We have to tip our caps to Zusha Elinson, who has done more than anyone to expose the inner workings of Nathan Myhrvold’s secretive enterprise, Intellectual Ventures. Elinson previously broke the story of IV handing off patents to an NPE, Picture Frame Innovations. Sure enough, Picture Frame used the patent to bring Kodak to court for patent…
We have to give former Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz credit—he’s nothing if not interesting. After all, how many Fortune 500 presidents resign via Twitter haiku? Schwartz now occupies his time blogging and commenting on the latest tech trends. His most recent post on the increasingly litigious nature of Apple caught our attention. Buried towards the bottom, he…
It is unclear how the release of a Senate draft proposing to remove or change some key reforms from the patent reform bill previously reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee will be received in Congress. So far House Judiciary leaders have alerted their Senate colleagues publicly that they want to see changes. In the…
Much ink has been spilled over the future of the Google Book Settlement, but never before has anyone attempted to squeeze it onto one page. This flow chart, by Jon Band for the Library Copyright Alliance, maps out many of the possible legal outcomes in this important case. Check it out at www.librarycopyrightalliance.org
Since Steve Lohr’s New York Times critique on Intellectual Ventures, last month the blogosphere has lit up with discussion about back door schemes to file or threaten to file patent lawsuits. Revelations of IV’s skyrocketing lobbying expenses and political contributions as well as new strategy of licensing patents to lawsuit-happy NPEs have prompted a flurry of anti-IV sentiment.…
Ever had a leaky ceiling? You can place a bucket under it and delay the inevitable, but ultimately the steady dripping is going to take its toll and that bucket is going to overflow. Eventually, the ceiling may even collapse. The latest drip in the unraveling of secretive Intellectual Ventures came last week in the…
Yesterday we talked about how the 2007 legislation would have helped deal with growing patent damage awards. We’re focusing on the 2007 legislation now as it had stronger provisions to deal with some of the worst problems. The House bill also would have made apportionment of damages a major aspect of the new damage regime;…
There has been much discussion and escalating controversy in recent years about patent damage awards for infringement. With each iteration of proposed patent law reforms, Congress has become increasingly aware of the impact patent damages have in modern business. This is particularly true in light of the role NPE’s (patent trolls) play in the system…
We couldn’t help but chuckle at The Huffington Post’s post on ridiculous patents the PTO has granted recently. It’s just good old-fashioned fun to vote on whether the “apparatus for waking a sleeping driver by electric shock” or “doll urn” is the more absurd idea for a patent (although in our view, the “tricycle mower”…
