EFF Calls Securus Patent the 'Stupid Patent of the Month'
A Securus Technologies patent is the "Stupid Patent of the Month," the Electronic Frontier Foundation said. Identifying three elements in the inmate calling service provider's patent, EFF said Tuesday it boiled down to this: "When an inmate gets booked into…
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the local jail, Securus robocalls a family member to ask if they are willing to set up a pre-paid phone account." EFF said there were two serious problems: "First, the claims are directed to a mind-numbingly mundane business practice and should have been rejected as obvious. Obvious uses or combinations of existing technology are not patentable. Second, the claims are ineligible for patent protection under the Supreme Court’s 2014 decision in Alice v. CLS Bank -- that holds that an abstract idea (like contacting potential third-party payers) doesn’t become eligible for a patent simply because it is implemented using generic technology. That the system failed to register either of these defects shows deep dysfunction." Securus didn't comment.