Stories about: USPTO

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is going to review the patent held by e-learning software maker Blackboard, in the wake of a challenge by a group advocating open source software.

IBM was awarded a record number of U.S. patents in 2006, a year that saw the most patents awarded ever, according to a study.

If you've ever dreamed up an ingenious new invention and then wondered if someone else has already made it, Google's new patent search offering is for you.

So, just where do things stand legally in the Linux world, post-SCO? What has changed as a result of the SCO saga? If a Son of SCO shows up in the future, is the community prepared? What is now in place that wasn't there when SCO first showed up in 2003? Here is a brief summary to bring you up to date.

Lucent Technologies has filed suit against Microsoft for patent infringement over technology used in its Xbox 360 game console.

Much has been made of recent patent applications--such as one involving emoticons on cell phones--that seem a far cry from real breakthroughs like the lightbulb. And while many of the weakest patent applications are eventually rejected, some experts believe that an overworked and underfunded U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is issuing more and more patents that never should have passed their first review.

In a scenario a bit reminiscent of the infamous Amazon.com single-click patent, a Google researcher has filed a patent application for technology that would allow mobile phone users to single click on an advertisement on a Web page and be connected via a voice call to the advertiser.

In a step toward reforming the U.S. patent system, IBM, Open Source Development Labs and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) are leading an initiative to speed up the patent approval process and improve the quality of patents. The announcement Tuesday follows countless cases of high-profile and long-running patent disputes often involving software innovations.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) has issued a preliminary rejection of two patents key to Microsoft's control of the FAT file system.

Microsoft executives on Thursday stepped up their calls for reform of the U.S. patent process, saying the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) too often focuses on quantity instead of quality.

IBM is providing open source software developers with access to 500 of its software patents, the company said Tuesday.