Battleangel

Swedish inventor Håkan Lans just got snubbed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (HAKAN LANS v. GATEWAY 2000, INC., ET AL., HAKAN LANS v. DELL COMPUTER CORPORATION, UNIBOARD AKTIEBOLAG v. ACER AMERICA CORP., ET AL.).

The background can be found here.

As such, Lans is still stuck with all attorneys’ fees, contrary to common practise. And the judgement was pronounced no more than a week after the proceedings, which certainly fits the profile of the judicial calamity that has characterized the entire case from the beginning. Clearly, the United States is not protecting the rights of foreign innovators and would gladly conspire to cover up its support for its own transnationals.

As any sane lawyer would point out: Lans should decline to pay the fees. And never travel to the US again. Let these thugs have a taste of their own medicine.

As for the rest of us, we can support Lans in our own small way by infringing upon American copyright and pissing on their brands, patents and trademarks. This is a pivotal ruling that we’d do well to remember the next time Americans come around, whining over someone allegedly violating their rights.
More generally, this shows with ample clarity that the patent system has failed the globalized world. And even if one concedes that every nation is prone to this sort of scurrilous theft, there in only one that can really get away with it. Mostly so because many still labour under the misconception that the U.S. is a nation under laws and as such accept their legal turds as wisdom.