Acacia made the Washington Post

[Paul Markham]

They are getting media attention now and that is good for us.

Patenting Air or Protecting Property?

Universities, corporations and tens of thousands of Web site providers across the country probably never imagined they would be rooting for the pornography industry.

But millions of their dollars could be riding on a court fight between a coalition of Internet video-porn providers and a small California research firm, which early this year began enforcing the eye-opening claim that it owns the patents on how most audio and video is sent over the Internet.

Acacia Research Corp. started by targeting dozens of adult entertainment companies, demanding royalties of as much as 4 percent of their revenues from audio and video streaming. Now the firm is seeking fees from universities that use Web video for remote learning, from companies that serve up movies to hotel rooms, from cable and satellite providers, and from major streaming-media companies such as RealNetworks Inc. and America Online Inc.

"It's pretty much the sky's the limit as to where the impact might fall," said a chagrined John H. Payne, director of educational technologies at the University of Virginia's division of continuing education, which uses online video for lectures and courses. "It's like patenting air."

The Acacia case highlights why a growing chorus of corporate and government officials is warning that the U.S. patent system is broken, threatening to stunt technological innovation.

They argue that an overwhelmed U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is simply approving too many dubious and overly broad patents, especially in the software and Internet realms.

The potential result: a digital world carved up into so many pieces that it loses its power to easily link people, communities and ideas.

The country "needs to revamp not just the patent system, but the entire system of intellectual property law," said Andrew S. Grove, chairman of Intel Corp. "It needs to redefine it for an era that is the information age as compared to the industrial age."

Critics hope that the impending departure of patent office Director James E. Rogan, whose resignation for personal reasons was announced Tuesday, might lead to consideration of a new approach.

Overall, the number of patents has nearly doubled since 1990, fueled in large measure by the high-tech boom. The patent office now has a backlog of 450,000 applications pending for all types of inventions; software and Internet-related patents account for more than 15 percent of all patents granted.

In recent months, several of those patents have spawned court disputes, involving such high-profile technology as Microsoft Corp.'s Internet browser, the BlackBerry e-mail device, and eBay Inc.'s online shopping system.

Good news I think.

[Carrie]

I think it's good news as well.
It puts the defense group as a savior of sorts, while casting Acacia as a greedy corporation with an outrageous claim that goes against common sense and logical reasoning.

Interesting note though - it says in the article "and from major streaming-media companies such as RealNetworks Inc. and America Online Inc."
I hadn't heard anything about them suing Real and AOL. Is this true?

It also brings the notion mainstream that the patent office needs serious reform or the damage will be tremendous in terms of software and internet technology and growth.

[slavdogg]

Originally posted by Carrie@Dec 11 2003, 03:09 AM

Interesting note though - it says in the article "and from major streaming-media companies such as RealNetworks Inc. and America Online Inc."
I hadn't heard anything about them suing Real and AOL. Is this true?

another interesting part is that no mention of MS of Apple

[Dianna Vesta]

I think the goverment should step in. This is a big deal and pretty much violates everyone's rights.

[sarettah]

Good article.....

It can only help......

[JFK]

I guess the article helped somewhat,the stock is in a slide again

[quiet]

good article, thanks for the link.

[Zappu]

What I am wondering about, nobody in Germany is realy caring about this Patent. Just 1 of 100 Webmasters is aware of this. I hope this stuff will not swap over to Europe to much and the drama will be an end soon.
It seems like that time is now also working for all pf us!

[Paul Markham]

Even more news people are taking notice

How long before they make 60 minutes?

http://www.bizreport.com/article.php?art_id=5736

http://www.msnbc.com/news/1004089.asp?0cv=TA00&cp1=1

It seems they now have to work in the glare of public opinion. Screwing the porn industry will not look to bad, screwing colleges will make people sit up and take notce.

[Dravyk]

Maybe this is finally mainstream enough for Tech TV to take notice now that it's in the major papers ...