Bonum Certa Men Certa

Michael Garofalo's Patent Lawyers Austin Hansley Are Trying to Twist ۤ 101 in Favour of Software Patents Rather Than the Opposite

Taking pride in the state which openly brags about being trolls-friendly

Austin Hansley



Summary: Michael Garofalo, who is attacking small companies using software patents that are likely worthless once actually subjected to expensive scrutiny (at the courts), is being defended by a firm which doesn't seem to grasp the difference between the USPTO's lenience and courts' adherence to the Supreme Court's decision on Alice

Austin Hansley, which is based near the capital of patent trolls, isn't the sharpest pencil in the toolbox. We recently wrote about the Garfum case, where the plaintiff essentially lost after the EFF had stepped in, making 'protection money' harder to collect without a legal challenge.



The patent in question is a software patent -- one that any court would likely invalidate because the USPTO isn't doing its job (finding prior art, considering triviality and so on). But as long as the defendant (victim to be sued) is poor enough Michael Garofalo (of Garfum) probably hopes that money will be shelled out to avert legal expenses.

As one new report puts it:

A New Jersey man named Michael Garofalo had a patent he claimed covered online contests, and used it to demand money from other small businesses. But when the Electronic Frontier Foundation came to the defense of a photographer targeted by Garofalo last year, Garofalo quickly dropped his case. Last month, he and his lawyers were ordered to pay $29,000 in legal fees.

Now Garofalo, who owns the website Garfum.com, is asking for the fee smackdown to be reconsidered. His reasoning: since the US Patent and Trademark Office recently agreed to grant him another patent, nearly identical to the first, his case couldn't possibly be considered "exceptional."

"This new evidence shows that this case does not lack substantive strength," writes Garfum.com's lawyers, from the Texas-based Austin Hansley law firm. "Simply put, how could Plaintiff’s position lack substantive strength when the USPTO performed the same €§ 101 analysis as this Court and found nearly identical claims to recite patentable subject matter?"


But actually, contrary to what these aggressive lawyers claim, ۤ 101 analysis at the court is a very different matter (unlike the 'analysis' at the USPTO), so both patents are likely to be bogus and invalid, once subjected to proper scrutiny by agents that don't profit from granting rather than rejecting. One must begin to question whether Austin Hansley even groks ۤ 101 at all.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Linux is Released Too Often, Tested Insufficiently (Same as Chromium, Firefox, and Systemd)
Driven by schedule, not quality (objective criterion)
When I discovered people trafficking in open source software
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
 
Debian: Let's Pretend We Never Knew Daniel Pocock
Ad hominem is what happens when the message is hard to dispute
DPL Sam Hartman proves blackmail is alive and well in Debian
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
What is a safe space?
Reprinted with permission from the Free Software Fellowship
Does Debian deserve an independent news service?
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
Linux.com So Neglected If Not Abandoned That It Promotes Deals That Expired 4 Weeks Ago
Quite some "stewardship" by the Linux Foundation
The Fall of Meritocracy in Tech
nuff said
Microsoft Has Lost Malta
Android has caught up
In Asia, Baidu Has Become Bigger Than Bing and Yandex is Getting There Too
XBox and Bing are going through existential crises
"Having IBM Next to Your Name is a Scarlet Letter"
IBM staff just motivated not to work
Techrights Browsing Made Easier
a draft for discussion
Links 12/05/2024: XBox Founders Say Microsoft Lost Its Identity
Links for the day
Gemini Links 12/05/2024: Enshitification and Mind Maps
Links for the day
Aside From Red Hat Spam and Partisan Media There's a Lingering Rumour of Layoffs
Some rumour said IBM had second thoughts about a WARN notice and delayed that a bit
The Albanian open source community is very healthy indeed
Windows nosedives from 99.1% to a lot less
Web Sites Hijacked by WIPO on Behalf of Microsoft-Sponsored SPI (and People Looking to Hide Embarrassing Facts)
debian.chat; debiancommunity.org; debian.day; debian.family; debian.finance; debian.giving; debiangnulinux.org; debian.guide; debian.news; debian.plus; debianproject.community; debianproject.org; debian.team; debian.video
Julian Assange on Privacy of People, Even Little Children
Facebook/Google (or GAFAM, an acronym I coined with Assange) knows you better than your mom knows you
[Meme] Miscomprehension of GDPR
Social control in general is a ticking timebomb
In Haiti, the Market Share of Windows Collapsed (From 97% to 27% on Desktops/Laptops)
A couple of months ago Windows was measured at 3.04%
In Most Countries It's Still Possible Not to Have a 'Smartphone' and to Pay for Nearly Everything With Cash
Withdrawing money will be possible as long as enough people use many ATMs (cash machines)
Expect Lots of Material From Daniel Pocock as Election Day Nears
The experiences of Daniel Pocock were an excellent example of reprisal or retribution against either whistleblowers or people who give a voice to whistleblowers
I've Been Promoting Free Software for Over 25 Years
I wrote my first computer program when I was about 14, maybe a little younger (I have visual memory of it)
Reminder: Richard Stallman's Talk is This Week in Paris (and in French)
Defending rms isn't the same as defending everything he has ever said
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, May 11, 2024
IRC logs for Saturday, May 11, 2024
Online Bullying (Trying to Make People Unhappy)
Narcissists and bullies behind mice and keyboards, no honesty or fact-checking required
Talk About Software Freedom
"Linux" and "BSD" may mean a lot to more and more people, but they're still just brands or acronyms
Windows in South Korea: From 98.5% in 2010 to About 30% (Android Rises to Almost 50%)
Samsung ships like a million Linux devices per day
Improving Site Navigation for Easier Discovery and Catch-ups
This site is run by code we wrote ourselves
LibrePlanet 2024 Recordings
Let's hope independent recordings by viewers can help recovery of "lost talks" (recordings)
GNU/Linux Reaches 11% Market Share in the United States Of America - an All-Time High
The United States Of America is where the operating system started (Boston) and where Linus Torvalds works (Portland)
[Meme] Being Believed, Not Censored or Defamed
Daniel Pocock, Zini, and John Sullivan (FSF)
Links 11/05/2024: XBox Crisis, Spotify Exodus Continues
Links for the day
Gemini Links 11/05/2024: Why to Delete GitHub
Links for the day
In Europe, Bing Fell Every Month This Year, Lost a Considerable Share Since "Bing Chat" and All the Chatbot Hype
Microsoft's Bing has had many layoffs lately
Links 11/05/2024: Analysis of the Microsoft Crisis and Backdoor-Looking Bugs
Links for the day
Attacking the Messenger?
Stack Overflow and LLM licencing
Microsoft Fired Loads of Staff in Kenya, Which is Another Large Country Where GNU/Linux Has Grown a Lot
Microsoft pays Kenyans only 2 dollars an hour for an IT/office job
Knowing the True History of Debian, Owing to Irish Debian Developer Daniel Pocock (Currently Running to Become Member of the European Parliament)
Irish-Australian and scapegoat of a highly dysfunctional 'Debian family'
Attacking by Credentials
Modest people do not demand fancy titles
Microsoft Windows Used to Have 99% of the OS Market in Jordan, Now It's Just 13% (Less Than iOS)
Based on the data of statCounter, GNU/Linux in Jordan climbed from 0.62% in May 2014 to nearly 5% right now
More Nations Are Reaching and Exceeding 5% Market Share for GNU/Linux, Microsoft Wants to be Bailed Out Again
Microsoft is once again reaching out to Biden for a bailout - a subject we'll cover in a video some time this weekend
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, May 10, 2024
IRC logs for Friday, May 10, 2024
[Meme] What Do You Call a Woman Who Does BDS on Free Software? Elana Hamasman.
Here are some confused thoughts
[Meme] Mission Aborted
Mission Aborted: cancel RMS
Taking Things Up a Notch
we strive/aim towards 15-25 new pages per day, i.e. around 500 per month or 6,000 per year