guilty of shoplifting that item with my left hand. You see, my left hand actually though my right had paid for it! There are billions of cells in my body so you can't really expect each one of them to know what all the others are doing, can you? That would be ridiculous! Surely you can see how this was just a simple case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing.
Sound about right?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
See: http://news.cnet.com/2009-1082-269157.html
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
You = FAIL TWICE.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
not really shocked
http://www.ibmandtheholocaust.com/
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: not really shocked
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: not really shocked
FAIL
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
read up more
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Some Journalistic Research
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Some Journalistic Research
So you're saying that this is really just IBM retaliating for being caught breaking the law (again)? It would seem to me that if IBM really wants to avoid antitrust charges, they should avoid engaging in the kinds of practices that lead to such charges.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Some Journalistic Research
Excellent
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Some Journalistic Research
You mean like you just did?
Excellent indeed.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Some Journalistic Research
What was your conclusion based upon?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Some Journalistic Research
Ha, now *that's* funny! (For someone who's making no assumptions, you sure seem to assume a lot!)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Some Journalistic Research
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin's_law
If you can't get it right -- You = Fail
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Kinda 'poetic justice' - all things considered.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
IBM is Threatening with Bad Patents
It is obvious that if you have a group of names, and a group of numbers, you can pair them up in an arbitrary fashion, and provided you establish a one-to-one correspondence, and use the same correspondence consistently, the system will work. You can perfectly well establish your correspondence by throwing dice, or by writing the names and numbers on index cards, shuffling the two respective decks, and dealing them out. Any reasonable reading of KSR v. Teleflex is going to tend to the view that instruction sets per se are immediately obvious, and, as such, nonpatentable.
A good example of this is the Intel main processor register set and instruction space, which are notoriously cramped, and tend to squeeze things wherever there is room. The floating-point processor is of course more elegantly laid-out, but that is another story.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: IBM is Threatening with Bad Patents
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
IBM, just another greedy transnational destroying US job creation.
IBM floods the patent system with large quantities of minor incremental inventions. One aspect of their vision for Patent Deform is First to File which will greatly aid their efforts to cloud real inventors patent rights. It will lead to patent system flooding, where the number and type of minor incremental patents will greatly increase, further bogging down the patent office.Everyone needs to remember that when IBM followed in Microsoft's footsteps as seems to always be the case nowadays they were really asking for a free pass to take others inventions.
While I think I understand why TechDIRT carries Microsoft and IBM water I do not understand why people buy their propaganda and then are surprised when the reality of how they and for that matter all the members of the Coalition for Patent Piracy & Fairness and the Coalition for 21st Patent Deform and HARMonization operate surfaces.
Ronald J. Riley,
Speaking only on my own behalf.
President - www.PIAUSA.org - RJR at PIAUSA.org
Executive Director - www.InventorEd.org - RJR at InvEd.org
Senior Fellow - www.PatentPolicy.org
President - Alliance for American Innovation
Caretaker of Intellectual Property Creators on behalf of deceased founder Paul Heckel
Washington, DC
Direct (810) 597-0194 - (202) 318-1595 - 9 am to 8 pm EST.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: IBM, just another greedy transnational destroying US job creation.
While I think I understand why TechDIRT carries Microsoft and IBM water
You really just refuse to pull your head out, don't you?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: IBM, just another greedy transnational destroying US job creation.
Ronald J. McDonald,
I am speaking only on my own behalf.
Affiliations:
President - www.mcdonalds.org - RJM at McUSA.org
Executive Director - www.McInventor.org - RJM at McInvEd.org
Senior Fellow - www.McPatentPolicy.org
President - Alliance for American Innovation of McDonalds
Caretaker of Intellectual Property Creators on behalf of deceased founder Mayor McCheese
Washington, DC
Direct (810) 555-0194 / (202) 555-1595 - 6 am to 11 pm EST.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: IBM, just another greedy transnational destroying US job creation.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: IBM, just another greedy transnational destroying US job creation.
Ronald, I understand that you like to slam me on every patent post without bothering to comprehend what we're writing, but seriously? We've never "carried Microsoft and IBM water" at all on patent issues -- and, in this very post we are slamming IBM for its practices.
Do you not even read?
In the meantime, since I'm surprised you still haven't answered, I need to ask again, when you will be providing us with a single shred of evidence that debunks the research we've posted about patents? I've been asking you every time you comment for about a month now, and you insist that the evidence supports you, so I'm sorta confused why you haven't posted a single bit of it yet.
I mean, wouldn't that shut me up?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Neither IBM nor any of the others pushing for what they call "reform" are trying to fix the patent system.
Patent reform is a fraud on America. It is patently un-American.
Please see http://truereform.piausa.org/ for a different/opposing view on patent reform.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Say those who stand to benefit from the current system.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]