“software Patents”

How (like, ‘HOW?’) Do People Find You ?

Posted on May 3, 2013 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Influency & Integrated Marketing Strategist • 0 Comments

Generally speaking, I hate software patents. I believe they stifle innovation and make it harder to achieve Influency unless you’re a lucky company like Apple, sitting on a trove of patents, or you’re one of those folks making an entire business as a patent troll.

Sometimes, though, someone comes up with something that gets done, via software, and it’s inventive enough and unique enough that the question of whether software patents are a good idea takes on another personality. This isn’t that. ... READ MORE of How (like, ‘HOW?’) Do People Find You ? at Answer Guy Central, your Influency and Integrated Marketing Source By Clicking Here (401 words, 1 image, estimated 1:36 mins reading time)

Filed Under: Influency

Google/Apple/Nokia: The Reason Software Patents Are Such a Bad Idea

Posted on October 30, 2012 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Influency & Integrated Marketing Strategist • 6 Comments

When Google released it few months ago, I wrote a piece on the Nexus 7 that focused on how it had been crippled.

I love my Nexus 7. I use it all the time, and I’ve since figured out how to circumvent Google’s attempts to keep the Nexus 7 from acting as a voice device. But I’ve continued to wonder why Google went out of their way to make the Nexus 7 less than it could be. ... READ MORE of Google/Apple/Nokia: The Reason Software Patents Are Such a Bad Idea at Answer Guy Central, your Influency and Integrated Marketing Source By Clicking Here (363 words, estimated 1:27 mins reading time)

Filed Under: Business Change

A Timeline of The Trademark Dispute Over Timeline (Patents)

Posted on October 21, 2011 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Influency & Integrated Marketing Strategist • 2 Comments

One of the things we do at Answer Guy Central is Intellectual Property Consulting. I don’t talk about that area of our expertise too often because … well, because it’s not very interesting. Besides, combined with our position in Search Engine Optimization, talking about Intellectual Property is so complicated that once I get started I’m afraid I won’t be able to stop!

Facebook’s Timeline Version, of all things, has given me a chance to talk about Intellectual Property. ... READ MORE of A Timeline of The Trademark Dispute Over Timeline (Patents) at Answer Guy Central, your Influency and Integrated Marketing Source By Clicking Here (647 words, 1 image, estimated 2:35 mins reading time)

Filed Under: Business Change, Content

So Paul Allen’s NEW Software Patent Lawsuit Says …

Posted on January 5, 2011 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Influency & Integrated Marketing Strategist • 3 Comments

Thanks, John Dvorak. I hadn’t thought of this.

The venerable an oh-so-cranky columnist for PC Magazine has called, as I have for quite a long time, for the abolition of software patents. Welcome aboard my train, John.

But Dvorak has added something: maybe Mr. Allen doesn’t actually want to win this lawsuit at all. Maybe Paul Allen’s only real goal in filing a lawsuit against almost everybody was to show that software patents are a bad idea. ... READ MORE of So Paul Allen’s NEW Software Patent Lawsuit Says … at Answer Guy Central, your Influency and Integrated Marketing Source By Clicking Here (254 words, estimated 1:01 mins reading time)

Filed Under: Search Engine Optimization SEO

When Billionaires Buy Software Patents

Posted on December 14, 2010 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Influency & Integrated Marketing Strategist • 3 Comments

It sucks to be Paul Allen. Bill Gates’ co-founder of Microsoft just had his huge software patent lawsuit against almost everybody in the whole world thrown out of court.

OK, it actually rocks to be Paul Allen; despite having had one failure after another since leaving Microsoft, the guy’s a billionaires dozens of times over and lives like a king. But last week a federal judge dismissed the huge lawsuit Mr. Allen filed a few month back, and the tech-geek-cum-patent-troll is going to have to start over. What a mess. ... READ MORE of When Billionaires Buy Software Patents at Answer Guy Central, your Influency and Integrated Marketing Source By Clicking Here (389 words, estimated 1:33 mins reading time)

Filed Under: Business Change

Facebook’s Patent 7669123? Still Bad. 7827208? Almost OK.

Posted on November 5, 2010 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Influency & Integrated Marketing Strategist • 2 Comments

You didn’t think Facebook was done with social networking and software patents, did you? The United States Office of Patents and Trademarks has just issued Patent # 7,827,208. It covers Facebook’s news feed feature. But unlike Patent 7,669,123 issued to Facebook about eight months ago, 7,827,208 at least describes something.

Before you get too excited, let me be clear. Again. Software Patents are almost always a mistake, because these patents tend to describe ideas rather than the actual implementations of ideas. By definition, that shouldn’t be patentable. Imagine if someone patented the word processor. That patent abstract would certainly includes wording to the effect of: ... READ MORE of Facebook’s Patent 7669123? Still Bad. 7827208? Almost OK. at Answer Guy Central, your Influency and Integrated Marketing Source By Clicking Here (354 words, estimated 1:25 mins reading time)

Filed Under: Business Change

Patents, Football, Software, and Business Process

Posted on October 12, 2010 by --Jeff Yablon/The Answer Guy-- Influency & Integrated Marketing Strategist • 2 Comments

A few weeks ago I came across an article in The New York Times that struck me. It was about Football, Software, and Patents and Copyrights, which might seem like subjects that shouldn’t be able to be discussed all together.

Guess Again.

To the disinterested, American football might look like a bunch of large men running around haphazardly, but it’s really a highly-choreographed exercise, at which success is determined not merely through physical prowess but by adaptability and excellence in change management.

Just like business. ... READ MORE of Patents, Football, Software, and Business Process at Answer Guy Central, your Influency and Integrated Marketing Source By Clicking Here (295 words, estimated 1:11 mins reading time)

Filed Under: Business Change, Content