[Forum] Fwd: PUBPAT News: At PUBPAT's Request, Patent Office Rejects Microsoft's FAT Patent

[Marc Lavallée]

La "Public Patent Foundation" a réussi à faire invalider le brevet de M$ sur 
le FAT. Même si il y a énormément de brevets illégitimes qui sont accordés 
chaque année, cette première victoire de PUBPAT est significative.

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Subject: PUBPAT News: At PUBPAT's Request, Patent Office Rejects Microsoft's 
FAT Patent
Date: 30 Septembre 2004 07:37
From: "Public Patent Foundation" <info at pubpat.org>
To: "PUBPAT News List" <news at pubpat.org>

AT PUBPAT's REQUEST, PATENT OFFICE REJECTS MICROSOFT'S FAT PATENT: All
Claims of Reynolds '517 Patent Ruled Invalid

NEW YORK -- In the reexamination proceeding initiated earlier this year by
the Public Patent Foundation ("PUBPAT"), the United States Patent and
Trademark Office has rejected all of the claims of Microsoft's patent on the
FAT file system, which Microsoft describes as "the ubiquitous format used
for interchange of media between computers, and, since the advent of
inexpensive, removable flash memory, also between digital devices."

Relying predominantly on evidence provided by PUBPAT when the reexamination
was requested, the Patent Office made multiple rejections of the Redmond, WA
based software giant's patent.  Microsoft has the opportunity to respond to
the Patent Office's rejection, but third party requests for reexamination,
like the one filed by PUBPAT, are successful in having the subject patent
either narrowed or completely revoked roughly 70% of the time.

"The Patent Office has simply confirmed what we already knew for some time
now, Microsoft's FAT patent is bogus," said Dan Ravicher, PUBPAT's Executive
Director.  "I hope those companies that chose to take a license from
Microsoft for the patent negotiated refund clauses so that they can get
their money back."

More information about the reexamination of Microsoft's FAT patent,
including a copy of the Patent Office's Office Action rejecting all of its
claims, can be found at http://www.pubpat.org/Protecting.htm.

Contact:

Daniel Ravicher, Executive Director, Public Patent Foundation:
212-545-5337; info at pubpat.org; www.pubpat.org.

About PUBPAT:

The Public Patent Foundation ("PUBPAT") is a not-for-profit public service
organization working to protect the public from the harms caused by wrongly
issued patents and unsound patent policy.  To be kept informed of PUBPAT
News, subscribe to the PUBPAT News List by sending an email with "subscribe"
in the subject line to news-request at pubpat.org.  To be removed from the
PUBPAT News List, send an email with "unsubscribe" in the subject line to
news-request at pubpat.org.

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