Bayer / Monsanto are sueing BioNTech, Pfizer and Moderna over patents filed in 1989. I wondered how this is even possible, patents expire after 20 years. Turns out, it's expired almost all over the world, except in the US. How?

It looks like a submarine patent: Filed _just_ in time to benefit of the older US rules (date of issuance + 17 years, kept secret until issued as the US did until Dec 31, 1995 instead of the Jan 1, 1996+ method of date of filing + 20 years, application published within 18 months, as adopted by the US through the TRIPS agreement), then amended with whatever minor edit to delay the procedure indefinitely. The idea is that such patents can stay in limbo practically forever and only once they turn out to be valuable (e.g. somebody else independently invented the same thing) the applicant lets them through, getting the protection for 17 years starting _then_. Maximum licensing fee coverage, no time lost to periods where nobody is licensing!

This patent? https://patents.google.com/patent/US7741118B1/en says filed in May 1995 (as continuation of a series of earlier applications going back to 1989), granted in June 2010, so it was hiding out for 15 years! It's valid for 17 years, which is an indicator that it was processed under pre-TRIPS rules.

However since 2005, federal courts (like the one Bayer went to) might consider such delays undue and apply the doctrine of laches (Symbol Technologies v Lemelson, 2004). That is, Bayer might have to show that it wasn't Monsanto who was responsible for that 15 years delay, or they might lose their claim.

#patents #legal #history

what is the point of having trade secrets protected by the #law? what is the point of having proprietary #business processes? what is the point of having #patents?

this is a post about businesses using #Microsoft O̶f̶f̶i̶c̶e̶ Copilot

This may be considered #HotTakes by some, I consider these #based: (no ragebait inteded!)

If you have a problem with these, please kindly fuck off in silence!

This list is non-exhaustive...

• #NoHumanIsillegal: #FerriesNotFrontex!
• #PNCHNZS! Being a racist, fascist or otherwise shit person is a choice. People can choose to deradicalize, but not 'choose' not to be targeted by Neonazis!
• #NSAfDverbotSofort - no excuses!
• #TransRightsAreHumanRights
• #HousingFirst, cuz #HumanRights are not negotiable, but precondition to even consider negotiations!
• #UBI instead of #MeansTesting; Cuz survival is not optional!
• #Education is a #HumanRight and should be provided to anyone without any paywalling or charges. This includes access to #Textbooks, which should be provided #DRM-free. All education material should be publicly available and it's creation and updates be paid by the public just like schools.
• #ClothesHaveNoGender
• #PublicTransport should be #free, #accessible and publicly funded and run.
• All #infrastructure is a natural monopoly and should be publicly run and financed solely by either transit fees or public spending.
• #accessibility should be mandatory without exceptions. Paywalling it should be criminalized as a hatecrime.
• Every #home should have access to #DrinkingWater, Sewage Handling, #electricity and #fiber #internet. IDGAF if it's at some remote island or desert oasis!
• #HealthCare is a #HumanRight, not a commodity!
• #Politicans should have to obey the same #laws re: secondary income as #PublicServants and be barred from recieving any other #compensation, #bonuses or have any other income beyond the compensation for their post.
• #Politicans should only be paid #MinimumWage!Wage
• Everyone should have to contribute to #SocialSecurity programs and in return, everyone gets eligible. That means no exceptions for #billionaires and other rich people. If I have to afford ~ 20% of my paycheck for #healthcare then so can all the #Banksters!
• #MinimumWage must be able to afford not mere survival, but actually be sufficient to afford #downpayment on a #home and not just #rent. It should also be automatically be adjusted with #inflation and not be a political bargaining chip!
• Denying people access to legal #work is a crime against humanity. People should have a right to fair and non-discriminatory access to employment regardless of legal status.
• #StockTrading should be regulated as #Gambling.
• Advertising Gambling or using Gambling / #PayToLoose / "#PayToWin" / #P2W mechanics to minors should be as illegal as advertising cigarettes and liquor to them.
• Banning or age restricting #LGBTQIA* content as "#AdultContent" should be illegal. #QueerErasure is indefensible. If you're to prudish to accept that #LoveIsLove then that's a "You" Problem!
• #Cyberfascism needs to be outlawed and Corporations like #Palantir need to be disbanded, their assets stripped and their employees jailed for crimes against humanity. They are morally indefensible!
• #BanBillionaires, strip them off their assets and wealth and redistribute it. #Billionaires should be sentenced to #CommunityService for life as means to (at least partially) undo harm caused.
• #SuperUselessVehicles should be disincentivized and instead any #incentives and #subsidies should be given only to #PersonalLightVehicles of classes #L2e, #L5e, #L6e & #L7e.
• #SexworkIsWork!
• #CSAM is indefensible and authorities that shutdown Pedo Forums should be mandated to #delete [and report] all such content at the hosters and get them to delete it. This includes Kiwi Farms which got fired by Gandi [french registrar] for hosting CSAM!
• It should be illegal to enforce foreign laws overseas. Yes this includes "#Embargos" from the #USA!
• #Trump is a fascist POS and a bootlicker of #Putin!
• #FuckICE
• #MethanolFuelcell > #LithiumCobaltBattery
• #Tabs > #Spaces
• #TSV > #CSV > #MicrosoftExcel
• #Markdown > #RTF
• #OpenDocument > #OOXML
• #PDF > #MicrosoftWord
• #git > #subversion
• #IRC & #Mumble, #MailingList > #discord
• #XMPP+#OMEMO > any proprietary messenger
• #PGP/MIME acceptance should be mandatory per law for all #eMails in #business and towards public offices
• Every System that has a #clock inside has to self-adjust it correctly without user intervention. I don't care if it uses a time signal like DCF77, GNSS or NTP. Computers must syncronize their hardware clock to [Unixtime](en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unix_time) regardless of the used OS
• #Police should only be allowed to carry and use what law-abiding citizens are to. If you don't trust your neighbour with a #gun, why would you trust a stranger who doesn't even have to evidence proper storage, training, proficiency and isn't subject to due diligence?
• #QualifiedImmunity is #PoliceState horeshite and must never be allowed and retroactively canned. If you don't want #accountability or #consequences for those in power, you are a bootlicker.
• Long-lasting peace in the #MiddleEast will most likely only happen if a unified #laicist nation compromising of #Israel and #Palestine gets built. It's just currently not intended to happen by both sides!
• #Ukraine is the #LitmusTest for #EU & #NATO. If Ukraine doesn't win beyond the #StatusQuoAnteBellum (1994-2011) and doesn't get EU & NATO membership it'll either be destroyed by #Russia in Putin's neo-czarist ambitions and thus will legitimize & normalize the Russian #CrimeOfAggression, which will then focus on #Baltics and espechally #Finland. Already the western #cowardice of not following through on the #BudapestMemorandum puts the #NPT and the trustworthyness of the USA, #UK and The West in general into question.
• A #TotalEmbargo against Russia is long overdue - including a #SeaBlockade, not just against the #ShadowFleet which poses a statistically inevitable risk for the #envoirment!
• #NuclearPower is not #renewable and using precious radioactive elements to boil water to spin a turbine is an insult to #physics! #Renewables should be mandatory and we can talk about #Fusion once #ITER actually evidently works and is able to sustain net positive energy output into the grid.
• "#AI" is #WastefulComputing and should be considered an #EnvoirmentalCrime and #CrimeAgainstHumanity, with all the prosecution it entails!
  
• The only people that have a 'right' to be 'proud' of their #citizenship are those that actually had to put in effort to get #naturalized. People who won the #BirthLottery are disqualified.
• Also anyone who is "proud" of their citizenship by birth evidently has achieved nothing on their own worth to be proud of! Even if it's just graduating school, driving license, forklift certification or some kind of art.
• We need #RightToRepair, not only but espechally for #electronics! This includes tight mandates to provide #parts, #tools, #documentation and #support under #FRAND [fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory] terms.
• #Patents on #Software, espechally #GameMechanics, should be illegal. No #patent should be issued without evidence of it being a genuine, new #invention with a demonstrable prototype. If #Kickstarter wouldn't accept it, then neither should any #PatentOffice!
• #Patents of lifeforms and DNA have to be outlawed.
• #Copyright to something should cease the moment the copyright holder refuses to offer the copyrighted work under FRAND terms. If buying isn't ownership than #piracy isn't #theft. Also #OneTimePurchase options [for a specific version] should be mandatory by law and #subscriptions only be allowed for products and services that actually incur costs to upkeep (i.e. bandwith and storage for hosting/streaming). Designing something as "#LiveService" when it has no reason (i.e. refusing to sell physical copies) to should be deemed a fraudulent circumvention of it.
• "#ClientsideAnticheat" is #malware and needs to be prosecuted as such. Any "#AntiCheat" should be Server-Sided only.
• #PriceGouging must be prosecuted harder, espechally when it comes to #utilities.
• Just like #FuelPrices at a #GasStation, so should #ChargingStations be mandated to publish their pricing publicly in realtime and not discriminate customers!
• Everyone should have a #RightToBanking without discrimination. Any closure of accounts must be legitimized by actual criminal activity (i.e. money laundering, fraud, terrorism financing, ...) and go through due process with appeals.
• Everyone should have a right to free, unseizeable #ID documents without mandating #biometrics or other privacy invasions! These should be eligible as Travel #Passport and people should have global #FreedomOfMovement only restricted by an actual, individual judge ruling that went through proper oversight and appeals. Duplicate Issues to avoid Visa Conflicts (with duplicate Serial Numbers!) should be offered and granted upon request.
• #Gender does not belong into ID documents! Just like weight, hair colour, religion, occupation and address don't!

Fighting to Keep Bad Patents in Check: 2025 in Review

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/12/fighting-keep-bad-patents-check-2025-review

#Creativity&Innovation #Patents

BMW Patents Proprietary Screws That Only Dealerships Can Remove

https://carbuzz.com/bmw-roundel-logo-screw-patent/

#HackerNews #BMW #Patents #Proprietary #Screws #That #Only #Dealerships #Can #Remove

BMW #screws #proprietary #dealerships #automotive #patents #carnews

Apple patenta vidrio “más inteligente que duro”: zonas con estrés variable que detienen, ralentizan o desvían grietas lejos de pantallas, cámaras y sensores.

¡Adiós a los cristales rotos que arruinan tu iPhone o Apple Watch tras una caída!

#Apple #Patents #iPhone #VisionPro