Innovation can come from anywhere—large established companies, individuals, and of course, small startup businesses. The innovation from startups can ultimately create new established companies. Many of today’s household names—Amazon, Google, Facebook, Intel—started out as a couple of founders and one innovative idea. So, if we want to see if innovation remains an important part of…
Tag Archive for small business
IPR Successes: Scan-To-Email Defeated By Scanner Makers
by Josh Landau •
In the pantheon of infamous patent trolls, MPHJ is near the top. MPHJ drew attention for their habit of mailing demand letters to anyone they thought might possibly have infringed their scan-to-email patent. This drew so much attention that, ultimately, they were sued by Vermont’s State Attorney General. MPHJ’s tactics were also one of the…
IPR Successes: Realtors Association Defends Its Members Using IPR
by Josh Landau •
When you buy a house, it’s nice to know where the local schools are, where the closest park is, where a nearby grocery is. So realtors commonly embed tools on their websites to show you a map of these “points of interest” in the area around a house for sale. Unsurprisingly, using technology leads to…
TC Heartland Attacks The Heart Of Patent Forum Shopping
by Josh Landau •
The Supreme Court decided TC Heartland v. Kraft on Monday. The decision addresses a procedural point with huge effects on patent litigation. The Problem The basic problem before this case was that it was very easy to pick the court you wanted to sue someone in; it’s called “forum shopping.” And (if you’re a…
“Efficient Infringement” Doesn’t Mean What You Think It Means
by Matt Levy •
Patent reform opponents have been arguing that companies make a deliberate calculation and decide to infringe patents. Not only is this not true, but the argument is a subtle way of pushing for what opponents of reform really want.
Vermont Targets A Bottom-Feeding Patent Troll, But It Can’t Do The Job Alone
by Matt Levy •
There should be a rule of thumb for patent trolls: don’t target the disabled. You ignore this rule at your peril. Notorious patent troll MPHJ did, and now it’s just been sued by the Vermont Attorney General for violating the Vermont Consumer Protection Act. MPHJ, and its 40 or so shell companies, goes around threatening…
Startup DITTO Selling T-Shirts to Defend Against Patent Suit
by Matt Levy •
EFF recently wrote about a startup called DITTO that sells eyewear online using a technology it developed to let people see how the glasses would look on them using a webcam. DITTO is being sued by 1-800-CONTACTS for patent infringement. It has also been sued by a PAE in the Eastern District of Texas. To…
The End-Users Strike Back
by David Balto •
As Josh Lamel noted the other day, end-users such as retailers, financial services, grocery stores, advertising, hotel industries, and even oil companies are coming out in droves to fight abusive patent troll tactics. The FTC has posted all 68 public comments submitted to its patent assertion entity workshop; a surprising number come from end-users. Patent…
Five Employees, Six Lawyers: The Problem with Software Patents
by Tim Sparapani •
It’s the tech startup dream: coming up with a great idea, raising funding to make it a reality, gaining users, hiring a first, second, and third employee. Hiring just as many lawyers. When a startup has more attorneys than staff, something is wrong. But one startup founder, who chooses to remain anonymous, just hired his…
Guest Post: Patent Trolls Stifle Innovation
by Alan Schoenbaum •
Over the last several months, we have been vocal in our calls for software patent reform to put an end to the threat of lawsuits on behalf of patent assertion entities (PAEs), more commonly known as patent trolls. Why? Because at Rackspace it has become our most pressing legal issue. Since 2010, our spending to…