Hey Google: Stop Trying To Patent A Compression Technique An Inventor Released To The Public Domain
from the being-evil dept
For the most part, Google has actually been one of the good guys on patent issues. Unlike some other Silicon Valley companies, Google has long resisted using its patents to go after others, instead only using the patents defensively. It has also fought for patent reform and experimented with new models to keep its own patents out of the hands of patent trolls. But it's been involved in an ongoing fight to patent something that an earlier inventor deliberately released into the public domain, and it reflects incredibly poorly on Google to keep fighting for this.
A Polish professor, Jarek Duda, came up with a new compression technique known as asymmetric numeral systems (ANS) years back, and decided to release it to the public domain, rather than lock it up. ANS has turned out to be rather important, and lots of companies have made use of it. Last summer, Duda noticed that Google appeared to be trying to patent the idea both in the US and around the globe.
Tragically, this happened just weeks after Duda had called out other attempts to patent parts of ANS, and specifically said he hoped that companies "like Google" would stand up and fight against such attempts. Three weeks later he became aware of Google's initial patent attempt and noted "now I understand why there was no feedback" on his request to have companies like Google fight back against attempts to patent ANS. In that same thread, he details how there is nothing new in that patent, and calls it "completely ridiculous." Despite noting that he can't afford to hire a patent lawyer, he's been trying to get patent offices to reject this patent, wasting a bunch of time and effort.
While a preliminary ruling in Europe appeared to side with Duda, accepting his evidence of prior art, Google is still fighting against that ruling and is continuing its efforts to patent the same thing in the US. This is getting new attention now after Tim Lee at Ars Technica wrote about the story, but it's been covered elsewhere in the past, including getting lots of attention on Reddit a year ago and Hacker News soon after that.
Google's response to Lee at Ars Technica are simply ridiculous. First, it claimed that Duda's invention was merely "a theoretical concept" while it is trying to patent "a specific application of that theory that reflects additional work by Google's engineers." But if you read through the analysis by many people who understand the space, that doesn't appear to be the case. There's very little that appears "new" in the Google patent, or non-obvious based on what Duda and others had already disclosed.
Google's second response is even more nonsensical:
"Google has a long-term and continuing commitment to royalty-free, open source codecs (e.g., VP8, VP9, and AV1) all of which are licensed on permissive royalty-free terms, and this patent would be similarly licensed."
While that's true, that's no excuse for locking up what's in the public domain and promising to treat it nicely.
The thing is there is simply no reason for Google to continue down this path. Again, the company has almost never been an aggressor on patents preferring to use them defensively. And it can still do that here -- by just pointing to the public domain to invalidate anyone else's attempt to patent this. The fact that Google is being slammed in various forums over this (and has been since a year ago) should have clued the company in to the fact that (1) this isn't necessary and (2) harming its own reputation with engineers just to secure a patent it doesn't need is not a good idea.
Google has tons of patents. It doesn't need this one. If it really thinks that its own invention here goes beyond what Duda did -- and Ars Technica notes that Google ignored multiple requests to explain what is different in its patent application -- then the company needs to be much more transparent and upfront about what is different from Duda's work and the company can just as easily release the same information to the public domain as well. Yes, that would be giving up on one patent, but Google can survive donating a patentable idea to the public domain if it actually has one.
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: ans, asymmetric numeral system, compression, jarek duda, patents, public domain
Companies: google
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Not surprising.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
New Google Code of Conduct
Don't Get Caught Being Evil
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
FTFA:
And now you know...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
"it's" = "It is"
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
It would definitely have less ambiguity than "its".
So: who wants to join the revolution and change the English language for the better?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
And if anyone wants to dispute that Google is now run by soulless machines, I dare you to post any email address, forum or other contact method that will put you in touch with an actual human being.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Oh look
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
You: "Look at Masnick wanting us to donate bullets to Google as if they don't have enough. Shill!"
Also you: "Corporations are bad...unless they're intellectual property maximalists who have cheated actual artists and creators out of the fruits of their labors since the time of Queen Anne."
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
I pray that your idiocy is performative.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Just like doing it on a computer and doing it on the Internet takes so much engineering effort that it is the favorite trick of patent trolls.
/s,just in case our favorite trolls sarc meters are broken.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
From the making-your-opponents-point-dept.
Without specific code, or an explanation of what this does technically that is radically new (something they are legally supposed to explain anyway for patent protection), it appears a generic application for ANS. And the fact that Google is unwilling to show news outlets the distinctions that they need to publicly demonstrate for patent protections kinda proves that it is nothing more than what Duda claims.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: From the making-your-opponents-point-dept.
This is entirely wrong. The 'theoretical idea' or 'core math' is precisely what is not patentable. See, in the US, 35 U.S. Code § 101, the 'Alice' decision, and the patentability of an abstract idea. See, in Europe Articles 52 and 56 EPC, the 'Comvik' approach, and the prohibition against inventions that relate per se to schemes, rules and methods for performing mental acts, and programs for computers.
Google need to show distinctions to the patent offices and courts. If they can do this, then they will get the patent. If they can't then they won't get the patent. So many people, on this blog and elsewhere, seem to equate having a patent application with having a granted patent.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Google Shills!
Every Nation eats the Paint chips it Deserves!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Why you Never Criticize "Google", Techdirt!
Yes, this one side-adventure along TD's usual anti-patent crusade totally makes up for two decades of never mentioning Google's everyday spying on everyone, the gigabytes that it stores, and providing "direct access" to NSA according to Snowden.
Anyone at all wondering can go to Copia and where brazen Masnick PROVES that he's a corporate shill -- not just for Google: https://copia.is/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/sponsors.png
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Why you Never Criticize "Google", Techdirt!
Erm, you know there's a search function that instantly proves you wrong, right? You can even use Google to find the fact that you're lying if you wish.
"Masnick PROVES that he's a corporate shill"
No, it proves that he has corporate sponsors for a specific project, not directly related to this site. Something which he has publicly and openly announced on day one of that site opening, yet you keep pointing to it as some kind of gotcha.
You are yet to provide any proof that this has altered the editorial content here, of course, nor do you ever mention any of the other sponsors. You have nothing except the evidence that's been transparently and voluntarily been made publicly available by the man you claim is lying, yet you still have provided zero evidence for your own claims.
Years later, and you still have nothing.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Several comments saying how this exonerates TD / Mansick...
Either wayk, it's NOT a substantive criticism of Google's core SPYING and TRACKING.
Sheesh.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Several comments saying how this exonerates TD / Mansick...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Several comments saying how this exonerates TD / Mansick...
Obivously, since its an article about an entirely different subject, you assclown!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Several comments saying how this exonerates TD / Mansick...
Says the guy who spies on Techdirt commenter accounts and tracks the length of time between comments.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
'It's only bad when they do it.'
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Several comments saying how this exonerates TD / Mansick...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
Nature really should take its course.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Google is evil. They help the CIA, the NSA and others spy on the world's population.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Attorneys for Google filed an amendment that narrowed the claims on May 10, 2017. Prosecution of a patent application can go back and forth many times between a patent office and an applicant before claims issue as a patent.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Google isn't doing anything you or anybody else would not do.
Period.
Follow Scott Smith on twitter.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: costs
while it might be nice for all inventors to get patents on all of their truly patentable ideas. the barriers to entry can be extreme. for example cost. this makes patents, that may make no money even if 'good', some what out of the reach of most mortals.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]