p2pnet.net News:- "Their chances are pretty remote."

That’s Paul Ryan, chief executive of Acacia Research Corp which, as CNN puts it here, "went after some of the biggest names in broadcasting last month, suing nine companies for an estimated $100 million for allegedly violating its patent on streaming video."

He’s referring to the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) Ten Worst Patents contest, the winners of which became, "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".

Acacia features prominently on the list and Jason Schultz, the EFF lawyer who’s leading the TWP project, told p2pnet the article on the EFF’s chances "was very misleading".

Acacia’s 5,132,992 covers the sending and receiving of streaming audio and video over the Internet, says the EFF, going on that the "Laughably broad" patent would cover everything from online distribution of home movies to scanned documents and mp3s and threatens "dozens of small companies, including many home-grown adult websites".

CNN says, "Only 614 of the nearly 7 million existing patents have been revoked, according to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Some 3,927 patents have been narrowed since the agency began conducting re-examinations in 1981. The hardest part for challengers is qualifying for a re-exam at all."

However, "Statistics from the United States Patent and Trademark Office show that 90 percent of reexamination requests are granted," says Schultz. "They also show that 72 percent of granted requests result in either revocation or narrowing of patent claims.

"I’d say this gives EFF fairly good odds in our campaign."

Schultz adds the foundation has heard from a number of people wanting to volunteer to help out and has received "numerous submissions" of prior art against the top ten patents.

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