Tag Archive for: patent

EFF: Urge your alma mater to not feed the patent trolls

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Maybe you, like me, did not even know that universities are selling patents secured by their employee researchers to patent trolls. Maybe you did.

In either case, the Electronic Frontier Foundation is looking to curb this unproductive practice by harnessing the persuasive powers alumni. The EFF explains:

When universities invent, those inventions should benefit everyone. Unfortunately, they sometimes end up in the hands of patent trolls, companies that serve no purpose but to amass patents and demand money from other innovators and inventors.

Why are universities selling patents to trolls in the first place? Shouldn’t they sell their inventions to companies that will actually do something with them?

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Network World Paul McNamara

EFF challenges patent troll’s vaporous claim to the emailing of USPS tracking numbers

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So we live in a world where a guy can’t begin to sell vaping-related goods over the Internet without being shaken down by a patent troll claiming a legal right to the courtesy of sending USPS tracking codes via email.

From an Electronic Frontier Foundation press release:

In a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, EFF is representing Jason Cugle, who last year began running a small business selling accessories for electronic cigarettes. Cugle, a Maryland resident, received a letter accusing his company and website (Triple7vaping.com) of violating Shipping & Transit’s patents, which relate to ideas for monitoring and reporting the status of delivery vehicles. Cugle simply sent customer shipments through the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and manually emailed each customer a message saying the package had been shipped and providing the USPS tracking number. Florida-based Shipping & Transit claims its patents cover a variety of methods of notifying people when a vehicle is about to reach its destination, including Cugle’s.

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Network World Paul McNamara

Patent shows Apple’s interesting mobile Wi-Fi hotspot idea

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The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published an Apple patent application today that suggests the company has explored a new kind of mobile hotspot technology that is easier to set up, provides a more reliable connection, and has a longer battery life.

The patent application, first reported by Apple Insider, is for a small, cylindrical Wi-Fi hotspot device consisting of two pieces: one containing the networking hardware, the other a battery pack. Screw the two pieces together and you have a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot.

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Network World Colin Neagle

EFF targets ‘stupid’ voting-for-videos patent

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It may not be as stupid as the patent issued for filming a yoga class, but this one covering the operation of an online-video voting contest comes darn close.

Maybe we should take a vote on it.

From an Electronic Frontier Foundation press release:

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), together with Durie Tangri LLP, is defending a photo hobbyist against an outrageous patent suit from a company that claims to hold the rights to online competitions on social networks where users vote for the winner.

“Our client has been running ‘vote-for-your-favorite-photo’ polls for years, just for fun and the love of photography,” said EFF Staff Attorney Daniel Nazer, who is also the Mark Cuban Chair to Eliminate Stupid Patents. “The idea that you could patent this abstract idea — and then demand a settlement to go away — goes against both patent law and common sense.”

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Network World Paul McNamara