Deeplinks Blog posts about Innovation
Have you recently received a patent demand letter or been hit by a lawsuit from either “Shipping and Transit, LLC” or “Electronic Communication Technologies, LLC”? Despite their current SEO-unfriendly names that make it difficult to find information, we want you to know that there’s lots of information out there related to these trolls, just under different names.
It is important that those on the receiving end of these trolls’ patent demands can find the resources they need. To that end, more information useful against both of these trolls can be found by searching for ArrivalStar (instead of “Shipping and Transit, LLC”) or Eclipse IP (instead of “Electronic Communication Technologies LLC”). And even though the names are different, the documents linked below show that for practical purposes the new trolls are closely related to the old trolls.
Recent reports from Congress suggest that patent reform might be taken off the table for the summer. This bad news arrives at the same time as a new study showing that patent trolls are more active than ever before. Opponents of reform are trying derail efforts to tackle trolls by insisting that any legislation must include unnecessary changes to procedures for challenging patents the the Patent Office. We urge Congress to remain focused on the real problem of patent litigation abuse.
Like all of the patents we highlight in our Stupid Patent of the Month series, this month’s winner, U.S. Patent No. 6,795,918, is a terrible patent. But it earns a special place in the Pantheon of stupid patents because it is being wielded in one of most outrageous trolling campaigns we have ever seen.
Earlier this year, together with Durie Tangri, EFF stepped in to defend a photo hobbyist facing a patent suit. The patent owner, Garfum.com Corporation, claimed to have invented competitions on social networks where users vote for the winner. Garfum recently abandoned its lawsuit. Yesterday, we filed a motion asking the court to declare the case ‘exceptional’ and award our client attorneys’ fees.
It has now been just over a year since the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Alice v. CLS Bank. Since then, over 100 cases have looked at whether granted patents meet the standards set in Alice. The result has been overwhelmingly on the side of finding patents invalid. Alice has become a crucial tool for those fighting against overbroad patents on abstract ideas.
EFF, along with Public Knowledge, filed an amicus brief on Friday asking the Federal Circuit to apply Alice in the latest in a slew of cases on appeal after a district court invalidated a patent.
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