April 2012

Microsoft Flips Most of the Patents Bought from AOL to Facebook

Submitted by patentadmin on Mon, 04/30/2012 - 15:42

By Alexander Poltorak

When speculators start flipping properties, you know that the real estate market is hotter than hot. But we haven’t seen much property flipping in the intellectual property market — until now. In an unexpected move, Microsoft unloaded much of the patent portfolio it has recently acquired from AOL to Facebook. But was it really that unexpected?

KUOW News - "Microsoft Gives Facebook a Leg Up in Patent Wars"

Alexander Poltorak was interviewed by Seattle, Wash. public radio station KUOW about Facebook's purchase of hundreds of patents from Microsoft - which had just purchased those same patents from AOL. ("Microsoft Gives Facebook a Leg Up in Patent Wars" KUOW.org - April 24, 2012)

Excerpt of transcript: Alexander Poltorak is chairman of General Patent Corporation, the country's oldest patent licensing firm.

Oracle and Google Prepare for the "World Series" of IP Cases

Submitted by patentadmin on Wed, 04/11/2012 - 22:38

April 11, 2012 - The jury trial in the patent infringement lawsuit between Oracle Corp. and Google Inc. is set for April 16 and is expected to last eight weeks. The judge in the case, U.S. District Judge William Alsup, warned the attorneys for both parties that it will be the "World Series of IP cases," and that "only one winner comes out of the World Series."

Los Angeles Times - "What Microsoft's really buying in AOL patents deal: Leverage"

AOL just sold 800 patents to Microsoft, and this latest patent super-sale has IP experts speculating about how Microsoft will use this latest infusion of IP. Alexander Poltorak explained the significance of this sale and of patents in general in an LA Times article. ("What Microsoft's really buying in AOL patents deal: Leverage" The Los Angeles Times - April 9, 2012)

Small Business Online Community - "Patent Upending: What Small Businesses Need to Know About Recent Patent Law Changes"

The Bank of America's Small Business Online Community blog featured a post on how small businesses can prepare for the changes the America Invents Act will bring this year and in years to come. GPC's Alexander Poltorak was one of the experts featured in the article and spoke about the downsides of the new law.

An Expensive Mistake

Submitted by patentadmin on Thu, 04/05/2012 - 12:50

Seven isn't always a lucky number: A patent lawsuit that's been in the works for seven years, and which was supposed to go to trial May 7, ground to an abrupt halt this week when the judge found that the seven patents-at-suit were invalid. (Anvik Corp. v. Nikon Precision Inc.)

The Wall Street Journal - "Regulators Turn Eyes on Patent Combatants"

The news that Microsoft's European logistics operations will move from Germany to the Netherlands because of its patent dispute with Motorola points to just how high the stakes can be in patent litigation - even for big corporations. GPC's Alexander Poltorak commented on Microsoft's action in a Wall Street Journal blog post. ("Regulators Turn Eyes on Patent Combatants" The Wall Street Journal - April 3, 2012)

General Patent Corporation Settles Patent Infringement Lawsuit with Zoolert

Zoolert Licenses Data Distribution Technologies' Patent

Suffern, N.Y., April 2, 2012 − General Patent Corporation (GPC), a leading patent licensing and enforcement firm, announced today on behalf of its subsidiary, Data Distribution Technologies LLC (DDT), that it settled a patent infringement lawsuit with Zoolert LLC of Langhorne, Penn., operator of zooLert.com. Zoolert is the first website operator to license the patent from DDT. Under the license agreement, Zoolert will pay a 1% royalty.