EFF Wins Reexamination of Internet Subdomain Patent

SAN FRANCISCO — The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has approved the Electronic Frontier Foundation petition for reexamination of a patent on Internet subdomains, marking the fourth successful request from EFF's Patent Busting Project.

The patent, which covers the assignation of subdomains associated with a parent domain, currently is held by Hoshiko LLC, which acquired it from the previous patent owner Ideaflood.

Ideaflood had used the patent as a basis for demand payment from hosting companies that offer personalized domains; including Freehomepage.com, T35 Hosting and LiveJournal, a social network where millions of users have their own subdomain.

The EFF reexamination request, made in conjunction with Rick McLeod of Klarquist Sparkman LLP, demonstrated that the method documented in the patent was publicly discussed by webmasters on an Apache developer mailing list, over a year prior to the patent claim by Ideaflood. This public record of the technology's development served as "prior art" and became the key to the EFF's patent challenge.

"The hard work of open source developers should not be taken out of the public domain and used to threaten other legitimate innovators," said Jason Schultz, who heads EFF's Patent Busting Project. "Fortunately, the open source approach to development helped protect Apache and other web projects by creating the evidence needed to challenge this illegitimate patent."

"Based on the PTO's initial analysis in the reexamination order, it appears likely that all claims will be rejected in view of the techniques disclosed by Apache developer Ralf Engelschall and others," Mc Leod said. "We look forward to the PTO's detailed analysis of our request."

According to the EFF website, the mission of its Patent Busting Project is "to take on illegitimate patents that suppress non-commercial and small business innovation or limit free expression online" — a mission which so far has resulted in the invalidation of one bogus patent and won the reexamination of three others.

Related:  

Copyright © 2024 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBIZ is a trademark of Adnet Media.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

More News

Skinfluential Management's FansFuel Acquires Fanwire

FansFuel has acquired creator account management tool Fanwire.

Nebraska AV Bill Moves Forward Despite Privacy, Free Speech Concerns

Nebraska’s unicameral Legislature has given first-round approval to LB 1092, the state’s version of the age verification bills being sponsored around the country by anti-porn religious conservative activists.

AEBN Celebrates 25th Anniversary

The Adult Entertainment Broadcast Network (AEBN) is celebrating its 25th year in business this week.

Performers in Meta Blacklisting Lawsuit Seek to Preserve Antitrust Claims

Adult Performance Artists Guild board officers Alana Evans, Kelly Pierce and Ruby have informed a California court that, although they want to drop their lawsuit claiming that Meta conspired with OnlyFans to blacklist rival premium fan platforms’ talent, they may still pursue antitrust claims in the future.

FSC, Co-Plaintiffs to Ask US Supreme Court to Review Constitutionality of Texas Age Verification Law

Free Speech Coalition (FSC) and its co-plaintiffs in the challenge to Texas’ controversial age verification law have petitioned the United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit to stay its recent decision upholding the law, because they intend to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to review the law’s constitutionality.

FSC Vows to Fight Florida Age Verification Law

Free Speech Coalition (FSC) has issued a statement vowing to continue fighting Florida’s new age verification law, which was signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday as part of a comprehensive bill targeting minors’ use of social media.

Kansas Republican Aims to Create New Bureaucracy to 'Investigate' Porn Websites

Republican state legislators succeeded Monday in moving forward Kansas’ version of the age verification bills being sponsored around the country by anti-porn religious conservative activists, despite serious concerns raised by House Democrats about the cost of establishing a new bureaucracy tasked with investigating websites for pornographic content.

SK Intertainment Launches 'Skinfluential Management' Agency, FansFuel Joint Venture

Mr. Skin/Mr. Man parent company SK Intertainment has launched new creator agency Skinfluential Management, as well as a new joint venture with Showbizz Media's creator stats and affiliate marketing platform, FansFuel.

Industry Attorney, Free Speech Champion Clyde DeWitt Passes Away at 75

Noted industry attorney Clyde DeWitt passed away on Friday in Las Vegas at 75, according to friends and colleagues.

APClips Names Avery Jane 'Creator of the Month'

APClips has named Avery Jane its Creator of the Month for March.

Show More