EFF Asks Court To Invalidate What It Calls 'Junk Patent'

The Electronic Frontier Foundation asked a U.S. District Court in Newark, New Jersey, to invalidate what the digital rights group calls a "junk patent," said an EFF news release. It said EFF partnered with Durie Tangri to defend Bytephoto.com from what EFF described as an “outrageous patent suit from a company that claims to hold the rights to online competitions on social networks where users vote for the winner.” Bytephoto.com has hosted user-submitted photos and competitions for best photo since 2003, EFF said. In 2007, Garfum.com applied for a patent on the “method of sharing multi-media content among users in a global computer network,” and filed an infringement lawsuit against Bytephoto.com in September 2014. EFF argued that “this kind of abstract idea using generic computer technology cannot be patented” and asked that the patent be declared invalid, in a motion to dismiss, the release said. "It's part of our job to identify stupid patents and to try to get rid of them, and this is one of the silliest I have ever seen," said EFF Staff Attorney Daniel Nazer. "Our client has been running 'vote-for-your-favorite-photo' polls for years, just for fun and the love of photography,” said Nazer, who's also EFF's Mark Cuban chair to eliminate stupid patents. “The idea that you could patent this abstract idea -- and then demand a settlement to go away -- goes against both patent law and common sense," he said. "Patents like this improperly interfere with the ability of people to use the Internet to do things they've been doing in the analog world for generations,” said EFF staff attorney Vera Ranieri. This patent is “interfering with the age-old tradition of like-minded enthusiasts getting together to celebrate their hobbies," Ranieri said: "Demanding a payout for infringement on an obviously bad patent like this one isn't just unfair,” it also is “a chilling effect against those who would want to use the Internet to expand their community." Garfum.com didn't comment.