Gizmodo
Oops! According to a law professor at George Washington University, all patent judges appointed after the year 2000 have been done so unconstitutionally, making thousands of patent rulings made by said judges null and void. This will have ramifications on patents worth billions and billions of dollars, and it's not clear exactly what's going to happen.
But the Justice Department has already all but conceded that Professor Duffy is right. Given the opportunity to dispute him in a December appeals court filing, government lawyers said only that they were at work on a legislative solution.Yikes! The Supreme Court will probably take this issue on in the not too distant future, but before that, lemme just put this in writing now: I came up with the idea for the iPod and iPhone way before Apple, and I deserve all of the revenue from both of those products. See you in court, Jobs. [NY Times via Boing Boing]They did warn that the impact of Professor Duffy's discovery could be cataclysmic for the patent world, casting "a cloud over many thousands of board decisions" and "unsettling the expectations of patent holders and licensees across the nation." But they did not say Professor Duffy was wrong.
If it was a legislative mistake, it may turn out to be a big one. The patent court hears appeals from people and companies whose patent applications were turned down by patent examiners, and it decides disputes over who invented something first. There is often a lot of money involved.
The problem Professor Duffy identified at least arguably invalidates every decision of the patent court decided by a three-judge panel that included at least one judge appointed after March 2000.
Comments
Oops.
In 2000 huh? Must have been some Y2K thing.
All companies in favor of pretending this never happened and having Duffy assassinated say Ay! (sudden rush of hot air)
Dibs on Cheeseburger In A Can patent!
Why is my Buttsecks Roboarm invalid? I demand to know.
I INVENTED THE IPHONE!
seems like a good opportunity to restructure out patent system
As if doing things unconstitutionally in this country meant anything anymore... They'll huff and puff and they'll... go ahead and say yeah we know we did it wrong but who wants to bother with it so we're just going to let it slide because we're the Government, and we Say So.
@Darrone: Ya. I think with the ripple effect this would cause in modern companies today in all fields this little "issue" will be glossed over.
"May you live in interesting times..."
"I don't give a goddamn," Bush retorted. "I'm the President and the Commander-in-Chief. Do it my way."
"Mr. President," one aide in the meeting said. "There is a valid case that the provisions in this law undermine the Constitution."
"Stop throwing the Constitution in my face," Bush screamed back. "It's just a goddamned piece of paper!"
oh how i wish this was fiction!
It doesn't mean the patents themselves are (potentially) invalid, just the rulings in cases heard by the judges in question.
Whole lotta fail.
@A Pimp Named DaveR: Exactly... they will properly appoint someone who will just rubber-stamp all the previous rulings.
@nutbastard: Unfortunately for your logic there, Bush didn't take office until 2001. This means some snafu carried over from the Clinton administration. But good try!
@Joetimek:
I wasn't correlating the quote with the story, only being despondent and incredulous at the state of things.
Everyone's going to hate on it but Clinton was a terrible president as well when it came to sidestepping the Constitution.
Ipso facto, in loco parentis, nemo dat quod non habet, et de bonis non administratis.
In short, your honor, habeas fuckus.
Funny thing is about half of the patents that were issued in that time actually probably should be invalid. I've had it to here *reaches really really really high* with overreaching software patents.
@nutbastard: DOMA anyone?
Actually I sorta hope this invalidates some patents. Such as the few that certain drug companies own regarding how the human body actually works. Seriously. How the hell do you patent nature?
I invented WoW - pay me!
@nutbastard:
clinton WAS a terrible pres, and totally misused the powers granted him
ooops, got caught with mr. happy in someone's mouth. lets bomb an aspirin factory!!!! yeah, that will work
how long til frooch regrets setting the precedent for "i invented ______" comments?
RIM called; they want their 650 Million dollars back.
If it turns out to be real, they'll probably just try and push through a retroactive constitutional amendment or something. Is that even possible?
@nutbastard: Nova invented "I invented _____" comments.
</injoke>
im in ur patents
stealin ur cash
All it takes is one special act of congress to validate thier seats if it was just a syntax error.
but really, Bush doing something underfoot to nominate judges? no way.. he'd never do that...
@scarbrtj: I think you were meaning to say this:
"Wrong, sir! Wrong! Under section 37B of the contract signed by him, it states quite clearly that all offers shall become null and void if - and you can read it for yourself in this photostatic copy - "I, the undersigned, shall forfeit all rights, privileges, and licenses herein and herein contained," et cetera, et cetera..."Fax mentis incendium gloria cultum," et cetera, et cetera..."Memo bis punitor delicatum!" It's all there, black and white, clear as crystal!..." "...so you get nothing! You lose! Good day sir!"
always time for a wonka quote...
I invented the Wii!
(Wait, that's a Japanese patent...)
I invented the Xbox 360!
(meh, that doesn't feel the same...)
wait, i'm sorry, is that a... no, really, what the hell is that patent in the picture for? Is it a bully repellent? Some sort of suicide machine that holds you UNDER the water as the cushion floats above? (and yea, i totally invented it and all proceeds of this wonderful 'thing' should go to me)
@kylenalepa: You're absolutely correct. This is such a non-issue. The article even mentions that the Justice Department "were at work on a legislative solution". As in, "Senate Bill 555555 states that everything we're done since 2000 stays done. All in favor... bill passes."
@catfewd: I assume it's used in some sort of game of grab ass.
I invented the Googles!
@Geisrud: YES.
@nutbastard: What is this constitution you speak of? are you referring to the old boat USS Constitution or the starship class from star trek?
BTW i invented Vista (sorry about that)
@B1663R: Then bend over because I have a return to make!! jk
@godwhacker: And that has what to do with how good you are (or not) at your job?
@B1663R: Amusingly, the ship names from Trek are taken from the CV (carrier) roster from the WWII era. Not that there's anything wrong with that; I think the names of that age were grander and more appropriate than naming ships after ex-presidents.
@Buran:
it has nothing to do with how good (or bad) i am at my job
it has to do with how bad WJC was at his, all his trouble could have been avoided with better aim
Let me show you my patents. My patents, let me show you them.
:p
LOL aboard the LOLCat Train!
@nutbastard: @nutbastard: Sadly, you are way too correct...
@TheCyberBob: This won't affect any patents on medications currently available as the time from discovery (i.e. patent) to market release is about 10-15 years. All the drugs currently available were patented in the last century, with a few exceptions. What will be interesting are the ones that were patented in this time frame. If they are released without patent protection, then instead of $30 a pill, they will cost about $0.30 a pill. Which means the old folks can both eat AND afford their medication.
Ha... I got dibs on the spinning hubcaps patent!
dibs on BluRay
So I had this idea in 2000 about a way to digitally store and then playback music on the go. Kinda like your discman only with no discs. I'm thinking of calling the Kpod. What do you think?
Maybe, one day it will be so popular that people will make phones out of it.
@godwhacker: Right, because President Clinton actually chose the target himself and fired the missles himself to try to take the heat off of him. The Joint Chiefs or the Secretary of Defense had nothing to do with it.
At least come up with a reasonable conspiracy.
I can't believe I got to this first:
I invented the internet.