Microsoft seeks patent for office 'spy' software Microsoft seeks patent for office 'spy' software

Microsoft seeks patent for office 'spy' software . Initially, I thought that this was a patent claiming computer operation by, for example, brain waves. But instead, it just hooks up the user of a computer to leads so that his employer can monitor heart rate, perspiration, etc. Much less cutting edge, and, more worrisome because of its ability to be misused. It shouldn't have any patentability problems whatsoever, indeed fewer than the typical software patents filed by MSFT.

Insanity at the USPTO Insanity at the USPTO

Few outside the patent bar realize what has been going on over the last month or so in the realm of patents. It has been insane, and was supposed to have culminated last night, midnight EDT.

Some time last winter or spring, the USPTO published some new rules for comment. The rules would have drastically changed patent practice, esp. in the realm of patent prosecution and claiming. By far, the biggest change in my 17 years of patent practice. Continuations, Continuations-in-Part (CIP), and Requests for Continuing Examinations (RCE) were to be limited to one or so per application. Claims were to be effectively limited to 25 total and 5 independent claims, with insanely onerous consequences for crossing those limits, making any patents crossing that line very expensive likely unenforcable. And to make matters worse, claims from applications filed about the same time with the same inventors would be combined for this purpose, leaving it up to the applicants and their attorneys to show that they shouldn't be combined by the USPTO. Oh, and the rules would be mostly retroactive.

No surprise then that almost all the comments were extremely negative. So, with all the negative comments, the agency published the rules in August in the Federal Register, to become fully effective today.

The rush was on. Continuations, CIPs, RCEs, and divisionals that could be filed before the deadline were filed. Of all those, only the pure continuations were easy. The RCEs required amendments to respond to prior office actions. Claim sets of pending applications were cut down to the 5/25 limit.

Meanwhile, the USPTO was fumbling around. All cases exceeding the 5/25 claim rule were pulled from examiner's dockets, but then some were restored based on the hue and cry of practitioners, since the rule would only apply to applications that had not received their first Office Action by the 11/01/07 deadline.

Because of the nature of the new rules and their effect on pending applications, at least three law suits were filed, the major one being by SmithKline Beecham, one of the biggest drug companies, filed in the ED of VA. The drug companies were especially concerned because they were likely to get hit the worst, though big companies in other industries were panicked too. The USPTO responded and was able to set the hearing for yesterday, Halloween, the day before the rules were to go into effect. And with this delay, a number of groups, including several former commissioners of the USPTO, filed amici briefs, universally condemning the new rules.

So, that was where we were sitting early this week, as the patent bar was filing applications, etc. as fast as they could. No one could take the chance that that Court would let the rules go into effect today.

In the end, sometime in the afternoon, the Court issued a preliminary injunction against the rules going into effect, at least until the Court could conduct a hearing on the merits. So, technically, I could have called it a day at that point, and gone out to celebrate. But I didn't, wrapping up what I was planning on finishing, and taking my leisure today.

I would say that the big problem here was the staffing of the top of the USPTO by people who were not patent attorneys. Clinton's USPTO commissioner, Bruce Lehman, was a copyright attorney instead, but at least he did put patent attorneys in right below him. There seems to be a vacuum in the understanding of patent prosecution at the top of the agency right now, and that resulted in this attempt to implement rules that would have had de minimis effect on the patent prosecution backlog, but dramatic effect on the cost and enforceability of patents ultimately issued under the new rules.

House OKs revamp of patent system House OKs revamp of patent system

CNET News.com: House OKs revamp of patent system. There is a lot to complain about in the bill passed by the House. The big beneficiaries are the big software companies that have small patent portfolios. And the big losers are the independent inventors and the biotech/drug companies.

Probably the part of it that is going to take the most to get used to would be the "first to file". The U.S. has been a "first to invent" country for several hundred years, and that doesn't seem to have hampered our innovation. But Europe in particular, with its much lower rate of innovation has had a "first to file" system for a long time. Coincidence?

The problem with the drug companies versus the software companies with small patent portfolios is that the former use blocking patents to restrict entry into a field. This means that the company that gets the patent (typically because they actually discovered the drug) can recoup its R&D costs by keeping competitors out until the patent expires. Software and semiconductor companies, on the other hand, typically develop products that infringe patents from numerous parties, and the bill would significantly reduce their patent infringement exposure. That would be nice - except that the same law effectively reduces the bar to infringing drug patents, allowing generic manufacturers to potentially compete before the expiration of the patents protecting a drug.

Another Sony rootkit worms its way to the surface Another Sony rootkit worms its way to the surface

Another Sony rootkit worms its way to the surface

Sony can't catch a break after its infamous rootkit scandal back in 2005. In fact, we know from talking to security researchers and black hats alike that Sony is under the careful eye of many as a result of that major screwup. Now, a new story has come out involving Sony's biometric Micro Vault USM-F thumb drive, which apparently contains a rootkit that could potentially allow hackers to compromise users' PCs.

"The apparent intent was to cloak sensitive files related to the fingerprint verification feature included on the USB drives," Kapoor and Purdy wrote. "However, in this case (*cough* AGAIN! *cough*) the authors apparently did not keep the security implications in mind."

Last time, it was arrogance. This time it appears more ineptitude, in trying to secure its fingerprint verification software, it opened up a similar security hole as it did two years ago.

New pfish: IRS New pfish: IRS

I just got this email:

After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity we have determined that
you are eligible to receive a tax refund of $109.30
Please submit the tax refund request and allow us 2-3 days in order to
process it.

To access the form for your tax refund, please click here

Regards,
Internal Revenue Service

It even came with a nice IRS background. The "click here" address was to: http://www.bertorotta.it/site/uuw.php, but I don't think that we were supposed to know that.

Google faces landmark lawsuit over sponsored links Google faces landmark lawsuit over sponsored links

Google faces landmark lawsuit over sponsored links:

A consumer watchdog is taking legal action against Google over the way it sells and displays its sponsored links, in a case that could "send shudders down the industry".

The case stems from 2005 when Trading Post, an Australian classified ads magazine, took out sponsored links in the name of two car dealerships from Newcastle, New South Wales. People clicking on the names of the dealerships found themselves on Trading Post’s website.

Interesting case, even if it is in Australia. Trading Post apparently used Google sponsored ads to misdirect people looking for the car dealerships to its, presumably competing, web site. Web sites have been trying to do this for a long time via regular search results by including the name of the product or service they want to steal from somehow on their web pages - and the search engines go out of their way to try to police that. But in this case, Google was taking money for it, and is therefore presumably somewhat culpable.

RIAA's Turn to Be a Defendant RIAA's Turn to Be a Defendant

In RIAA's Turn to Be a Defendant, the tables seem to be turning against the recording companies. Unfortunately, the current Administration doesn't seem willing to pursue antitrust allegations against anyone, and, in this case, against the coordinated efforts by the recording companies to shut down on piracy.

But it appears that some people victimized by RIAA are starting to strike back. Notably,

Former RIAA defendant Tanya Andersen is now suing the major record labels and the RIAA for negligent and illegal investigation and prosecution. In a thirteen count civil suit filed in Oregon District Court, she alleges that record labels didn’t use properly licensed investigators and violated her privacy.

As an IP attorney, I have some sympathy for the recording interests. But I seriously fault their tactics, and thus lose much of the sympathy I would give most others in their position.

More spam scams More spam scams

While some spam scams are getting more sophisticated, I am seeing a lot more stupid ones too. Yesterday, I got an email from a generic "Central Bank" asking me to, of course, update my account information. Today, it is from Ethan at yoyecm@highdown.com. Unfortunately for Ethan, I am the administrator for highdown.com, and have never assigned that email address. Worse, it is sent to "Lorna" who coincidently has my email address. Nevertheless, the crudeness is interesting:

We spoke a few days ago and I'd like to confirm everything now.
Please go over the information below and let me know if you have any questions.
http://hocktwouser.com
We are accepting your form. Your status has been accepted.
We need to confirm your details one more time.
Just check the URL above and fill out our last form.

The email appears by its header to have come from comcast.com. But the domain name (hocktwouser.com) was registerd to Gary Reed of Vancouver, BC, three days ago. Wonder how long it is going to take the Mounties to knock on his door at 3495 Cambie street, in Vancouver? He even has a phone number ((604)767-8695) and email address (garyr@coldmail.ca).

Job offer from Dr. Kenneth Scott of Hong Kong Job offer from Dr. Kenneth Scott of Hong Kong

I just received a great job offer from Dr. Kenneth Scott, presumably in Hong Kong. All I have to do is flush money through my account and get a 10% profit. It looks very simple. He is offering:

1. Receive payments from My Clients/Associates through bank transfers or check.
2. Cash the Payments at your Bank.
3. Deduct 10% which will be your commission/percentage on Payment processed.
4. You are to remit the balance via Money Gram or Western Union.

What could be wrong with such an easy way of making money?

Most likely, the scam involves the checks or money transfers either being bogus or reversed. But he wants near cash as payment.

I recently looked into Moneygrams, etc., in regards to an eBay purchase where the seller didn't accept PayPal. Once you send them, you can't cancel them. Thus, they are almost equivalent to cash. So, when Mr. Scott's check bounces or wire transfer is reversed, his "agents" are going to be left with a 90% losses with little recourse, given that he lives half way around the world.

Spam (#6) Spam (#6)

I don't know if we will ever overcome the scourge of spam email. I get well over 100 spam emails a day, and by now throw almost all of them away w/o reading them.

Most of my email goes through bhayden@ieee.org that is forwarded to bhayden@peakpeak.com. The ieee.org forwarding does try to mark spam as it is forwarded, but doesn't delete any of it. Then, peakpeak.com moves what it thinks is spam into a separate folder for later deletion. I can use white lists and black lists to control that, and sometimes bother to do so.

The way I usually handle that account is to use the peakpeak.com web interface and move what I think is non-spam (from what peakpeak.com already considers non-spam) into a ToRead folder, and then delete what's left (about 75%). Thus, about 90% of the email is deleted w/o reading at this step. Then, I read and delete the non-HTML email, and download the rest using Thunderbird, which does a similar spam filtering into a spam folder.

Pure white and black lists don't work for me because I have too many legitimate emails coming in from new places to make the effort worthwhile. And the response type of email filtering doesn't work either, since how do you get eBay, etc. to respond?

The problem is that it creeps up on you. One year, I will be averaging 50 spam emails a day, the next year, 75, and the next 100. And part of my problem is that my bhayden@ieee.org email address has been out there in circulation for nearing twenty years now, and has likely found its way into most spam email lists by now.

Russian teacher wins software licensing case | CNET News.com Russian teacher wins software licensing case | CNET News.com

CNET News.com: Russian teacher wins software licensing case. Apparently, they couldn't prove intent, when the teacher claimed that he bought the PCs with the MSFT software installed.

MSFT must be pushing the Russians pretty hard. Another CNET article: Russia hits out at Microsoft licensing:

The Russian government has hit out at Microsoft, claiming the software giant's overly strict and costly licensing regime is to blame for the high rates of consumer piracy in the country.

Antipiracy group the Business Software Alliance lists Russia as one of the top 10 worst offending countries for counterfeit software. Deputy Russian IT minister Dmitry Milovantsev admitted in a briefing in Moscow last week software piracy is a "very serious problem" for the country.

Suing over a name as a domain name Suing over a name as a domain name

Country star sues over rights to keithurban.com brings up some interesting cyberlaw questions. Keith Urban the country singer is suing Keith Urban the artist for keithurban.com. Since KU the artist's name matches the domain name, the ICANN domain name resolution process won't help KU the country singer. And pretty much ditto for our Cybersquatting law. Which is why KU the country singer is using trademark law and the federal registration of his name as a trademark. Yes, there is a likelyhood of confusion. But it can mostly be blamed on their respective mothers naming both babies "Keith". Besides KU the artist has prior rights to the mark, since he was using it as his name long before KU the country singer registered it (but was he using it in trade or business?)

If all things were equal and fair, KU the artist would win. But they aren't, and KU the country singer most likely has a lot more money to pour into this case, and so has a significant chance of winning, though legally, and arguably morally, he shouldn't.

Microsoft tries to stop Vista piracy monster Microsoft tries to stop Vista piracy monster

CNET: Microsoft tries to stop Vista piracy monster is interesting since apparently the validation function of Windows Vista is being hacked before it has been generally released. One method seems to use what MSFT calls a "frankenbuild" because it works by combining test versions of Vista with the final code to create a hybrid version. I should note that I am already getting daily spam for Vista.

My view is that it is a somewhat losing proposition for MSFT, given that there is more programming talent trying to break its security than the company can throw at providing security. It can't stop piracy, but the more it slows it down, the more the company will make.

Bitter Pills from Internet pharmacies Bitter Pills from Internet pharmacies

Business Week: Bitter Pills gives us another big reason not to buy drugs over the Internet. You just don't know what you are buying:

From the outside, it looked like any other white-walled, terra cotta-roofed bungalow in sun-bleached Belize, perhaps someone's quaint tropical hideaway. Inside, however, the house's peripatetic occupants didn't act like they were on vacation. Workers in sneakers, shorts, and rubber gloves produced mountains of allegedly counterfeit prescription pills. Hundreds of pounds of raw ingredients came from China via a broker in New Jersey. The drugmakers whipped up their products in a dented mixing machine and blender. Finished tablets—imitations of Viagra, the cholesterol medication Lipitor, and Ambien, a sleep aid—were stored in gray garbage bins before being shipped out in plastic sandwich bags. The pills allegedly were hawked via spam e-mail and sold, without prescriptions, from such Web sites as www.planetpharmacy.bz...

The profusion of fakes puts consumers at risk. Some online drug shipments seized by U.S. authorities have turned out to be near-replicas of brand-name products. But others lack enough active ingredients to do any good, or are too potent. Either way, they endanger users.

Foreign substances sometimes end up in the pills. Phony Viagra made in Thailand has contained vodka; bogus Tamiflu recovered in San Francisco was manufactured with Vitamin C and lactose. Online purchases BusinessWeek made in connection with this article yielded imitations of Lipitor and the anti-anxiety medication Xanax that laboratory tests showed had no active ingredients whatsoever.

Internet Scams - Stock Fraud#5 Internet Scams - Stock Fraud#5

Things are getting a bit out of hand. Today, I had 12 spam emails touting American Unity Investments (AUNI) stock that all had the first name of the poster as the subject of the email. That is about 20% of the email I got today that wasn't marked as spam, and about 10% total.

It would be interesting to see how these people make their money. Are they buying the stock, and then touting it to get it to go up? Or are they being paid? My guess is the former, since there are so many of them.

Internet Scams - Phishing Internet Scams - Phishing

I have seen a lot of phishing email scams over the last couple of years. Phishing is, of course, email pretending to be from some financial institution, asking you to update your account information for some, invariably bogus, reason. And then, the site that you are directed to takes your userid and password, and cleans out your account. Some of the better ones make their sites look just like that of the financial institution, complete with graphics and links to real parts of that site.

Invariably though you can recognize them by the fact that, no matter how well hidden, the link doesn't go where it is supposed to. Indeed, almost always, the domain of the link is a raw IP address, instead of the expected eBay.com, PayPal.com, etc.

So, I just got one that claims to come from eBay, that had an interesting twist on this. Instead of having an IP address of 195.66.170.209, it had one of 0303.0102.0125321. If you look at it closely, the 195 and the 66 have been converted to octal, and the 170.209 have been combined and also converted to octal (hence the leading zeros). Browsers naturally handle this, but not Whois. I had to use the translated address to get to the whois record for the IP address (nicely available through one of my Firefox extensions), and it comes from Montenegro, and the site itself is Montenegro Seismological Observatory. Presumably, they have been hacked.

Internet Scams - Stock Fraud#4 Internet Scams - Stock Fraud#4

Interesting reverse here in this Stock Spam message. They are pointing out that there are a lot of people short on this very thinly traded stock, and, thus, the price has to go up for all those shorters to cover. Of course, a lot of people are short, since it is a stock scam. And they may have a point here, that in the short run, some people might be able to benefit for this. But by the time I got this, I am sure that any profits from short sellers were long gone.
Also, note that "an unrelated third party" here has made $25k for sending out this spam. Most likely not the person who actually sent it, but someone up stream from him. Also, the email ostensibly came from someone at amd.com. Not likely.

Spam (#5) Spam (#5)

My primary email account tries to filter out spam using Email Enforcer. A year ago, it worked pretty well, but it has gotten progressively worse, presumably due to not enough work being done to keep it up to date.

So, the way I work is to move the email that I want to read from my Inbox to a ToRead folder, delete what remains, as well as what is in my Spam folder, read the email in my ToRead, deleting some, and ultimately downloading the rest.

So, today, I started with 58 messages in my Inbox and 67 in my Spam folder. Of the 58, I wanted to read 13. Of the remaining 45, maybe 6 are not spam, including a note from Ken Mehlman, presumably trying to buck up the troops after the fiasco Tuesday. And, in the Spam folder, there was one legitimate email - from eBay, which is presumably why it was thrown in the Spam folder. It was easy to identify as legitimate. First, it contained my real userid. And, secondly, it didn't contain any links to update my account, but rather just a bunch of links to things to buy.

Of the spam that that Email Enforcer didn't pick up (maybe 39 emails), about half were stock scams. What is interesting though is that two of them predominated today:

• email (10) touting Cana Petroleum that come from a person identified as X Y, with a subject of: It's X :)
• email (4) touting Ever-Glory International (EGLY) that come from a person identified as X Y, with a subject of: X wrote:

I have a hard time believing that these people would believe that anyone getting ten identically identified emails (with only the names changed) wouldn't suspect some sort of spam or scam. And they are all apparently buying the same email lists.

Internet Scams - Domain Tasting Internet Scams - Domain Tasting

The register has an article titled: ICANN votes on domain tasting solution that points out another Internet scam. Apparently companies are trying out web sites addresses in bulk, and if anyone tries to access the sites within the five day grace period, the company keeps the domain name. Otherwise, they return this batch, and try another one. This seems fairly inocuous, except that they are doing this at 100k or more at a time. ICANN is proposing that they be charged five cents per returned name. Needless to say, the companies involved in this are screaming.

My somewhat related story is that I had the copatlaw.com domain name for at least five years. Then, I let it lapse, and tried to get it back. No way. Some company has grabbed it up, isn't using it, but is trying to sell it back to me for a profit. And this has been going on now for four or five years now.

Internet Scams - Stock Fraud#2 Internet Scams - Stock Fraud#2

Yesterday, I commented on Internet stock fraud, and I have a couple of other ideas, one of which is that many of the perps don't appear to be American. My gut feeling is East Asian, probably Chinese or Korean, based on the mistakes in English being made. For example, the title of one email was: "Very important letter. You require to read". Another for the same stock (EQTD) has a decent subject line, but starts out with:

The only thing to do on Wednesday October 25 is to get in on EQTD. It will SOAR up next days. There will be over 100% from the very beginning, so do it without delay. After the yesterday's promotion the share price raised on 116% and was 0.013. Those lucky devils who bought stocks at the price of 0.006 yesterday have already earned 100% of their investment. And they will make more. Did you think of it yesterday? If not, think of it now. Now the price is still rising.

More over, with oil markets retreating, big traders are turning to gold, bringing it to levels never before seen. EQTD has made an notice of staggering proportions related to a recent survey on one of their gold properties. The internal scoop is great and we will be looking at a quadrupling of market rate once the public takes notice:

I have underlined a number of places where the spammer's English gives him away. My guess on East Asian is based on the type of mistakes made: missing and misused verbs, noun/object mismatch, and the use of "lucky devils", etc.

What that means is that this sort of stock fraud scam is going to be very hard to police. Many of the likely victims are here in the U.S., while the perps are well beyond the reach of our authorities.