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

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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

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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

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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

Posted in Information Technology, Intellectual Property, Video Games, Virtual Worlds | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

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

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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

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