The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit last Tuesday affirmed a lower court’s decision to dismiss patent claims against Skype and its parent company (for now) eBay relating to uniform network technology. The federal appeals court affirmed without comment the dismissal of claims brought by Peer Communications, a subsidiary of Acacia Research Corporation, reports Law360.
Acacia Research’s subisidiaries are in the business (PDF) of acquiring, developing, licensing and enforcing patents, according to its website.
One of those subsidiaries, Peer Communications, filed the patent case in August 2006 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. The court ruled in favor of Skype and eBay swiftly, but the case then went on to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which has now affirmed the lower court’s decision.
The two patents are somewhat related, to be fair. They deal with “a uniform user interface for network access that can enable a network agent to access multiple discrete network services,” according to court filing documents. The technology contributes to a system that allows groups of loosely interconnected agents to communicate contemporaneously without intermediaries such as a servers and to exchange data. A quick Web search reveals that the actual patent holder is most likely Miami-based Sociocybernetics, which has held such a patent in the U.S. since November 2005.
It’s a small victory for Skype/eBay, who is neck deep in far more serious litigation than this patent case. More on that later.
Did anyone expect this to turn out differently?
Yeah, Peer Communications and Acacia Research Corporation did
Wants and expectations are different.
you know what would be really funny…..
If someone would patent the art of patent trolling and then sue companies like Acacia Research Corporation who do nothing but acquire patents for the sole purpose of suing
then someone could apply for the patent of patenting the art of patent trolling and try to sue the people suing the patent trolls
honestly this patent isssh is getting kinda ridiculous……
http://WWW.SKYPEISHYPE.COM
We are the team of inventors behind US Patent 7,089,319 issued in 2006 titled “Method and system for instantaneous on-demand delivery of multimedia content over a communication network with aid of content capturing component, delivery-on-demand client and dynamically mapped resource locator server”.
We introduce “Skype-killer” application, with new innovative “Internet broadcasting” functionality, as well as unmatched web browser centric cross-platform, cross-device reach. We will be able to compete on VoIP signal quality, innovative “Orbing” (P2P live and pre-recorded video broadcasts by individuals), as well as lower cost base. Skype is facing multiple litigations and is about to either be shut down permamently, or enter very expensive settlement arrangements. Plus, Skype is not is control or ownership of Global Index technology, the node forming augmentation of delivery system which they push to each user computer.
We are actively pursuing venture capital. Please visit http://www.skypeishype.com for more detail.
Dude, no one here respects patents.This community feels your doing a dis-service by attempting to protect your idea, but its ok if you have billions of dollars. This community only respects that.
This community only respects those with “billions of dollars” vs innovators?
Great community
According to CrunchBase:
Skype
Acquired: September 12, 2005 by eBay for $5 in Cash
I can by like 10 Skypes now
Ebay has quite a few items i feel are more than “neck deep”, how about taking their entire development force into the pool with them?
I wouldn’t want to be Luke with aim at the Deathstar.
LOL. That’s funny. But I hope it works out the other way too, regarding that case Apple has pending against Australian company Woolworths (their new logo looks extremely vaguely like an apple, but not much), and that eBay will think twice before taking out an equally dumb injunction against DubLi (German auction company) – regardless of the size of a company, paranoia about logos is not good business practice, imho.