Since 2006 I have been following with interest the patent infringement case of Blackboard v Desire2Learn. Blackboard is a provider of educational software and virtual learning environments, which owns U.S. Patent 6,988,138 protecting “Internet-based education support system and methods”. In 2006 they sued VLE provider Desire2Learn for infringement of aforementioned Read more…
Since 2006 I have been following with interest the patent infringement case of Blackboard v Desire2Learn. Blackboard is a provider of educational software and virtual learning environments, which owns U.S. Patent 6,988,138 protecting “Internet-based education support system and methods”. In 2006 they sued VLE provider Desire2Learn for infringement of aforementioned Read more…
(via Arne Kolb) After the landmark ruling in Astron Clinica Ltd & Other, the UK IP Office has issued an amended notice with regards to patentable subject matter. The practice after Aerotel/Macrossan at the UKIPO was that “claims to computer programs or to programs on a carrier were not allowable.” Read more…
Back in November2007 I briefly commented on a case making its way to the High Court of England and Wales dealing with software patents. We now have a decision, and it may prove to be quite an important shift in the practice at the Intellectual Property Office. The case is Read more…
(via press release) Four UK technology companies have appealed a ruling from the Intellectual Property Office denying them patentability over a computer implemented invention. The self-styled High Tech Four ( Astron Clinica, Software 2000, Surf Kitchen and Cyan Holdings) had an adverse ruling from the IPO where it applied its Read more…
(via Lilian Edwards and Boing Boing) Several claims belonging to the infamous Amazon One-Click patent (U.S. 5,960,411) have been rejected by the USPTO. For those who have never heard of it, this patent is for a “method and system for placing a purchase order via a communications network” a broad Read more…
(via Groklaw) Red Hat and Novell, owners of the two largest Linux enterprise distributions, have been sued in Texas (where else?) by patent troll IP Innovation, part of the troll tribe Acacia. The subject of the litigation is U.S. Patent 5,072,412, which protects a user interface with multiple workspaces for Read more…
There are many of us interested in the software patent debate, but the EPO seems not to be one of those. The EPO held a one-day conference attended by parliamentarians, industry, NGO and experts to discuss what has happened since the dismissal of the Computer Implemented Inventions Directive two years Read more…
The amazing Peer to Patent system is now live. The system is the creation of New York Law School Professor Beth Noveck, and it is an extremely interesting system of involving the online community on the review of patent claims in pending patent applications. I believe this is an interesting Read more…
Fortune Magazine has published an interview with Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer, where he has made the comment that Linux infringes 235 of its software patents, and it will be looking for licences from developers and corporate users. As your friendly neighbourhood Prophet of Doom, I have been announcing the advent of Read more…