End of the SP vendetta to kill paintball?

[mostpeople]

One could hope... All patents since 2000 are void by technicality.


Oops! According to a law professor at George Washington University, all patent judges appointed after the year 2000 have been done so unconstitutionally, making thousands of patent rulings made by said judges null and void. This will have ramifications on patents worth billions and billions of dollars, and it's not clear exactly what's going to happen.

But the Justice Department has already all but conceded that Professor Duffy is right. Given the opportunity to dispute him in a December appeals court filing, government lawyers said only that they were at work on a legislative solution.
They did warn that the impact of Professor Duffy's discovery could be cataclysmic for the patent world, casting "a cloud over many thousands of board decisions" and "unsettling the expectations of patent holders and licensees across the nation." But they did not say Professor Duffy was wrong.

If it was a legislative mistake, it may turn out to be a big one. The patent court hears appeals from people and companies whose patent applications were turned down by patent examiners, and it decides disputes over who invented something first. There is often a lot of money involved.

The problem Professor Duffy identified at least arguably invalidates every decision of the patent court decided by a three-judge panel that included at least one judge appointed after March 2000.

Yikes! The Supreme Court will probably take this issue on in the not too distant future, but before that, lemme just put this in writing now: I came up with the idea for the iPod and iPhone way before Apple, and I deserve all of the revenue from both of those products. See you in court, Jobs. [NY Times via Boing Boing]

http://www.patentlyo.com/patent/2007/07/are-administrat.html

[KevinA]

:wow: Sucks for them...

[thahouse]

One could hope... All patents since 2000 are void by technicality.



http://www.patentlyo.com/patent/2007/07/are-administrat.html


Let it be heard...

I am the original inventor of the following;

The birth control patch, the prototype of the virtual keyboard and youtube.

[sandfreestyle]

And I am the inventor of the Hybrid Car

[DevilMan]

I invented the internet and AO....









wait... that won't get me very far.....







DM

[SkinnyHare]

I invented the internet and AO....









wait... that won't get me very far.....







DM

yeah... Al Gore beat you to that first one.

[Automagsam]

Yeah its not like this is killing the company though, its a minor setback for them if it even has that much of an effect on the which I doubt it will, as much as I'd like what you think could happen I have to say we can only pray.

[snoopay700]

Well sorting out this mess could take a while, if i was another manufacturer, i'd start pumping out dirt cheap ion and shocker clones while smart parts no longer has the patent.

[Whee McGee]

Well sorting out this mess could take a while, if i was another manufacturer, i'd start pumping out dirt cheap ion and shocker clones while smart parts no longer has the patent.
I'd pay AKA to build me a new Viking.

[snoopay700]

I'd pay AKA to build me a new Viking.
If i had the money i'd pay them to make me an excal. Sigh, fantasies.

[cockerpunk]

AKA still has new vikes and excals ... you'll pay though the nose for them though

[NU_METAL]

i invented post-its ,............
.......................................
oh wait that was a movie ,.......never mind
im allergic to smart parts anyway

cool info most :clap:

[snoopay700]

AKA still has new vikes and excals ... you'll pay though the nose for them though
Almost any way you get one you'll pay through the nose pretty much. Still, i wouldn't mind an excal, probably one of the few electros i would do just about anything for.

[Whee McGee]

AKA still has new vikes and excals ... you'll pay though the nose for them though
I mean the one he's redesigned and is now only building for his kid. :(

[Toll]

Gen 5 excal, here we come!

[B-Pow]

do I smell the second comming of the "golden age" of paintball?

Probably not, but I can dream.

[Steelrat]

Good grief, I am seeing this posted everywhere. Guys, this is just one person's opinion. Don't get too excited.

[insixdays777]

New Pulse anyone???? I fear the SP damage has long been done....new AKA gun would be amazing!

[Maghog]

Does anybody really think that the lives and businesses that SP has ruined are going to see any form of compensation?
Dan@Triggernomics

[B-Pow]

Does anybody really think that the lives and businesses that SP has ruined are going to see any form of compensation?
Dan@Triggernomics

No, but if this is valid the door is open again...and companies like AKA who still have a strong rabbid following will have the oppertunity to come back, and serve the public that wants them, badly.

[Ruler_Mark]

Does anybody really think that the lives and businesses that SP has ruined are going to see any form of compensation?
Dan@Triggernomics


they could sue to get thier money back by law.

[joelbird]

Does anybody really think that the lives and businesses that SP has ruined are going to see any form of compensation?
Dan@Triggernomics


I think most would be happy with the chance to compete again and take money out of SP's pocket by selling their own better quality stuff. This is just a huge outside shot anyways, according to some lawyer friends, that anything would ever happen to let chaos unfold in patent land. They did say outside shot and thats all I needed to hear.

[VTLO910]

What would be sweet is if all the companies SP steam rolled all went in a suit together against them... United they stand... and could feesibly afford it...

[TwilightG]

If this does in fact make patents authorized by these judges null and void, we've got a bigger poop-storm on our hands that makes SP and the paintball industry a little less important.

I'm sure they won't nullify patents that easily but hopefully some will be re-evaluated.

[rawbutter]

do I smell the second comming of the "golden age" of paintball?

Probably not, but I can dream.

Is anyone else afraid of this going the wrong way? If all the patents are null and void, then everyone will have to refile. And knowing SP, they'll probably get right on that and claim EVERY paintball patent (not just the ones the already owned) while everyone else takes their time getting their stuff together.

Or am I completely clueless when it comes to patent issues? Maybe I should just keep my mouth shut. :ninja:

[snoopay700]

Is anyone else afraid of this going the wrong way? If all the patents are null and void, then everyone will have to refile. And knowing SP, they'll probably get right on that and claim EVERY paintball patent (not just the ones the already owned) while everyone else takes their time getting their stuff together.

Or am I completely clueless when it comes to patent issues? Maybe I should just keep my mouth shut. :ninja:
Nah man, won't work, SP can make clones of those markers until they get the patent back i think, but since the companies will have the invalid patents on hand they will have proof of previous artwork and SP won't be able to claim it since there will be evidence that no one can argue with.

[rabidchihauhau]

some of you are going off half-cocked.

This situation did not invalidate ANY patents.

It MAY have invalidated some findings by the patent appeals board.

Until such time as the Supreme Court rules on the validity of the the appointed judges, if and when, everything stands as it has.

Even supposing that the decisions by that board are rendered invalid, its unlikley that there are many paintball related patents that went before it, so those would remain as they stand.

The initial SP gun patent was filed for in 1996...

[BlueDragonX]

some of you are going off half-cocked.

This situation did not invalidate ANY patents.

It MAY have invalidated some findings by the patent appeals board.

Until such time as the Supreme Court rules on the validity of the the appointed judges, if and when, everything stands as it has.

Even supposing that the decisions by that board are rendered invalid, its unlikley that there are many paintball related patents that went before it, so those would remain as they stand.

The initial SP gun patent was filed for in 1996...

rabidchihauhau has it right. No patents are invalidated. If this professor's findings do hold up to scrutiny and the courts side in favor of these findings then it merely means that an opening will be created to re-challenge patents that were previously challenged after 1999.

This doesn't mean anything new for Smart Parts. The reason being is that companies like AKA would then have to take Smart Parts to court over their patents under the premise that the "illegal judges" were wrong to uphold Smart Parts patents.

We all know what the outcome would be of a small company like AKA or AGD taking Smart Parts to court. Smart Parts would merely draw it out and bury the small company in legal fees. Any court battle with Smart Parts will be a battle of bank accounts.

Now, this could give Smart Parts an opportunity to bring Dye and Angel back to court if they wanted to.

[rabidchihauhau]

rabidchihauhau has it right. No patents are invalidated. If this professor's findings do hold up to scrutiny and the courts side in favor of these findings then it merely means that an opening will be created to re-challenge patents that were previously challenged after 1999.

This doesn't mean anything new for Smart Parts. The reason being is that companies like AKA would then have to take Smart Parts to court over their patents under the premise that the "illegal judges" were wrong to uphold Smart Parts patents.

We all know what the outcome would be of a small company like AKA or AGD taking Smart Parts to court. Smart Parts would merely draw it out and bury the small company in legal fees. Any court battle with Smart Parts will be a battle of bank accounts.

Now, this could give Smart Parts an opportunity to bring Dye and Angel back to court if they wanted to.

That's relatively unlikely as well; the appeals board in question deals with interferences among other things.

when one party challenges a patent with their own at that level, BOTH patents are thrown into the mix and a decision is ultimately made - a decision that could go in a hundred different directions; the challenged patent could be invalidated entirely, the challengers' patent could be invalidated entirely, it could be ruled that the claims in both cover different territory, or different claims from both patents could be held up or invalidated.

The status quo still benefits SP, so its doubtful that they'd risk their current position.

The most interesting thing about this issue is not its effect on paintball IP. To my mind, the big statement this legal opinion paper makes is "there's something wrong at the PTO and we're digging as deep as we can in an effort to get it fixed." A legal scholar making a challenge like this is not something that's done casually. Managing to raise it to the constitutional law level is strategic and designed to bring it to a relatively quick conclusion, since it can no longer be dealt with on an administrative or technical level. This paper bespeaks a tremendous amount of dissatisfaction behind the scenes and a lot of effort being devoted to doing something about it.