Feb
25
Patent updates
Posted by Dirk Avery at 12:10 pm under Litigation, Patent, Technology.
Microsoft’s promise to refrain from patent-infringement suits
Last week we wrote about Wariness over Microsoft’s openness. Today various stories reaffirm that concern. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer writes:
But [Microsoft’s] promise last week specifically excluded commercially distributed open-source software. Microsoft said commercial uses of its patented communications protocols would require licensing payments. That drew criticism from Michael Cunningham, general counsel of Red Hat, a distributor of the open-source Linux operating system.
“Microsoft’s announcement … appears carefully crafted to foreclose competition from the open source community,” Cunningham wrote in an online post. “How else can you explain a ‘promise not to sue open source developers’ as long as they develop and distribute only … ‘noncommercial’ implementations of interoperable products?”
He added, “The only hope for reintroducing competition to the monopoly markets Microsoft now controls — Windows, Office, etc. — is through commercial distributions of competitive open-source software products.”
RFID technology suit
RFID is in the news again. A new order issued last week renewed interested in the RFID World v. Target, Wal-Mart and Gillette case. Many in the news reporting community seem antagonistic (such as here) toward the patent owner, suggesting the technology is going to be monopolized and unavailable for consumer benefit. However, monopoly is the exact point of patent. A limited monopoly is granted to spawn invention. If the the inventor never invented RFID technology in the first place, it would also not be available. Ideally, the patent world works best when those who want to use technology license first and then use later. When they use first, develop dependence and then get sued, it all gets a lot more expensive for companies and consumers.
A legal setback for the retailers could be significant. Embedding RFID tags in palettes of merchandise or on individual products has become an increasingly popular way for large retailers to keep track of their wares more efficiently. If that method is interrupted by patent warring, customers may experience visible inconveniences in their big-box shopping runs. A 2005 University of Arkansas study found, for instance, that Wal-Mart stores replenished out-of-stock items bearing RFID labels three times more quickly than those with standard bar codes.
Renewed push for patent reform
Leahy and Hatch have apparently renewed their push for patent reform legislation as their staffs have met with companies in the last month. CNNMoney reports:
A renewed push by two veteran U.S. senators could revive legislation aimed at overhauling the U.S. patent system, months after some had given the bill up for dead.
In the last month, there have been two meetings involving Senate staff and company representatives, lawyers and lobbyists about the patent reform bill.
The bill has been stalled, in part, due to a dispute pitting the pharmaceutical and manufacturing industries against financial services and high- technology firms.