Toronto Electricians and Electrical Contractors

Stupid Patent of the Month: Trading By Tweet We’ve written many times about how the patent system is a poor fit for software . Innovation in the U.S. software industry happens despite, not because of, the thousands of software patents that are granted each year. But software is not the only industry where patents make very little sense. In the 1990s, the Federal Circuit opened the door to patents on methods of doing business. While the Supreme Court tried to undo some of that damage, financial institutions are still hit with patent lawsuits. Many of these suits come from trolls that don’t produce anything. And yet, just as in the tech sector, there are some financial companies that keep heading back to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office seeking a 20-year monopoly on some tactic or another. This month, we’re highlighting U.S. Patent Number 10,147,140 , which was recently granted to BNY Mellon Bank. The first claim of the ’140 patent uses a lot of financial jargon to describe...

You Did It: California Net Neutrality Passes State Assembly After a long and hard-fought battle , one where you made your voices heard , California’s Assembly passed S.B. 822, the net neutrality bill. But we’re not quite done yet. In a vote of 58-17, S.B. 822 passed the Assembly. Now it needs to pass the Senate again. ISPs have tried hard to gut and kill this bill , pouring money and robocalls into California . There was a moment where that campaign looked like it might have been successful, but you spoke out and got strong net neutrality protections restored. But that hiccup means that, although a version of the bill already passed in the California Senate, it’s now different enough from that initial version to have to be re-voted on. We’re in the home stretch here. California could pass a gold standard net neutrality bill, providing a template for states going forward. California can prove that ISP money can’t defeat real people’s voices. So, one more time, contact your Calif...