{10} Google Demands Substance from Patents

Google is recommending the US Patent Office to curb their common practive of broad language in software patent filings which do not disclose actual algorithms, according to The Verge. After going through the awfully lengthy worded language of a patent claim this past week in class, I completely support Google's suggestion to the USPTO. According to a spokesperson from Google, "The corpus of existing software patents is replete with claims that describe a high-level function and no supporting algorithm."

When it comes to technology and innovation, it is not so much the words to explain the invention that matter so much as the algorithm itself. While words can be strung together to make a confusing, lengthy patent--someone else can use the same basic algorithm to create a product that may be described completely differently. So it would be smarter to judge technology in the language it is written in versus another language.The broad language of the language used in patents only invited scrutiny and fuels litigations and patent trolling--"drags on innovation".  I think it is important to consider a change in how software patents are handled--adding a specific subset of rules for specific type of patents may just be the answer. 

{9} A Closer Look at Patents

This week we had a guest lecturer, Uzi Aloush, who really took us to the depth of what patent's look and read like. It was interesting that awkward language was used as a strategic maneuver to confuse those looking for infringements and leave loopholes for patent holders to disallow other patents from forming. A single word, as in the patent we looked in the class the word "LAN" allowed technologies and services like Skype which runs on WAN escape having to pay up for the video conferencing patent we were discussing in class. I didn't realize how the language and terminology written in patents is essentially another language one must learn how to read and interpret. Mr.Aloush gave an interesting example of peeling an onion to its core--as many patent lawyers do to find the heart of the invention. And then layers and elements are added to pad the core and encompass all variations of the invention so they are protected. This information was definitely a great asset to build upon!

{8} The Patent Rat-Race

Unwired Planet purchased over 2,400 patents from Ericsson in January to help it compete against its various legal battles against Apple, Google, and RIM. The purchase increased Unwired Planet's stock by 20% and grew its 260 patent portfolio to 2400. Ericsson gets to share the portfolio to battle its own patent cases. Unwired Planet have gone so far as to sell off parts of there businesses to focus on their patent assets.
As quoted by TechCrunch:

"Ericsson, like Unwired Planet, is also involved in patent lawsuits, such as this one against Samsung, so access to an “enlarged patent portfolio” could prove to be a valuable exchange for the company. The pressure for successful returns on Ericsson’s patent assets is perhaps even greater considering the other problems the vendor is facing. Chief among them, Ericsson said in December it would be taking a $1.2 billion charge on its troubled ST Ericsson chipmaking joint venture."

Who wouldn't make the same move as Unwired Planet. When you can make billions in exchanging, trading, sharing, selling, and threatening by way of patents--there is very little motivation to innovate unless its innovation to create more patents.

{7} Apple Rules (Over) All

Among one of the recent patents awarded to Apple this week, was a patent that involved disabling certain features on your phone based on location. While we see that in our smart phones already in regards to volume and WiFi settings, Apple is taking it a step further and will rely on GPS, cell tower, or WiFi technology to determine the users location and then proceed to "change one or more functional or operation aspects" of the device.

These changes can include but are not limited to silencing all phones in movie theaters automatically, turning off WiFi in hospitals, blocking all phone calls in classrooms, etc. It's your very own personalized handheld Big Brother. While this is amazing technology, in the wrong hands one can understand that this device can put a lot of power into the wrong hands. If we were worried about Russia or China infringing on internet rights before, imagine these countries being able to overrule decisions on your personal wireless device. We will no longer be the owners of the phone, but rather the policies will run our phones.

{6} Patent Quibbling

Google is countersuing UK Telco BT over patent infringement in response to the companies claims against Google filed in December 2011 though not for the same services. According to TechCrunch.com, BT is suing Google over patent infringement related to its Android mobile operating system. BT owns 5,000+ patents in area including Internet and wireless technology, as well as telephony. 

As an act of defending themselves, Google fires a patent lawsuit + a many million dollars worth of expense and time in return. This back and forth game of You hit me, so I'm going to hit you, from a nontechnical point of view would be seen as child's play, often something we are reprimanded for doing as youngsters. These big companies are using a public space to quibble. 

The tech industry is constantly innovating and evolving. However, we did not jump from using pigeon post to texting in a day--these innovation evolved upon one another--and not all of them were made by the same person. I find it extremely unprofessional for such a technological giant having to concentrate some of its efforts towards efforts of claiming or suing other companies for patent rights. 

{5} Patent Trolls

A patent troll is a person or company that aggressively files for and enforces patents against one or more alleged infringers in an opportunistic or unduly excessive manner. The worst trolls often times have no intention of following through building or manufacturing or marketing the final product once they obtain the patent, much commonly known as a non-practicing entity (NPE). An example of a common type of troll in modern technology is a domain name troll who strategically registers desirable domain names.

President Obama spoke out on this issue on Feb 14, 2013 during a Fireside Hangout.
“They don’t actually produce anything themselves,” said Obama of patent trolls. “They’re just trying to essentially leverage and hijack somebody else’s idea and see if they can extort some money out of them.”

While patent trolls defend themselves by labeling themselves as the evening field between large tech companies and small time inventors who can not promote or market their product or idea as well, the trolls are finding themselves more and more reaping in large sums of money from the lawsuits themselves and barring innovative creation--than helping it grow. In my opinion patent trolls have become a major impediment to technology startups who constantly have to be on the defense from other companies suing them for infringement. 

If you aren't using your idea, why not let someone else build upon it and put in the work that you aren't will to put! Huh trolls? 

{4} Disclosed: Trade Marks, Patents, Copyrights

In class this past week, we talked a lot about the logistics of Trade Marks, Patents, and Copyrights and the dates, paperwork, fees, and most importantly the expiration dates surrounding each.

	Expiration	Fees
Trademark™	·   Indefinitely if the owner continues to use the mark to identify goods or services. ·   The term of a federal trademark registration is ten years, with ten-year renewal terms.	·  $275 per class* for a TEAS Plus application that meets the requirements of 37 C.F.R. §§2.22 and 2.23 ·  $325 per class for an application filed electronically using the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) ·  $375 per class for an application filed on paper * class of goods and services you are claiming ~$1000 - $3000 total with lawyer fees
Copyright ©	·   Created after January 1, 1978: the life of the author plus an additional 70 years. ·   For an anonymous work, a pseudonymous work, or a work made for hire: 95 years from the year of its first publication or a term of 120 years from the year of its creation, which ever expires first.	~ $35 - $500 Copyright Fees
Patent	·   20 years from the date the applications were filed (so long as the appropriate maintenance fees are paid – 3.5, 7.5, and 11.5 year marks) ·   Design patents last 14 years from the date they are granted. No maintenance fees required.	~ $1000 - $4000

{3} What's your Trade Secret, and how long will it last?

A trade secret by definition is info that is confidential and valuable, and most importantly it must have competitive advantage.This could be a formula, practice, design, process, instrument, or any other compilation of information which is not generally known or reasonably ascertainable (wiki). There are three things that make a trade secret a trade secret. 
1. Information is not generally known to the public
2. Economically beneficial to holder
3. There are reasonable efforts to maintain its secrecy.

Discovering trade secrets by illegal means like company espionage is punishable by law, but interestingly if you're smart enough to reverse engineer a recipe or formula, is a lawful act!

According to a United States International Trade Commission report on China: Effects of Intellectual Property Infringement and Indigenous Innovation Policies on the U.S. Economy, the commission estimated theft of trade secrets in China that led up to $1.1 billion in U.S. economic losses. The ITC reports that Asian nations are the focus of the cases filed thus far.

According to a recent story in Bloomberg, a Texas-based company is suing a former employee who stole the company trade secrets and went to work with a Chinese manufacturer. Since most of the evidence and witnesses were located in China for the case, a federal judge told the company to take its claim overseas. However, ITC is able to block imports of products that violate U.S. intellectual property rights--thereby cutting off a huge market for supposed foreign trade secret thieves. As most of these companies are concerned with the U.S. market, ITC enables them to keep the battle in the home country.

Trade Secrets are complicated properties to manage within a company themselves, fighting for them overseas seems like a harder battle. It is interesting to see how the U.S. ITC has come together to rescue U.S. companies for overseas theft, however the many companies suffer from losing markets abroad as documented by the $1.1 billion loss in the ITC report. While the 21st century thrives on innovation, it is interesting to see how with every step forward in the technology sector we have to be place an enormous effort in protecting new ideas and information.

As an intern with Symantec's Data Loss Prevention team, I've come to realize how big large companies are willing to pay to protect their and their customers information from slipping out into the real-world.

{1+2} A snippet about me!

Hello! My name is Sargunjot Kaur. I'm a Junior on my way to completing my Computer Science degree at UC Berkeley. I hope to pursue a career within AI or robotics as I love working on innovative, mind-twister, and challenging problems. In my free time, when not stuck in Soda dungeons, I enjoy cooking and baking from recipes found on Pinterest.

I stumbled upon this class through the CET program, and honestly wished I knew about the interdisciplinary range of classes offered within CET/IEOR sooner! I always found the law side of patents very interesting as it integrated engineering, philosophy, and debating (some of my favorite things) all into one field. However, I never gave thought that there is a whole separate engineering stream behind patents! I look forward to learning a lot in this class and going on the field trip to watch a patent litigation case in person!

More weekly updates on all that I'm learning in class to follow!