Fixing the patent system: government and industry push for reform – The Verge The Verge is about technology and how it makes us feel. Founded in 2011, we offer our audience everything from breaking news to reviews to award-winning features and investigations, on our site, in video, and in podcasts. 2014-10-17T14:17:39+00:00 https://www.theverge.com/rss/stream/4169357 https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/01/verge-rss-large_80b47e.png?w=150&h=150&crop=1 Jacob Kastrenakes <![CDATA[Former Google attorney Michelle Lee nominated to run US patent office]]> https://www.theverge.com/2014/10/17/6993855/michelle-lee-nominated-uspto-director-former-google-patent-chief 2014-10-17T10:17:39-04:00 2014-10-17T10:17:39-04:00

Former Google patent chief Michelle Lee has been nominated by President Obama to run the US Patent and Trademark Office, potentially placing a tech-industry leader in a key position as the government continues to work toward reforming the patent process and stamping out trolls. Lee is currently the USPTO's deputy director and was previously running its Silicon Valley office, having come there in 2012 after nearly a decade at Google as an attorney and head of patents. She also holds degrees in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT. Her nomination to director still needs to be approved by the Senate. Businessweek reports that the …

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]]> Adi Robertson <![CDATA[Supreme Court rules software patents that cover ‘abstract ideas’ are invalid]]> https://www.theverge.com/2014/6/19/5824144/supreme-court-rules-software-patents-that-cover-abstract-ideas-are 2014-06-19T11:07:14-04:00 2014-06-19T11:07:14-04:00

Software patents aren't dead, but they just took a blow. In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court has ruled that a series of banking patents didn't cover a concrete software process but an abstract idea, throwing them out and potentially setting a stricter precedent for future patents.

Alice Corp. and CLS Bank are both major financial institutions, and they've been sparring for years in court. The issue is a series of patents that cover a kind of electronic escrow or "intermediated settlement," where a third party holds the real money while "shadow" balances are shown to both sides during trading. In order to preempt a threat from Alice, …

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]]> Chris Welch <![CDATA[Patent reform stalls in Senate as legislation is pulled from agenda]]> https://www.theverge.com/2014/5/21/5739556/patent-reform-stalls-in-senate 2014-05-21T18:02:11-04:00 2014-05-21T18:02:11-04:00

Patent trolls can claim a major victory today thanks to Sen. Patrick Leahy. The Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman has removed patent reform legislation from the agenda, citing a lack of "sufficient support behind any comprehensive deal." In a statement, Leahy said that despite working for nearly a year on legislation, there's been "no agreement on how to combat the scourge of patent trolls on our economy without burdening the companies and universities who rely on the patent system every day to protect their inventions." This stall in the Senate comes after the House passed a bipartisan bill designed to crack down on frivolous lawsuits wit …

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]]> Adi Robertson <![CDATA[Supreme Court decision makes it easier to stick patent trolls with court costs]]> https://www.theverge.com/2014/4/29/5665364/supreme-court-decision-makes-patent-fee-shifting-easier 2014-04-29T16:03:38-04:00 2014-04-29T16:03:38-04:00

The Supreme Court thinks that if you bring a bad enough patent suit, you should have to pay for it. In a pair of rulings handed down today, the court loosened restrictions on patent lawsuit fee-shifting, in which the losing party must pay the winner's attorney's fees. It's a move that could make it harder for so-called "patent trolls" to bring frivolous lawsuits, as well as the first of a number of major patent cases expected this year.

Because of the frequency and increasing visibility of patent lawsuits, particularly those involving big names like Apple and Samsung or patent holding companies like Intellectual Ventures, the past few years …

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]]> Adi Robertson <![CDATA[Microsoft, Apple, and others form a pact to make patents cool again]]> https://www.theverge.com/2014/4/3/5577796/microsoft-apple-and-others-form-a-pact-to-make-patents-cool-again 2014-04-03T15:00:30-04:00 2014-04-03T15:00:30-04:00

Over the past year, the debate over patent reform has heated up, and attention has focused on the dark side of patents, particularly "trolls" who extract money off inventions they don't plan to use. But Microsoft, Apple, Ford, and several other companies are banding together to support a system that they depend on to incentivize new research. The newly formed Partnership for American Innovation (PAI) exists to promote a "strong patent system" and a well-funded US Patent and Trademark Office, but its main focus seems to be changing the tone of debate in an environment where patent law is sometimes seen as beyond repair.

"The rhetoric's frankl …

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]]> Adi Robertson <![CDATA[The ultimate patent troll is going to trial against Google and Motorola]]> https://www.theverge.com/2014/2/4/5375304/intellectual-ventures-goes-to-trial-against-google-and-motorola 2014-02-04T10:57:58-05:00 2014-02-04T10:57:58-05:00
Motorola IV Patent

Few things are more despised in the tech community than patent trolls, and to many, Intellectual Ventures is the biggest one around. In January, the company took the next step in its evolution and took its patents to trial for the first time. The case is against Motorola Mobility and by extension Google, which hasn't yet turned the company over to Lenovo; its phone displays, software update system, and other elements allegedly infringe on six of Intellectual Ventures' thousands of patents. While the jury deliberates, the court of public opinion has largely made up its mind: Intellectual Ventures may insist that it's helping inventors, but co …

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]]> Adi Robertson <![CDATA[Supreme Court takes on case that judge warns could spell the ‘death’ of software patents]]> https://www.theverge.com/2013/12/6/5182774/supreme-court-takes-on-case-about-software-patent-limits 2013-12-06T15:44:53-05:00 2013-12-06T15:44:53-05:00
Supreme Court 2 (Verge Stock)

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case on how far software patents can go in covering an abstract idea. Today, the court said it would take on CLS Bank v. Alice Corp., a contentious decision over online trading tools. Next year, it will have to decide whether a handful of patents should be thrown out for cloaking a basic concept in technical terms - or whether doing so would effectively invalidate all software patents.

Alice Corporation develops financial software tools, and it promotes its patent portfolio heavily. In that portfolio are four filings for an electronic trading platform that lets a third party manage trading obligations …

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]]> Adi Robertson <![CDATA[House of Representatives passes widely supported bill to fight patent trolls]]> https://www.theverge.com/2013/12/5/5177802/house-of-representatives-passes-goodlatte-patent-troll-act 2013-12-05T13:16:38-05:00 2013-12-05T13:16:38-05:00
Capitol-dome-congress2

A bipartisan bill that cracks down on potentially frivolous suits from "patent trolls" has passed the House of Representatives. Rep. Bob Goodlatte's (R-VA) Innovation Act passed committee in November and reached the House floor today, where it was approved in a vote of 325 to 91. It has gained wide support both in and outside Congress: the White House officially backed Goodlatte's legislation earlier this week and in fact proposed several of its elements in June, and a host of tech companies and venture capitalists, including Google, have thrown their weight behind it. The Patent Transparency and Improvements Act, a companion bill from Senat …

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]]> Adi Robertson <![CDATA[Congress prepares for anti-patent troll vote with Senate hearing]]> https://www.theverge.com/2013/11/7/5077274/congress-prepares-for-anti-patent-troll-vote-with-senate-hearing 2013-11-07T13:07:03-05:00 2013-11-07T13:07:03-05:00
White House snow globe patent

By Adi Robertson and Kwame Opam

Congress is one step closer to cracking down on patent assertion entities, better known as "patent trolls." In a hearing today, the Senate Commerce Committee grilled witnesses on both sides of the debate, attempting to clear up questions before voting on a companion bill to Representative Bob Goodlatte's (R-VA) Innovation Act. Goodlatte's bill would require more specific claims in the demand letters that patent holders send, making them list the products and patents in question; it would also require a court to take steps forward in the case before ordering the defendants to start a potentially long and expen …

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]]> Jeff Blagdon <![CDATA[Members of Congress call on FTC to prosecute patent trolls]]> https://www.theverge.com/2013/6/7/4405240/members-of-congress-call-on-ftc-to-prosecute-patent-trolls 2013-06-07T03:13:17-04:00 2013-06-07T03:13:17-04:00
FTC Logo

A new front in the war to reform patent law could be unfolding. Eighteen members of Congress, led by Judy Chu (D-CA) and Blake Farenthold (R-TX), filed a letter with the FTC on Thursday asking the agency to use its Section 5 powers to prosecute patent trolls for unfair and deceptive business practices. In the letter, spotted by Adweek, the representatives argue that by threatening end users like consumers and small businesses with litigation, patent trolls are bilking them for quick settlements, forcing them to decide whether it's worth it to chance an expensive court case.

MPHJ had been using more than 40 shell companies to threaten Vermont …

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