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[News] Patent in a Standard (Ambush, MS OOXML-style) Raises More Issues

BuffaloTech: Notice Regarding Injunction

,----[ Quote ]
| Regrettably, the Court of Appeals has decided not to stay the injunction in 
| the CSIRO v. Buffalo et al litigation during the appeal period. Although 
| Buffalo is confident that the final decision in the appeal will be favorable 
| and that the injunction will be lifted, Buffalo is presently unable to supply 
| wireless LAN equipment compliant with IEEE 802.11a and 802.11g standards in 
| the United States until that decision is issued. 
| information.      
`----

http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-54755/buffalotech:notice-regarding-injunction

US court beats up FTC over Rambus 'patent ambush' ruling

,----[ Quote ]
| Rambus, the fast memory designer, has won its appeal to overturn a 2004 
| Federal Trade Commission anti-trust ruling. 
| 
| The DC Court of Appeals today decided that the FTC had not established that 
| Rambus had harmed the competition and "therefore that the Commission failed 
| to demonstrate that Rambus' conduct was exclusionary and thus to establish 
| its claim that Rambus unlawfully monopolized the relevant markets".   
`----

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/04/22/rambus_ftc_victory/

Patent trolls and patent-busters

,----[ Quote ]
| In recent times, there have been concerns that the patent system been abused 
| by opportunistic companies known by the phrase "patent trolls". It has been 
| alleged that such entities have stunted innovation and spurred unnecessary 
| patent litigation.   
| 
| [...]
| 
| Not everyone fears "patent trolls". James McDonough of Emory University 
| School of Law prefers to use the euphemism, "patent dealers in the ideas 
| economy". He has argued that, contrary to popular belief, "patent trolls" 
| actually benefit society: "Patent trolls provide liquidity, market clearing, 
| and increased efficiency to the patent markets - the same benefits securities 
| dealers supply capital markets." He maintains that "patent trolls" are a 
| useful intermediary in the marketplace.      
| 
| Others question the very existence of "patent trolls", suggesting that they 
| are little more than mythological creatures designed to frighten the 
| executives of technology companies at night.  
`----

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/04/21/2222428.htm


Recent:

Buy, Cheat, Steal, and Lie: The OOXML Story

,----[ Quote ]
| A 2007 decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit may end 
| up coming back to haunt Microsoft in their ongoing U.S. antitrust battle. The  
| case revolved around claims by Broadcom that Qualcomm had deliberately 
| included its patents in the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System 
| standard in order to create a monopoly for its products. The appeals court 
| held that if a company acts deceptively to gain adoption of a standard that 
| then results in a monopoly to their advantage, they can be held to have 
| violated anti-trust laws, irrespective of their right to determine the use of 
| their patents. Interestingly enough, the Court of Appeals ruling relies on a 
| Federal Trade Commission ruling which in turn relied on — drumroll, please — 
| United States v. Microsoft, the very case that put MS under supervision in 
| the first place.          
| 
| All we can say is, we hope that with this many available avenues, something 
| is done to rectify the farce acted out over the last several months. 
`----

http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/buy-cheat-steal-and-lie-ooxml-story


Another Reason Microsoft's OSP Isn't Good Enough

,----[ Quote ]
| Eek. I understand that to be saying that there are gaps in OSP coverage. 
| You'll get documents you can't legally open unless you are using Microsoft's 
| software, because the extensions found in Office but not in OOXML proper, so 
| to speak, are not covered. Let me explain what I think they are saying this 
| means.    
| 
| We knew we'd get documents we couldn't open effectively from a technical 
| standpoint, without at least losing something in the translation. But if 
| extensions to the OOXML format, as exemplified in Microsoft Office 2007, are 
| not covered by the OSP, and evidently they are not, when you get a document 
| with, say, spreadsheet macros, or DRM, what legally protects you if open the 
| document? All Microsoft has to do, then, is extend the format, as it already 
| has, and you then can only interoperate with them if you use Microsoft 
| software too. So. OSP gaps. Nice work if you can get it.       
`----

http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20080326151405938


OOXML IPR problems

,----[ Quote ]
| Anyway, the phrase that caught my eye last night in one of the presentations 
| I was sent was “No IPR problems!”. 
| 
| I immediately thought “That should have an asterisk.” As in:
| 
| “No IPR problems!*”
| 
| * If you don’t care about 1) everything you need to use the spec, or 2) are 
| interested in using free software. 
`----

http://www.sutor.com/newsite/blog-open/?p=2128


Microsoft patents by Brian Jones

,----[ Quote ]
| For fun we just did a quick search of published US patent applications 
| with "Brian Jones" as an author, and "Microsoft" as the assignee. 
| 
| [...]
| 
| Some of these, like the packing ones, seem to apply directly to OOXML. What 
| isn't clear to us is why Microsoft would pursue patent protection for patents 
| rights that their are promising that they won't assert over users of OOXML.  
`----

http://www.noooxml.org/forum/t-35323/microsoft-patents-by-brian-jones


Wishful Spinning

,----[ Quote ]
| OOXML gets adopted. More and more projects are started. Let's see which of 
| these would survive without funding. Meanwhile a spin factory sends out 
| success stories that most bloggers find worthless to discuss. It is possible 
| to get the Krauts on board that are supposed to review OOXML but would OOXML 
| survive a review by the crowds?    
`----

http://www.noooxml.org/forum/t-35292/wishful-spinning


Digging in the Comments: Patents

,----[ Quote ]
| Patent licensing is probably the most important aspect for all third parties 
| that want to implement or use the Open XML specification. Unfortunately the 
| Ballot Resolution Meeting cannot discuss these aspects because only technical 
| and editorial issues would get resolved.   
| 
| [...]
| 
| When you have a patent which covers Open XML and you refuse to license it, 
| the standard process gets stalled. Large companies in the standardization 
| process are reluctant to use that nuke option. Given the ambush that the 
| software patent practice means today it is quite possible that Open XML 
| infringes a patent and all parties eventually have an obligation to license 
| it.     
`----

http://www.noooxml.org/forum/t-31491/digging-in-the-comments:patents


Patent threat looms large over OOXML

,----[ Quote ]
| "If OOXML goes through as an ISO standard, the IT industry, government and 
| business will encumbered with a 6000-page specification peppered with 
| potential patent liabilities" said NZOSS President Don Christie.  
| 
| "Patent threats have already been used to spread doubt amongst organisations 
| keen to take advantage of the benefits of open source. No one knows whether 
| such claims have any merit, but it is calculated to deter the development and 
| use of open and alternative toolsets."   
`----

http://nzoss.org.nz/node/179


Cyberlaw OOXML Seminar 14 December

,----[ Quote ]
| However, this raises the issue - what assurance does a developer have that 
| such a large specification is not the subject of third party patent claims?  
| The pedigree of the specification is certainly no reason for hope, Microsoft 
| has been the target of third party patent claims for some time now including 
| some high profile losses in patent suits. The fact that the specification has 
| been developed behind closed doors and on a fast track means that there has 
| been no adequate opportunity to evaluate the likelihood of third party patent 
| claims against the specifications. The sheer size of the document suggests 
| there will be at least a couple hiding in there somewhere.       
`----

http://brendanscott.wordpress.com/2007/12/13/cyberlaw-ooxml-seminar-14-december/


ISO warned about possible patent violations of DIS29500 (aka OOXML)

,----[ Quote ]
| I have just send the following email to ISO members (you can find some of 
| their email addresses on the INCTIS website) to warn them about the possible  
| patent ambush... 
`----

http://jeremywang67.blogspot.com/2008/01/iso-warned-about-possible-patent.html

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