SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
It's been barely two months since Netflix added its long-awaited download feature, and the online streaming company has already been sued over it. The plaintiff is a company few have heard of: Blackbird Technologies, a company with no products or assets other than patents. Blackbird's business is to buy up patent rights and file lawsuits over them, a business known colloquially as "patent trolling."
Blackbird was founded by two former big-firm patent attorneys, Wendy Verlander and Chris Freeman. The organization owns US Patent No. 7,174,362, which it hopes will result in payouts from internet video companies with offline-viewing features. On Wednesday, Blackbird (who tells potential clients about being "able to litigate at reduced costs and achieve results") filed lawsuits against Netflix (PDF), Soundcloud (PDF), Vimeo, Starz, Mubi, and Studio 3 Partners, which owns the Epix TV channel. All of the companies have some type of app that allows for downloading content and watching it offline.
The patent-holding company, which filed the lawsuits in Delaware federal court, has good reason to hope for success. The '362 patent already has a track record of squeezing settlement cash out of big companies. The patent was originally issued in 2000 to Sungil Lee, a San Jose entrepreneur and business instructor. In 2011, Lee sold his patent to Innovative Automation LLC, a patent troll that filed dozens of lawsuits in East Texas and California. Innovative Automation said that the '362 patent covered various "methods and systems of digital data duplication" and used it to sue services like "Target Ticket" and "DirecTV Everywhere." Court records suggest most of those cases settled within months.
Source:
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/02/patent-troll-sues-netflix-over-offline-downloads/
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 07 2017, @12:54AM
The U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly reiterated that no, taking something basic, and adding "with a computer" does not make a valid patent.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by DannyB on Tuesday February 07 2017, @03:33PM
My new patent's subject matter is about downloading files for offline viewing. Unlike the way it was done in the past, my new patent is about doing this . . . with a computer! Yes, you can download and view files offline on computers now! It's an amazing invention. I pray that the court will grant my prayer for injunctive relief against the defendants who have shamelessly been coping my invention for their own enrichment. Some of the defendants have been infringing my patent for a very long time. So long in fact that the infringement occurs quite some time before the patent application was filed. That should call for additional punitive damages. Please help me your honor, you're my only hope!
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Tuesday February 07 2017, @04:22PM
Evidently there's some sort of disconnect between the Supreme Court and the patent clerks who like to merrily stamp anything that comes across their desk.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 3, Funny) by DannyB on Wednesday February 08 2017, @03:17PM
Sir, you grossly misunderstand the operation of the USPTO.
When a patent application first arrives at the USPTO, it must be processed. A patent examiner carefully places the patent into a room full of other patent applications. Then into the room is released a large number of kittens with PATENT GRANTED stamps affixed to their feet. Then the kittens are lured back into their cages to await the next round of patent examination. Other patent clerks carefully collect all of the patent applications and determine which patents have been granted.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.