EFF Worst Patent contest
p2pnet.net News:- The winners – or should it be losers? – in the EFF’s Baddest Patents contest have been announced.
Needless to say, Clear Channel is included.
Winners are to become, “the first targets for the project’s team of attorneys, technologists and experts, who will file ‘re-examination’ requests with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), asking the agency to revoke the patents,” says the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation).
“We have seen illegitimate patents asserted on such simple technologies as one-click online shopping, video streaming, and paying with credit cards online,” says staff attorney Jason Schultz, who’s running things.
“When individuals and small businesses are faced with million-dollar legal demands, they have no choice but to capitulate and pay license fees. We aim to change that.”
The results (in alphabetical order) are:
Acacia Research
Audio and video receiving and transmission system; threatening dozens of small companies, including many home-grown adult websites.Acceris
Method and apparatus for implementing a computer network/internet telephone system; threatening 14 VoIP companies with expensive legal disputes if they do not pay licensing fees.Clear Channel Entertainment
System and method of creating digital recordings of live performances; claims to own a monopoly on all-in-one technologies that produce post-concert live recordings on digital media.Firepond
System that uses natural language processing to respond to customers’ online inquiries by email; patent uses basic natural language processing techniques taught in introductory computer science courses.Ideaflood
System apparatus and method for hosting and assigning domain names on a wide area network; Threatening community site LiveJournal, with 3 million users who each have their own subdomain.Neomedia Technologies
System and method for automatic access of a remote computer over a network; threatening small info-aggregating companies such as ScanBuy, AirClic, Inc., and LScan Technologies.Nintendo
Software implementation of a handheld videogame hardware platform; threatens reverse engineering of videogames to promote interoperability and emulation by hobbyists.Seer Systems
System and method for generating, distributing, storing and performing musical work files; currently threatening small companies trying to innovate in this field.Sheldon F. Goldberg
System and method for playing games on a network; threatening small online gaming websitesTest.com
Method for administering tests, lessons, assessments; claims it should receive licensing fees from companies, universities or individuals that administer tests over the Internet
But it’s not over yet.
“From here on out, EFF’s team of lawyers and technologists will be tracking down prior art and preparing to petition the Patent and Trademark Office for revocation of these offenders’ patents,” says the foundation.
“To do this, we’ll need your help to find prior art and get the busting process underway. “
Click each ‘winner’ for details.
As a p2pnet reader points out here, you can look up patents and download .pdfs here. “The patent abstract lookup feature is particular useful. Links go to Espacenet.”
