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Microsoft has Patented "sudo." Yes, the Command

Paul Lilly — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:00:07 -0600

Well here's something we didn't see coming. Microsoft has apparently convinced the patent courts to grant the Redmond company a patent for "sudo," the command every Linux user is familiar with. Think that's mind boggling? Check out the final wording for the patent:

"Although the invention has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological steps, it is to be understood that the invention defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or steps described. Rather, the specific features and steps are disclosed as preferred forms of implementing the claimed invention."

So how did Microsoft manage to patent the Linux command? We don't know, and it doesn't look like Groklaw does, either. But one thing's for sure - Red Hat's going to have a conniption.

Image Credit: U.S. Patent Trademark Office

Facebook Faces a Pair of Fishy Patent Lawsuits

Pulkit Chandna — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 09:57:46 -0500

Facebook may not resemble a likely victim of patent trolls but a couple of companies still wish to probe its vulnerability when pounded with patent suits. Mekiki Co Ltd, which runs the Japanese social networking site Samurai Social Network, has filed a patent infringement suit against Facebook, claiming that it infringes three of its patents related to a “human relationships registering system."

From what we understand, the Japanese firm has called into question the use of the very axe that helps break the ice on social networks like Facebook: friendship requests. Mekiki was awarded US Patent #6,879,985 in 2005 for, among other things, “a message communicator configured to communicate a first message from one member to another member and configured to communicate a respective response to the first message from the another member to the one member, the response establishing a relationship between the one member and the another member.”

Boston-based Tele-Publishing Inc also believes that certain Facebook features contravene one of its patents. US Patent #6,253,216 was awarded to Tele-Publishing way back in 2001 and deals with the “method and apparatus” used for serving a personal page. The subject of its patent infringement claim appears to be Facebook’s privacy feature, which protects all the dazzling nymphets and the handsome hunks from the prying eyes of cyber stalkers. In fact, most contemporary social networks let their users specify who gets to view what.

Red Hat Asks Supreme Court to Ban Practice of Patenting Software

Paul Lilly — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 08:41:29 -0500

Red Hat, the self proclaimed world's leading open source technology solutions provider, has a bone to pick with not just patent trolls, but shady software patents in general. As such, Red Hat has filed a petition with the Supreme Court seeking to ban software patents.

"Red Hat continues its commitment to the free and open source software community by taking a strong position against bad software patents," Red Hat VP Rob Tiller said. "Our patent system is supposed to foster innovation but, for open source and software in general, it does the opposite."

Tiller went on to complain that software patents end up slowing and discouraging software innovation, arguing that "patent trolls" have exploited the current legal system by constructing lawsuits that further confuse the hundreds of thousands of patents that "cover abstract technology in vague and difficult-to-interpret terms."

Red Hat says oral arguments are scheduled for November 9, giving you plenty of time to read the full brief here (PDF).

Image Credit: Flickr Joe Gratz

Largest Ever Patent Ruling Overturned, Microsoft Saves $388 Million

Paul Lilly — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 09:24:27 -0500

Talk about tough luck for Uniloc, who sued Microsoft for patent infringement and was awarded an unprecedented $388 million verdict by a jury in April. But Microsoft won't have to pay Uniloc a dime, as Judge William Smith of the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island overturned the ruling this week, clearing Microsoft of any wrong doing.

"We are pleased that the court has vacated the jury verdict and entered judgment in favor of Microsoft," spokesman Kevin Kutz said Tuesday.

First filed six years ago, Irvine, California-based Unloc USA and Singapore-based parent company accused Microsoft of using its patented technology for software activation. Specifically, the companies laid claimed to the use of a software activation key to keep users from installing licensed software on multiple PCs

Image Credit: MoneyWise

Linux Supporters to Purchase Microsoft's Former Linux Patents

Pulkit Chandna — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 19:59:09 -0500

Earlier this year, Microsoft dragged navigation systems manufacturer TomTom to court over the implementation of “file management techniques used in the Linux kernel.” Though it just took one month for the two parties to settle their dispute amicably, the patent infringement suit was a premonition of Microsoft’s upcoming legal onslaught against the open-source community for some, due to the fact that its claims were related to the use of the Linux Kernel.

An intellectual property company named the Open Invention Network (OIN), which purchases and licenses patents in such a way as to shield Linux developers from patent trolls, has now set its sights on buying 22 Linux-related patents from another organization, called Allied Security Trust (AST), that acquired them from Microsoft.

According to a Wall Street Journal report, OIN believes this is necessary to keep avaricious patent trolls at bay. OIN claims to be very close to striking a deal with AST, an organization constituted to protect its members from patent infringement claims. AST counts Google, Hewlett-Packard, Verizon Communications, and Cisco Systems among its members.

OIN licenses its patents for free, but only to those companies that vow to refrain from enforcing any of their patents against Linux developers as a return favor.

Image Credit: DynamicPatents

Judge Temporarily Suspends Word Sales Ban

Pulkit Chandna — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 18:38:30 -0500

A federal appeals court yesterday provided much-needed succor to Microsoft in its high-stakes legal duel with Canadian firm i4i. The latest judgement temporarily suspends the permanent injunction on the sale of Microsoft Word in its current patent-violating avatar. Microsoft’s Canadian adversary was granted the injunction last month by U.S. District Court Judge Leonard Davis. The Judge had found Word’s default file format, Office Open XML, to be in violation of i4i’s US patent number 5787449.

"Without prejudicing the ultimate determination of this case by the merits panel, the court determines based upon the motion papers submitted that Microsoft has met its burden to obtain a stay of the injunction," the court said.

After Judge Davis had granted the injunction to i41, Microsoft evinced fear that it could lead to "irreparable harm.” It most dreaded the fact that the injunction could keep the “centerpiece of its product line out of the market for months.” Dell and HP had also backed Microsoft in their respective amicus curiae (friend-of-the-court brief) filings.

Image Credit: SknVibes

Microsoft Wants One Patent System to Rule Them All

Paul Lilly — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 07:30:26 -0500

In a recent blog post, Microsoft Corporate Vice President and Deputy General Counsel Horacio Gutierrez makes a plea for "patent harmonization," pointing out current problems in patent application backlogs, lengthening pendency periods, rising costs of prosecuting patent violators, and other issues.

"Over 3.5 million patent applications are pending around the world, including over 750,000 in the U.S. Pendency periods are extending to three, four, or in some cases five years before final patents are issued," Gutierrez wrote. "The cost of this workload to patent applicants and patent offices is too high, and the delays in securing patents are too long for entrepreneurs and large enterprises alike."

Gutierrez proposes a global patent system, which he says would resolve these and other problems associated with the national patent system.

It's probably no coincidence that Microsoft's focus on overhauling the patent system comes not long after the software giant was prosecuted in Texas for patent infringement for its Word application. A District Court in Texas issued a permanent injunction prohibiting Microsoft from selling or importing any Word products to the U.S. that have the ability to open .XML, .DOCX, or DOCM (XML files) containing custom XML.

Google Gets Patent for "Innovative" Homepage

Pulkit Chandna — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 16:06:49 -0500

Google has been awarded yet another patent by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Its latest patent - a design patent for its no-frills homepage - did not come on a platter, though. It took over five years for the search giant’s legal cronies to secure the USPTO’s nod.

The patent application describes the now-patented Google homepage, in a rather long-winded manner, as being a "graphical user interface for a display screen of a communications terminal.” Although the verbose account of the minimalist Google homepage may lend an air of significance to the patent, this design patent is actually limited in scope just like other design patents. Furthermore, experts believe it is difficult to enforce design patents in court.

The Google homepage has remained largely unchanged – only links to some other Google services have been moved - in the five years intervening the patent filing and approval. The design patent will expire on Sept 1, 2023.

Image Credit: PatentlyO