Software Patent News January 2007

What happened in January 2007 concerning software patents and related topics: Latest news linked to dossiers and tutorials provided by FFII and a community of wiki editors.

• 2007-01-31 US Automation: Patent Office validates National Instruments’ LabVIEW Patent

• 2007-01-31 EU EDRI: ENDitorial : Constitution by criminalisation

• 2007-01-30 UK Peter Groves: Gowers Review (summary of symposium)

• 2007-01-30 US Yahoo: Imaging Diagnostic Systems Updates Patent Scorecard

• 2007-01-30 CN People: Third revision drafted for Patent Law (“it also […] extends the scope of patent infringement exemptions”)

• 2007-01-30 US Bizjournals: MP3 patent suit could affect hundreds of companies

• 2007-01-30 EU Fosdem: Interview: Aleksey Bragin

• 2007-01-29 US ZDNet: Vista to give HD Photo format more exposure

• 2007-01-29 EU TheStreet: Reinventing the Inventor

• 2007-01-29 US ZDNet: Microsoft backpedals on programming patent

• 2007-01-29 EU LWN: FFII on proposed OpenXML adoption

• 2007-01-29 US Slashdot: Microsoft Retracts Patent

• 2007-01-29 US Groklaw: A Brave New Modular World – Another MS Patent Application

• 2007-01-29 US MSDN: Update: Response to BlueJ Patent Issues

• 2007-01-28 US Pubpat: Patent Office grants pubpat requests to reexamine EpicRealm dynamic website patents

• 2007-01-28 US SOA World Magazine: IBM Hit with Mega-Buck Antitrust Tying Charges

• 2007-01-25 US Chron.com: National Instruments Patent Upheld

• 2007-01-29 WW FFII: FFII opposes Fasttrack adoption of Microsoft OOXML format as ISO standard

• 2007-01-27 IE Finfacts: Intellectual Property symposium told of 18 million patent backlog throughout the world

• 2007-01-27 NZ Scoop: IP Heavyweights Address Global Challenges

• 2007-01-27 US ITNews: New Linux Foundation must be part lawyer, part peacemaker

• 2007-01-27 US InformationWeek: Sun Exec Rips Microsoft Patent Application

• 2007-01-27 US AmericasNetwork: Broadcom did not infringe on Qualcomm patents, jury says

• 2007-01-27 US ZDNet: Microsoft copies BlueJ, admits it, then patents it

• 2007-01-27 US Fistfulofeuros: Brio and Open-Source Hardware

• 2007-01-27 US FinanzNachrichten: Jury Finds Broadcom Does Not Infringe Two Qualcomm Patents

• 2007-01-27 EU IP-watch: Piracy, Innovation Top Developed-Country Industry Priority List

• 2007-01-27 DE Horns: German Government Initiating Ratification of EPC2000

• 2007-01-27 US Slashdot: Microsoft Copies Idea, Admits It, Then Patents It

• 2007-01-27 EU DigiMaj: The EPO explains its true mission

• 2007-01-26 US Slashdot: Jury Rules That H.264 is Not Patented

• 2007-01-26 UK IPKat: Sony’s metadata structures found not patentable (kind of)

• 2007-01-26 UK Out-Law/The Register: Sony’s video metadata invention could be patentable in part

• 2007-01-26 EU Heise: German government plans to ratify amendments to patent agreement

• 2007-01-25 US PFF: Solutions for Software Patents: Notes From Under My Desk (SourceWatch on PFF)

• 2007-01-25 US AgIpNews: Sipro Lab Telecom Issues Statement on Patents

• 2007-01-25 US Groklaw: Patent Office Orders Re-Examination of Blackboard Patent

• 2007-01-25 US MarkAufflick: Patent Office Orders Re-Examination of Blackboard Patent

• 2007-01-25 US 271patent: John Love Named Deputy Commissioner for USPTO Patent Examination Policy

• 2007-01-25 US TechLiberation: Software Patent of the Week: Visual Programming

• 2007-01-25 US Business Wire: ASD Files Patent Infringement Lawsuit Against Fiserv and Federal Reserve Banks

• 2007-01-24 SA Legalbrief Today: Software patents still being filed in SA

• 2007-01-25 US Seb Schmoller: United States Patent & Trademark Office orders re-examination of Blackboard Patent

• 2007-01-24 EU Euractiv: EU businesses support ‘open’ innovation and IP

• 2007-01-08 US FT: Beware the ‘patent trolls’ of finance

• 2007-01-23 US Bloomberg: Fiserv, Federal Reserve Banks Accused of Patent Infringement

• 2007-01-22 US Patently-O: Follow-on to Professor Merges: High-Tech Calls For Reform

• 2007-01-22 US Ocbj: Europe Now Has a Common Currency, But Patent Process Still All Over Map (registration required)

• 2007-01-22 US Masstlc: Open Source: Microsoft & Novell – Building Bridges

• 2007-01-22 US Groklaw: Dan Bricklin Wants to Pick Your Brain re Novell-Microsoft Meeting – Updated

• 2007-01-22 US SearchEngineLand: Google’s OneBox Patent Application

• 2007-01-22 ZA Tectonic: Multi-nationals ignore SA patent law

• 2007-01-22 EU Cordis: Companies gain by sharing intellectual property, finds survey

• 2007-01-22 ZA GraphicRepro: Xerox awarded 27 per cent more patents in 2006

• 2007-01-22 US Legal Theory Blog: Mennell on Patent Reform

• 2007-01-22 US Red Herring: Startup Slaps IBM with Antitrust Suit

• 2007-01-21 US Feld: Emperical Evidence of Why Software Patents Are Bad (or Good) – Part 1

• 2007-01-21 US Patently-O: Merges: Back to the Shadows, or Onward and Upward? Current Trends in Patent Law

• 2007-01-22 US Seattle PI: E-mail from the grave? Microsoft seeks patent on ‘immortal computing’

• 2007-01-21 WW DQ Channels: Epson, MS cross-license patent holdings

• 2007-01-21 US Heartland Institute: Patent Law Confuses Application with Invention (SourceWatch on HI)

• 2007-01-19 US PCWorld: Snooping Software Creator Sues Apple (not about software)

• 2007-01-19 US Gamasutra: The Ten Most Important Video Game Patents

• 2007-01-19 EU WIPO: Colloquia on Selected Patent Issues

• 2007-01-19 US PatentlyO: Jeff Steck: Saving the Supreme Court from Folk Science

• 2007-01-19 CN People: Chinese TV makers to be squeezed by U.S. digital TV patent charge

• 2007-01-19 US SignOnSanDiego: Witness rebuts patent claims by Qualcomm

• 2007-01-19 IE Finfacts: Value generation trumps asset protection in European intellectual property strategies

• 2007-01-19 US Samba: There is a light that never goes out

• 2007-01-18 CA Canada: Nortel-Microsoft alliance lands Shell deal

• 2007-01-18 US SignOnSanDiego: Patent expert testifies for Qualcomm

• 2007-01-18 DE FAZ: Was heißt hier schon trivial? (German; short review of the sw patent debate with several examples)

• 2007-01-17 DE PatentFrei: EU Council Presidency – SME call for change in patent policy

• 2007-01-17 EU IP-Watch: Patent Reform, Copyright Enforcement Are Key European IP Issues for 2007

• 2007-01-16 US ACM: The patent holder’s dilemma: buy, sell, or troll?

• 2007-01-16 US Cyberlaw: Communications of the ACM article on Patents

• 2007-01-15 US Vertical Pulse: Trends in Patent Litigation

• 2007-01-15 EU ITJungle: IBM Wins U.S. Patent Count Again as Vendors Build Up Patent War Chests

• 2007-01-15 EU Ecommercetimes: Year of the Tech Patent Lawsuit, Part 3

• 2007-01-15 CN People.cn: European Parliament chief hails bigger role of EU legislature

• 2007-01-15 EU Europarl: President Borrell’s farewell speech to the House (mentions the swpat directive, Parliament is not a paper tiger)

• 2007-01-15 EU Fluendo: Fluendo announces Windows Media and MPEG codec support for GNU/Linux and Solaris

• 2007-01-14 EU IPKAT: Software patents: yes or no?

• 2007-01-15 US MyESM: IBM Sets Record for Most U.S. Patents Earned in One Year

• 2007-01-15 US Slashdot: Alan Cox Files Patent For DRM

• 2007-01-14 EU Fosdem: Status of Software Patents in Europe

• 2007-01-14 IN Cpim: Believing Six Impossible Patents Before Breakfast

• 2007-01-13 US BlogeyKong: American Video Graphics Lawsuit

• 2007-01-10 US GameDaily Biz: Console Makers Sued Over Controller Ports

• 2007-01-12 ZA Tectonic: Public discussion on SA patents

• 2007-01-10 UK IPKat: Super Mario has kart trouble

• 2007-01-11 US IBM: IBM Sets Record for Most U.S. Patents Earned in One Year

• 2007-01-11 US Slashdot: IBM Breaks Patent Record, Wants Reform

• 2007-01-11 US SecurityFocus: Wishes For 2007

• 2007-01-11 EU TruthAboutTrade: Commentary: Trans-Atlantic Trade Vision

• 2007-01-11 US WebKnowHow: IBM Sets Record for Most U.S. Patents Earned in One Year

• 2007-01-11 US Dallasnews: Innovators are urged to put on thinking caps to unsnarl

• 2007-01-11 US Cnet: IBM wins patent glory, but seeks reform

• 2007-01-10 US Mysanantonio: IBM plans online forum for sharing ideas on fixing patent system

• 2007-01-11 US Yahoo: IFI Patent Intelligence Issues Annual Rankings of Top U.S. Patent Assignees

• 2007-01-11 US Azstarnet: IBM engineer, team granted record number of patents

• 2007-01-11 US Statesman: Austin fuels IBM’s record year for patents

• 2007-01-10 UK ITPRO: The open source patent war

• 2007-01-10 ZA FTISA: FTISA software patent workshop in January 2007

• 2007-01-10 US PatentlyO: SCOTUS: Licensee in Good Standing May File Declaratory Judgment (challenging patents made easier)

• 2007-01-10 US EEtimes: IBM denies Amazon patent claims; says Prodigy online service blazed trail

• 2007-01-10 US Overlawyered: Patent troll, meet Rule 11

• 2007-01-10 US ITweek: Software patents set new record in 2006

• 2007-01-08 US Xinkaishi blog: FT: Banks lay traps for copycats; Patent Trolls

• 2007-01-09 US ABCNews: U.S., Japan to simplify patent process, fight piracy

• 2007-01-09 US Miami Herald: Supreme Court: Challenging patents OK

• 2007-01-09 US Forbes: Microsoft gets patent license for MP3, MPEG2 from Sisvel, Audio MPEG

• 2007-01-08 US TheRegister: Internet video patent suit hits Google and Apple

• 2007-01-08 US Nwsource: Bill Gates holds court on Vista, Apple and more

• 2007-01-08 US PubPat: USPTO’s Record Breaking Year for Issuing Software Patents

• 2007-01-08 US VNUNet: Software patents set new record in 2006

• 2007-01-08 UK TheLawyer: Thought policing

• 2007-01-04 US TheRegister: Broadcom, Bluetooth and that patent lawsuit

• 2007-01-04 US PatentBaristas: It’s a New Year So There Must Be Calls For Patent Reform

• 2007-01-08 US OregonLive: Innovation and litigation

• 2007-01-04 EU BIICL: The Future of International Patent Litigation in Europe

• 2007-01-04 EU ConflictOfLaws: Seminar: The Future of International Patent Litigation in Europe

• 2007-01-04 US P2PNet: SFLC against software patents

• 2007-01-04 US Techdirt: Sneaking The Question Of Software Patents Into The Supreme Court

• 2007-01-04 US ZDNet: Intertainer’s infringement suit: don’t automatically think “Patent troll”

• 2007-01-03 US TG Daily: US research firm sues three cell phone makers over Bluetooth

• 2007-01-03 US Webpronews: Google, Apple, Napster Sued By VOD Company

• 2007-01-03 US Bloomberg: Rambus, TiVo Awards Push 2006 U.S. Patent Damages to $1 Billion

• 2007-01-03 US NYTimes: Patent Lawsuit Names Leading Technology Firms

• 2007-01-02 EU Auricle: A walk in the software patent forest – Part 1

• 2007-01-02 EU Seroundtable: Fighting Search Spam With PhraseRank: The Latest Google Patent Buzz

• 2007-01-01 EU EPO: Press Briefing on European patent policy, EPO President met international press

• 2007-01-02 AU TheAustralian: US banks rush for patents

• 2007-01-01 EU Horns: Changes As Of January 01, 2007