Tough road for patent-busters

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Wendy Seltzer <wendy () eff org>
Date: July 20, 2004 5:01:01 AM EDT
To: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Cc: jason () eff org
Subject: Re: [IP] Tough road for patent-busters

Hi Dave,
You circulated an AP article on EFF's patent-busting campaign,  
<http://www.eff.org/patent/>, that used some misleading statistics on  
the re-examination process.  Compared with the number of re-exam  
requests filed, we think the past success rate for the procedure is  
pretty good:

> From: Jason Schultz <jason () eff org>
>
> Statistics from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
> show that 90 percent of reexamination requests are granted.  They also
> show that 72 percent of granted requests result in either revocation or
> narrowing of patent claims.  I'd say this gives EFF fairly good odds in
> our campaign, especially with all the help we're receiving from pro
> bono patent attorneys, volunteer prior art searchers, and the public.
>
> <http://research.yale.edu/lawmeme/yjolt/modules.php? 
> name=News&file=article&sid=2>
> <http://econwpa.wustl.edu:8089/eps/io/papers/0303/0303009.pdf>

I'd also note that while Acacia is now targeting big broadcasters, it  
earned its place on our most-wanted list for targeting small companies,  
many of whom couldn't defend themselves.

Thanks.
--Wendy

> > Subject: [IP] Tough road for patent-busters
> > http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/biztech/07/16/busting.patents.ap/  
> > index.html
> >
> >
> > Tough road for patent-busters
> >
> >
> >
> > SAN JOSE, California (AP) -- A small company called Acacia
> > ResearchCorp. went after some of the biggest names in broadcasting
> > last month,suing nine companies for an estimated $100 million for
> > allegedlyviolating its patent on streaming video.
> >
> > That earned Acacia a spot on what the Electronic Frontier
> > Foundationconsiders a top 10 list of intellectual property ignominy:
> > patents theonline civil liberties group is seeking to strike down as
> > unwarrantedand harmful to innovation.
> >
> > "Good luck," said Paul Ryan, Acacia's chief executive. "Their
> > chancesare pretty remote."
> >
> > Part fighting words. Part truth.
> >
> > Only 614 of the nearly 7 million existing patents have been
> > revoked,according to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Some 3,927
> > patentshave been narrowed since the agency began conducting
> > re-examinations in1981.



--
Wendy Seltzer -- wendy () seltzer com || wendy () eff org
phone: 415.436.9333 x 125 // cell: 914.374.0613 // fax: 415.436.9993
Staff Attorney, Electronic Frontier Foundation
Fellow, Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/seltzer.html
Chilling Effects: http://www.chillingeffects.org/

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