RE: Vulnerability-based IPS Patent

["Kyle Quest" <Kyle.Quest () networkengines com>]

Some people who's been dealing with IDS and IPS 
products may think that this patent is going to 
be useless...

Believe it or not it's not that unlikely that the patent
can be granted. I know it sounds crazy to people in the 
security field, but it is a reality. I'd like to quote what 
Larry Seltzer mentioned in one of his emails about 
the Pentent Office:

<quote>

"...Bruce Lehman, Patent Office commissioner through much of the 1990s, once
summed up the problem when he said, "We are the patent office, not the
rejection office."

The Patent Office itself gets paid when it grants a patent, creating
pressure on the staff to keep the money coming in. Patent examiners' bonuses
are also based in part on the number of files they close in a year. But the
only way to close a file for good is to grant the patent because an
application that's been denied can always be modified and resubmitted, and
frequently is. So examiners have a direct financial stake in closing
application files by green-lighting the patent.

<end of quote>

Right now, as we speak, Astaro, Barracuda Networks, Blue Coat,
Fortinet, and SonicWall are being sued by ESoft for violating
their "Software Management System Patent", http://tinyurl.com/efhn7 .
This is something that can happen with this patent as well
if it's granted. It's a slightly different case, but it's
an real example in the security field that shows what can
happen when silly patents are granted.

With patents its usually not about who's right or wrong...
Those with bigger pockets (HP's pockets are definitely
pretty big) win even if their patent is a joke. 
That fact alone is a great tool to scare other companies 
into paying up to avoid a painful, time consuming, and costly 
legal battle that may not result in the correct resolution.

Kyle


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