[Am-info] Microsoft patent on FAT overturned by the USPTO on re-examination

[Gene Gaines]

Good news.

Congratulations and thank-you to the Public Patent Foundation
"Representing the Public's Interests in the Patent System"

The U.S. Patent Office has formally reexamined the Microsoft
patent on the FAT file system, and has rejected all four of
the patent's claims, thus rendering the patent invalid.  Note:
Microsoft has 60 days to present an argument and request an
additional reexamination.

The news release by the Public Patent Foundation is below
followed by a link to the patent office reexamination finding
just issued, and a link to the patent.

If you care about the Microsoft illegal monopoly and the issue
of computer-related patents being issued willy-nilly without
adequate homework being done by the U.S. Patent Office, you
might want to sent a note of congratulations to Daniel Ravicher,
Executive Director, Public Patent Foundation, info@pubpat.org.

Gene Gaines
gene.gaines@gainesgroup.com
Sterling, Virginia



PUBPAT NEWS
at PUBPAT's Request, Patent Office Rejects Microsoft's FAT Patent

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 30, 2004

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 PUBPAT Activities >
Protecting the Public Domain.

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

About PUBPAT:

The Public Patent Foundation ("PUBPAT") is a not-for-profit
legal services organization working to protect the public from
the harms caused by the patent system. PUBPAT provides the
general public, particularly those persons or businesses
otherwise deprived of access to the system governing patents,
with representation, advocacy, and education. 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@pubpat.org.

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The U.S. Patent Office document just issued, denying all four
four claims of the Microsoft patent (subject to reexamination,
Microsoft having only 60 days to file for such a reexamination)
is at:
http://www.pubpat.org/Reynolds_517_OA_09162004.PDF

The original patent United States Patent: 5,579,517 issued to
Microsoft after initially being rejected and claims having
to be narrowed and resubmitted is here:
http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=/netahtml/srchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=5579517.WKU.&OS=PN/5579517&RS=PN/5579517