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Recent Posts
- September Changes to Estates Practice: Enduring Powers of Attorney and Representation Agreements
- Patent Assignment: Distinguishing Trolls from Legitimate Assignees, Part 2
- Patent Assignment: Distinguishing Trolls from Legitimate Assignees, Part 1
- Patent Assignment: Trolling the Gap between Potential and Actual Usefulness
- Privacy between Private Parties and the Disclosure of Information
- IP Litigation as a(n Illegal) Business Model
- Music for a Pound, or a Pound of Flesh?
- Lawyers and iPhones (and iPads) Shouldn’t Mix
- RoB Magazine declares victory on the Smartphone Plains of Abraham
- Research in Motion’s Opportunity to Promulgate Freedom
- Bill C-32: The Latest Attempt to Amend the Copyright Act
- Interpreting the NHL and the disallowed Sedin goal
- The Speciation of Web Sites
- Library Manifesto
- Technology (law) is everywhere!
- How to save a drowning business
- Information is the Good, the Currency, and the Era
- Opening the Scope of Employee Contribution
- On Virtual Travel
- Who carries your Web 2.0 banner?
Recent Comments
- Jeremy Costin's weblawg.net Patent Assignment: Distinguishing Trolls from Legitimate Assignees, Part 1 on Patent Assignment: Trolling the Gap between Potential and Actual Usefulness
- Ben Gornall on IP Litigation as a(n Illegal) Business Model
- Nimda Sys on Information is the Good, the Currency, and the Era
- Francina Kocaj on Information is the Good, the Currency, and the Era
- David T Michaels on IP Litigation as a(n Illegal) Business Model
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Tag Archives: patent
Patent Assignment: Distinguishing Trolls from Legitimate Assignees, Part 2
My colleague, Ben Gornall, Patent and Trademark Consultant, has continued our earlier discussion. My initial post was “IP Litigation as a(n Illegal) Business Model“, to which Ben commented here. I replied with “Patent Assignment: Trolling the Gap between Potential and … Continue reading
Patent Assignment: Distinguishing Trolls from Legitimate Assignees, Part 1
My colleague, Ben Gornall, Patent and Trademark Consultant, has continued our earlier discussion. My initial post was “IP Litigation as a(n Illegal) Business Model“, to which Ben commented here. I replied with “Patent Assignment: Trolling the Gap between Potential and … Continue reading
Patent Assignment: Trolling the Gap between Potential and Actual Usefulness
How many of the would-be defendants simply negotiate the licence – not a one-time settlement but an ongoing licence (perhaps under duress?) – to avoid the more costly lawsuit, even though they have no intention of using the patented matter any further?
Here we come to the difference between potential usefulness, which speculation underlies the granting of the patent, and actual usefulness, evidence of which underlies the infringement lawsuit. Continue reading
New ways of looking at video game IP
This is where we tread the line between copyright and patent – between creative work and invention – that has plagued software intellectual property protection for a very long time. The game bears enough in common with its paper-and-dice ancestors to merit some form of patent consideration; yet the invention here is in fact a platform for storytelling – a tool to inspire and facilitate the creation of content by its users. Continue reading
Software IP and Games – which model applies?
At the moment, video games, because they are software, are covered by copyright. But traditionally, games were covered by patent. Hmm. I’ve argued before that software should be sui generis, governed by a hybrid model of patent and copyright: The … Continue reading
Microsoft’s Ironic Poker Game: But are they bluffing this time?
Back in February, Network World ran a story that Linus Torvalds, inventor of the Linux operating system and guru of the Linux kernel, believes that Microsoft is bluffing in its threat to sue for patent infringement. NW quotes Torvals as … Continue reading
Posted in Business Law, Information Technology, Intellectual Property
Tagged GNU, GPL, LexisNexis, Linus Torvalds, Linux, Microsoft, patent
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