
Ask HN: How to Respond to Patent Threat? - kybernetikos
A company I work with has recently been sent threats by Interface IP Holdings, who claim that their website (which is available in the US) infringes on a patent https:&#x2F;&#x2F;patents.google.com&#x2F;patent&#x2F;US7500201B2&#x2F;en<p>The patent is broadly worded, but seems to cover  restricting the values in a drop down based on the other filled in values.  Or perhaps searching multiple fields from the same search box. I find the text ambiguous and difficult to understand, but I can&#x27;t get anything out of it that doesn&#x27;t seem obvious and standard.<p>It seems like they&#x27;ve brought a lot of complaints relating to this patent to the court in Delaware.<p>Is it really the case that you can&#x27;t use standard UI components on the web without paying license fees to US companies?
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jermaustin1
You do not respond, an IP lawyer responds.

That said, I don't see any litigation won on that patent. And I haven't seen
them take any new cases to court in the last 2 years, so chances are it is a
troll trying get a license payment.

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sergiotapia
That is the most ridiculous looking patent I've ever seen. What developer
hasn't created what the patent is describing.

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kybernetikos
That's basically my view too, but still, finding a published example from
before 2002 isn't easy on Google. At least not with my google skills.

There's not many sites left still working from those days. :-(

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return0
What happens if you ignore a patent troll?

