Add to 
del.icio.us
Digg this
Feb. 8, 2010
The EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) has won a reexamination authorization of an illegitimate patent
on VoIP (voice over IP) technology that could potentially cripple the adoption of new VoIP technologies in the
near future.
So far, a company named Acceris Communications Technologies, now calling itself C2 Communications Technologies,
was awarded the bogus patent for hardware, software and various processes for implementing VoIP using analog
telephones as endpoints, covering literally millions of telephone calls made over the Web every day and across
the globe.
The EFF and the law firm Fenwick & West LLP filed and won a reexamination request showing that both a
prior patent and published reference materials described the underlying technology long before Acceris made
its initial claim.
Late Friday, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) granted EFF's reexamination request, ruling that
there were substantial new questions of patentability, and that this raises some serious questions as to the
immediate future and viability of VoIP technology.
"Our American patent system is meant to encourage invention and innovation, not discourage it" said EFF
Legal Director Cindy Cohn. "Undeserved patents instead serve to smash down competition and hurt business and
consumers as a whole, and this cannot be accepted in a modern society."
"We are pleased that the USPTO agrees with the substantial new questions of patentability raised in EFF's
request, and we look forward to the USPTO's ultimate decision on this patent," said Nikhil Iyengar, a patent attorney
of Fenwick & West.
More specifically, the overall challenge to this patent is part of EFF's Patent Busting Project, which
directly fights the chilling effects of bad patents on public and consumer interests at large.
To this date, no less than 8 patents targeted by EFF have been cancelled, invalidated, narrowed or simply went
into a reexamination process similar to this one that was granted by the Patent Office.
It will be interesting to see various reactions coming from the Linux community and others in the open source
segment of the IT industry.
We will keep you posted.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation's mandate is to act as the first line of defense between technology
inventors and developers and the general public. The EFF broke new ground when it was founded in 1990, well
before the Internet was a household name and it continues to confront cutting-edge issues defending free speech,
privacy, innovation and consumer rights.
From its humble beginnings, the EFF has successfully championed the public interest in every critical battle
affecting digital rights. Blending the expertise of lawyers, policy analysts, activists and technologists, the
EFF achieves significant victories on behalf of consumers and the public.
The EFF fights for freedom primarily in the courts, bringing and defending lawsuits even when that means
taking on the US government or large corporations. In addition to advising policymakers, the EFF educates the
press as well.
Overall, the EFF is a donor-funded nonprofit organization and depends on public support to continue
defending digital rights.
Source: Tech Blog.
Add to
del.icio.us
Digg this
