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Patent trolls that are connected to Microsoft continue to sue Microsoft rivals using old patents; this time, for a change, even the Federal Circuit lets them get away with it

OIN loves Microsoft; OIN loves software patents as well. So Microsoft's membership in OIN is hardly a surprise and it's not solving the main issue either, as Microsoft can indirectly sue and "Microsoft has not included any patents they might hold on exfat into the patent non-aggression pact," according to Bradley M. Kuhn

A Red Hat- and Google-centric aggregator of software patents adds Microsoft as a member even though Microsoft continues to arm and fund patent trolls; the main/net effect of this move appears to be promotion of "Azure IP Advantage" (protection from Microsoft's trolls as long as one pays Microsoft monthly fees)

Richard Lloyd shows that Intellectual Ventures continues to distribute its patents, sometimes to patent trolls from Texas (e.g. Dominion Harbor) and sometimes to others; Finjan, another Microsoft-funded troll, is fighting to salvage its software patents while suing Microsoft’s rivals in the security space

Changes at the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and in US courts’ outcomes may have already meant that patent trolls rather than software patents in general are a growing threat, including those that Microsoft is backing, funding and arming to put legal pressure on GNU/Linux (and compel people/companies to host GNU/Linux instances on Azure for patent ‘protection’ from these trolls)

A roundup of patent trolls' actions in the United States; Microsoft is connected to a notably high number of these

The latest example of patent trolls that receive their patents from Microsoft's troll, Intellectual Ventures, and the urgent need for a permanent solution which isn't just Microsoft's 'protection' racket

As Microsoft's strategy appears to be arming patent trolls and then selling 'protection' from them we must still keep abreast of the actions of Microsoft-connected trolls and especially their lawsuits (because these are visible)

With the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 gaining traction and with Section 101 limiting the scope of patents in United States we now see increased lobbying and trolling by companies on the decline — companies whose last remaining ‘asset’ is a large pile of software patents

The long battle that Steve Jobs embarked on nearly a decade ago (with his infamous term, going "thermonuclear") reaches its end and Apple is nowhere near to what the now-deceased Jobs actually wanted because Android dominates the market and these lawsuits are profitable to nobody except law firms

The latest lawsuits and inter partes reviews (IPRs) which deal with Microsoft-connected trolls and other potentially-suspicious activities

In the "cybersecurity" space, a sub-domain where many software patents have been granted by the US patent office, the patent extortion by Microsoft-connected trolls (and Microsoft's 'protection' racket) seems to carry on; but Microsoft continues to insist that it has changed its ways

The gold rush for patents on algorithms (disguised as "AI" or "blockchain" among other hype waves which are being popularised nowadays) and why it's going to be a lot harder to enforce these in the courtrooms now that the Eastern District of Texas is ever more isolated (recent rulings which deny 'forum shopping' or litigation venue hopping).

The huge number of shells (trolls) that are connected directly and indirectly to Microsoft are struggling in the age of PTAB and 35 U.S.C. § 101; but that does not mean that we should take our eyes off them (and their proponents)

Intellectual Ventures, Finjan, RPX, and other Microsoft-connected trolls cannot be countered by LOT Network and the likes of it (notably OIN); Microsoft continues to shrewdly distribute patents to trolls, offering 'protection' from them (for a fee) and pressuring OEMs to bundle Microsoft 'apps' or risk retaliatory patent lawsuits

Dominion Harbor receives its patents from Microsoft's patent troll, Intellectual Ventures, then sues via shells (like the above) down south in the trolls-friendly courts; we now know that Intellectual Ventures is a lot closer to Microsoft than previously believed/assumed

Finjan's warpath of destruction shows no signs of stopping; it's now suing Check Point, a relatively large company that occasionally exposes issues in Microsoft's software

Bill's Microsoft and Nathan's Intellectual Ventures (with 95,000 'IP' 'assets') are still brewing a lot of legal trouble/Armageddon, distributing plenty of patents to various patent trolls which themselves file lawsuits through shells and proxies

A look at challenged patents and patent lawsuits that are associated with patent trolls or Microsoft's distant proxies that are based in Texas