In April the EFF launched a new campaign – the Patent Busting
Project – to tackle what the civil liberties group calls the
"chilling effect" that some patents are having on public and
consumer interests.
The EFF says business method and software patents are granted by
the USPTO on the basis that any question over the legality of the
patent can be dealt with by the courts – putting the onus and the
cost of ensuring that a patent is valid onto competitors of the
patent owner.
The EFF said the patents on its list are dangerously overbroad
and that some pose a threat to freedom of expression. The list is
actually a list of 10 owners, some holding a suite of patents. Each
owner, says the EFF, has threatened or sued small businesses,
individuals, or non-profit organisations.
The Top Ten (in no apparent order)
- Acacia Technologies – for patents covering a widely used
process of streaming audio or video files over the internet, cable
and satellite.
- Clear Channel – for patents covering the recording and burning
of after-concert CDs.
- Acceris Communications – for patents covering telephone calls
over the internet.
- Sheldon F Goldberg – for a patent covering the playing of
games, such as card games, upon a network.
- Ideaflood – over a business method patent for managing
sub-domains.
- NeoMedia Technologies – for a patent covering the "automatic
access of a remote computer over a network".
- Test.com – for a patent for a method of taking and scoring
tests on-line.
- Nintendo – for a patent covering Gameboy emulation.
- Firepond – for a patent "covering the use of natural language
processing to respond to customers' on-line inquiries by
e-mail".
- Seer Systems – for a patent for the creation, storage,
distribution and performance of musical work files.
"Patents are meant to protect companies against giant
competitors, not to help them prey on folks who can barely afford a
lawyer," said Schultz, who leads the Patent Busting Project. "We
hope our project will not only assist the victims of these abusive
patents but also help make the case for global reform of the patent
system."
With its targets in sight, EFF's team of lawyers, technologists,
and experts will now begin to research and collect prior art –
proof that the feature being patented was already in the public
domain.
Once the team has gathered enough prior art on a given patent,
said the EFF, it will submit a petition to the USPTO in a legal
process of re-examination. If the USPTO finds the prior art
compelling, it can formally revoke the patent.
