3 ms·

Wow, going after GNOME is such an incredibly stupid thing for a patent troll to do. Once EFF get involved they can kiss their patent good-bye.

locusofself 7y ago
I have no idea, but I would hope so..
sounds 7y ago
Part of the stupidity of filing a lawsuit against GNOME is that the awards are either statutory damages (pay what you should have paid before) or punitive damages (pay a higher price because you are willfully violating the patent). If the court invalidates the patent, which is likely, GNOME and other free software projects can use that as a precedent in the future, which makes it harder for trolls to operate. The smart troll picks "soft targets" who will just roll over and pay. If the court awards statutory damages, GNOME made no money because they sold no software, so it's possible the statutory damages ends up being less than the cost to litigate. The smart troll does not pick "zero-value targets" like GNOME. If the court awards punitive damages, GNOME has very little revenue and may not be able to pay all the damages. The smart troll does not pick "poor targets" like GNOME. This feels like a poorly-paid paralegal just shotgunned a bunch of suits and really, really screwed up.
- Ahwleung 7y ago
  If they (somehow) won or GNOME foundation settled, could they use that precedent to go after juicier targets? Maybe their strategy was to pick a "poor target" to set that precedent? Disclaimer: I don't know anything in this space.
  - sounds 7y ago
    I am not a lawyer. I am not GNOME's lawyer. If they get a judgment against GNOME for violating this patent, it would make a lot of news and likely be appealed. Getting to a final precedent in favor of patent infringement would take years, sinking lots of lawyer dollars into the effort, and the whole process is fraught with an enormous amount of risk. I just don't see them having that kind of long play in their playbook. But I don't know anyone involved... It could be they are acting stupid but are really smart?
- Nemo_bis 7y ago
  Statutory damages are not related to how much money you made out of the violation.
  - desertrider12 7y ago
    But if GNOME has no tangible assets to go after, the patent troll won't actually get any reward for this.
carwyn 7y ago
Not only EFF, IBM is on the tag team too now (via Red Hat).
- markdoubleyou 7y ago
  Yeah, they have deep pockets, but IBM receives more patents every year than any other US company. They probably don't want to see the system reformed.
  - stordoff 7y ago
    They don't really need to see the system reformed, just that they want _this_ patent invalidated.

locusofself 7y ago

I have no idea, but I would hope so..

sounds 7y ago

Part of the stupidity of filing a lawsuit against GNOME is that the awards are either statutory damages (pay what you should have paid before) or punitive damages (pay a higher price because you are willfully violating the patent). If the court invalidates the patent, which is likely, GNOME and other free software projects can use that as a precedent in the future, which makes it harder for trolls to operate. The smart troll picks "soft targets" who will just roll over and pay. If the court awards statutory damages, GNOME made no money because they sold no software, so it's possible the statutory damages ends up being less than the cost to litigate. The smart troll does not pick "zero-value targets" like GNOME. If the court awards punitive damages, GNOME has very little revenue and may not be able to pay all the damages. The smart troll does not pick "poor targets" like GNOME. This feels like a poorly-paid paralegal just shotgunned a bunch of suits and really, really screwed up.

Ahwleung 7y ago
If they (somehow) won or GNOME foundation settled, could they use that precedent to go after juicier targets? Maybe their strategy was to pick a "poor target" to set that precedent? Disclaimer: I don't know anything in this space.
- sounds 7y ago
  I am not a lawyer. I am not GNOME's lawyer. If they get a judgment against GNOME for violating this patent, it would make a lot of news and likely be appealed. Getting to a final precedent in favor of patent infringement would take years, sinking lots of lawyer dollars into the effort, and the whole process is fraught with an enormous amount of risk. I just don't see them having that kind of long play in their playbook. But I don't know anyone involved... It could be they are acting stupid but are really smart?
Nemo_bis 7y ago
Statutory damages are not related to how much money you made out of the violation.
- desertrider12 7y ago
  But if GNOME has no tangible assets to go after, the patent troll won't actually get any reward for this.

carwyn 7y ago

Not only EFF, IBM is on the tag team too now (via Red Hat).

markdoubleyou 7y ago
Yeah, they have deep pockets, but IBM receives more patents every year than any other US company. They probably don't want to see the system reformed.
- stordoff 7y ago
  They don't really need to see the system reformed, just that they want _this_ patent invalidated.