[HN Gopher] Cloudflare beats patent troll so badly it basically ...
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       Cloudflare beats patent troll so badly it basically gives up
        
       Author : Brajeshwar
       Score  : 246 points
       Date   : 2024-10-05 15:51 UTC (7 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.theregister.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.theregister.com)
        
       | btown wrote:
       | Discussion on the Cloudflare announcement:
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41730415
        
       | ChrisArchitect wrote:
       | [dupe] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41730415
        
       | xbar wrote:
       | Sabre was a charming little Santa Clara network company, decades
       | ago.
       | 
       | But some incompetent entrepreneurs and a shabby LA law firm tried
       | to win at a patent trolling. The outcome is hilarious only
       | because I am not paying Cloudflare's lawyers.
        
         | iwontberude wrote:
         | Thanks for the context, not sure why people downvoting you.
        
           | fortran77 wrote:
           | Because it's "Sable" not "Sabre" (That's why I downvoted.)
        
             | xbar wrote:
             | I regret my typo, which remains.
        
         | metafunctor wrote:
         | Sabre or Sable?
        
       | mmoustafa wrote:
       | > "In the end, Sable agreed to pay Cloudflare $225,000, grant
       | Cloudflare a royalty-free license to its entire patent portfolio,
       | and to dedicate its patents to the public, ensuring that Sable
       | can never again assert them against another company,"
       | 
       | Holy cow, that's incredible. Cloudflare has single-handedly shut
       | down one of the biggest tech patent trolls. I don't know how they
       | possibly got Sable to agree to those terms, but kudos to
       | Cloudflare counsel.
        
         | CodeWriter23 wrote:
         | Sable was on the hook for costs after losing. I imagine this
         | settlement was a fraction of what they owed. If there is truly
         | justice in this world, Sable principals will have to go out of
         | pocket for tax liabilities and costs associated with shutting
         | it down.
        
         | neom wrote:
         | My understanding is that it comes from the top, kudos to CF
         | counsel for sure, but also Matthew Prince who has a storied
         | career of fucking with bad actors. Thanks Matthew!
         | 
         | https://www.irishtimes.com/business/cloudflare-s-matthew-pri...
        
         | itcrowd wrote:
         | Not sure whether I understood the following :
         | 
         | If Sable dedicates their patents to the public, what does it
         | mean for CF to be granted a "royalty-free license to its entire
         | patent portfolio"?
        
           | aeadio wrote:
           | I imagine if later they try to renege on that public grant,
           | CloudFlare is still shielded.
        
         | throwaway48476 wrote:
         | It likely cost CF millions in legal fees. It's not exactly a
         | win in the fight against patent trolls.
        
           | lolinder wrote:
           | It's an expensive win, but how is it not a win? A troll is
           | dead.
        
           | otherme123 wrote:
           | This is like hitting back a bully in highschool: you will
           | probably lose the fight, and even ifyou win you'll get good
           | bruises. But in the long term you win, because now everybody
           | knows you will hit back.
        
           | ender341341 wrote:
           | Patent trolls are looking for easy money, this instance may
           | have cost them a lot of money, but future patent trolls are
           | much more likely to not go after them and go for the targets
           | that just rolled over and payed sable.
           | 
           | They also can claim a clear moral victory of doing the right
           | thing and stopping sable from continuing to harass companies
           | doing actual work.
        
         | jongjong wrote:
         | Maybe they had compromising info on their directors.
        
       | rmbyrro wrote:
       | Although this is a dupe of a ~1500pt previous discussion, I'd
       | love to see these news on HN front page for several days. It's so
       | delighting to read
        
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       (page generated 2024-10-05 23:01 UTC)