Remind Me: Why Do We Let Patent Lawsuits Go On Even As USPTO Has Doubts About The Patents?

from the shouldn't-things-wait? dept

While plenty of people are familiar with the fact that NTP got $612.5 million from RIM in a patent dispute a few years back (which drew tremendous scrutiny into the realm of patents), one of the most interesting details that many people didn't follow was that at the same time as the lawsuit was going on, the US Patent Office was re-examining those same patents, and issuing rejections of the very same patents. Despite the USPTO even rushing to announce its problems with the patents way ahead of schedule, the judge chose not to wait for the final rejections and pressured RIM into paying up.

This sort of thing happens all the time.

For example, just weeks after TiVo was practically dancing in the streets over its latest wins over EchoStar in a patent dispute over basic DVR functionality, the USPTO has given an initial rejection on some of the claims at issue in the case. While TiVo is quick to downplay this as just the first step in a long process (which it gets to respond to), it's being a bit misleading in suggesting that this sort of thing happens all the time. Sure -- it happens a lot, but to questionable patents. It seems that, if the USPTO has agreed to review a patent and clearly the examiners have serous questions about the patentability of certain claims, shouldn't any lawsuits that hinge on those patents be put on hold?

Filed Under: lawsuits, patents, review, uspto
Companies: echostar, tivo

Fox Fires Columnist For 'Reviewing' Leaked Copy Of Wolverine

from the calling-more-attention... dept

Last week, we discussed why it looked like movie studio 20th Century Fox was overreacting to the leak of a workprint copy of the upcoming movie Wolverine. The studio could have easily used the leak to get good publicity. Instead, it's freaking out and rushing around trying to blame everyone. The latest person caught in the crossfire? A columnist for Fox News who downloaded the leaked copy and wrote a review... Since both 20th Century Fox and Fox News are owned by News Corp., the studio flipped out and the writer, Roger Friedman, has supposedly been fired. For what? For actually admitting that the movie was out there? It's not like it hasn't been all over the news. For calling more attention to the fact that the movie can be downloaded? Firing Friedman seems to be getting a lot more attention than the review actually did. Once again, just because you have the legal right to do something about infringement, doesn't mean it makes any sense. Here's yet another case of a Hollywood studio letting its legal rights override common sense, and because of that, it's harming its own reputation.

Filed Under: fired, leak, movie, review, roger friedman, wolverine
Companies: 20th century fox, fox news, news corp.

Amazon's One-Click Patent Fix Rejected Again... for Now

from the back-and-forth dept

The back and forth over Amazon's infamous one-click patent has gone "back" again. Back in October we noted that, after many years and a few false starts, the USPTO had rejected a bunch of the patent's claims. However, as we noted at the time, the process was far from over. Patent reviews are a ridiculously complex process that take a hell of a lot longer than they should, and involve a lot of back-and-forth, often with many "non-final" rulings that go back and forth before anything is finally established. In fact, Amazon word-smithed the patent and tried to get the patent office to reinstate the claims. Luckily, however, the USPTO isn't buying it and is rejecting the rewritten claims... though, it's still not final. And people wonder why the patent office is overworked and why many people are pushing for a more efficient process to review patents.

Filed Under: one-click, patents, review, uspto
Companies: amazon, uspto