[PLUG] Article One Partners

[Robert Munro]

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On Sat, 3 Sep 2011 22:00:36 -0700 Keith Lofstrom wrote:
> 
> I recently learned about Article One Partners, a legal research 
> firm that specializes in finding prior art to bust patents. They
> use crowdsourcing to look for articles, existing technologies, 
> public presentations, etc. that invalidate patents, and offer 
> sizable rewards ($5K and higher) for research that does so.
> 
> Most of the patents in question are hard technology, but some are
> software, and some may be a threat to Linux.   One example is
> "INTERPRETER FOR COMPILED AND THEN CONVERTED APPLICATIONS". That
> sounds a lot like Perl 6 Parrot to me, and Pascal from a long time
> ago.  So this organization is relevant to protecting Linux, and
> perhaps a way to make some money.
> 
> I have more important things to do right now.  Over the next year,
> killing two or three patents for sport, and earning $10K or so for
> the opportunity, might be a fun way to while away a week or two.
> Getting paid for reading and thinking and writing.
> 
> http://www.articleonepartners.com
> 
> Keith

Er, I don't want to rain on anyone's picnic, but there are some items
about this firm that you might want to be aware of and consider well.

I asked a couple of people about this firm who follow software patent
litigation quite closely. I received responses within minutes. Though
they didn't want to be quoted by name, they made the following points:

* AOP has some large clients like Google, and has some lucrative work.

* One person said he couldn't confirm payouts but didn't try very hard.

* The firm is a hired gun; it will do work for any client that pays it.

* It doesn't make its findings public, so the community cannot benefit.

* Marshall Phelps, former Microsoft head of licensing, is on its board.

This might be a way to make some money, but there are other
researchers that are better to work with, in my correspondents'
opinions, including the Linux Foundation, the FSF, Software Freedom
Law Center, and Pubpat, among others, even if they don't pay. And if
you follow patent lawsuits and think you can offer evidence of prior
art to a white hat defendant, you can always contact its attorneys
directly and negotiate a paid deal.

Also, if you are or might one day become a software developer, you
must be aware that reading software patents, and doing research on
prior art is *not* a good idea. If any software product you have or
might ever be connected with is ever implicated in a patent lawsuit,
infringement may be deemed "willful" if it can be inferred you were
aware of that patent.

Just some information and thoughts to consider...

Robert





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