NGO Launches US Campaign to Check "Frivolous" Patent Infringement Law Suits

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has formed a coalition of lawyers, researchers and software experts to attempt to invalidate patents in the digital sector that it claims are overreaching and will stifle innovation. Initially, the program has targeted 10 patentees in the field of Internet- and software-related patents. In following this path, the EFF is reinforcing a view expressed recently in a report by the National Research Council of the National Academies (see "National Academies Advocates a Major Policy Change in US Patent System" in an earlier issue of E-TIPSâ„¢, Vol 2, No 23, April 28, 2004). Provocatively, the EFF has characterized a patent owned by Acacia Research of Newport Beach as "laughably broad". The patent was intended to cover systems for "the transmission and receipt of digital content via the Internet, cable, satellite and other means". Another patent on EFF's 10 "most wanted" list is one owned by Toronto-based Acceris Communications and is aimed at a method of making telephone calls over the Internet. For an outline of current EFF initiatives, visit its web site at: www.eff.org. For a news report on the topic, see the article by Ian Austen at: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/05/technology/05domain.html?th. Summary by: Peter Wang