Patent Reform, the first steps?

Squirt · 10-30-2003

Quote:

Originally posted by Dravyk@Oct 29 2003, 01:20 PM
Web group backs Microsoft in patent suit

http://news.com.com/2100-1032_3-5098722.ht...ml?tag=nefd_top

Here's the first part of the article:

Quote:

A leading Internet standards-setting organization took the unusual step Tuesday of urging the director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office to invalidate a software patent that the group says threatens the development of the World Wide Web.

The move by the World Wide Web Consortium puts the group squarely behind Microsoft in a patent-infringement lawsuit that the company is losing so far. A federal jury ruled against Microsoft in August and awarded $521 million to a former University of California researcher who holds the patent the Web consortium now wants revoked.

The Web group contends that the patent, based on work done by Michael Doyle, founder of Eolas Technologies in Chicago, while he was an adjunct professor at the University of California at San Francisco, was improperly granted. In a filing with the patent office, the Web consortium asserts that the ideas in the Eolas patent had previously been published as prior art, a legal term. That prior art was not considered when the patent was granted, or in the Microsoft trial, and thus the patent claims should be invalidated, the consortium contends.

In a long letter Tuesday, Tim Berners-Lee, the consortium director, who created the basic software standards for the Web, said the patent office should begin a review of the patent "to prevent substantial economic and technical damage to the operation of the World Wide Web."

... That last sentence could have been written about Acacia!

Hey Spike, JMM, Far-L ... Maybe someone should get together with the W3 on the Acacia issue right now. They might be in a sympathetic mood to support.

Big business is already involved in this Acacia case. They've seen the Acacia monster coming and are working to kill it before it knocks on their door. The only case they can use to kill Acacia is the pending case with Homegrown & friends.

I was surprised to find the level of support mainstream is giving on this case behind the scenes. Good stuff! We will win. There is no doubt.

I.E. Do you think that programmers and developers are going to testify for Acacia? Do you think major software companies are going to support Acacia? Or do you think they will provide expert, well documented, prior art to kill Acacia before Acacia goes after them next?

Bookmark this post and come back to it after we win

OH .. and Holio is not what it seems. Why do they have a case pending against Acacia in a California court? What "deal" did Acacia and Holio have that was broken? Is there a relation to Acacias current actions and a "deal" with Holio? How did Holio get Acacia off their back? Some business have an eat or be eaten mentality.. them or us.