GM. Not a bad place to live.

After a few listens of Strangers and Sands of Time, I think Scardust might be growing on me. My wife unfortunately hates them. Headphones it is then.

Now this one I am quite excited about listening to.

Apple Music - Web Player

Skeletá by Ghost on Apple Music

Album · 2025 · 10 Songs

GM. A couple of miles swim in the river and I’m set for the day.

Bitcoin is Prog Metal 🤘 Great sermon Avi. I’m still yet to be convinced by Scardust but we’ll see.

Fountain

Plebchain Radio • PCR109 - Bitcoin is Prog Metal with Noa & Lahav • Listen on Fountain

QW & Avi roast the top zapper, discuss finding music, forming the band Scardust, Prog Metal, music videos, past and present albums with Noa and Lah...

View quoted note →

Sometimes it matters what order you put things in. In the Faketoshi03 opposition, I failed to notice that the problem with the patent was not just that it wasn't novel or inventive, but that it was also fatally flawed because it had been amended badly. The Opposition Division (OD) helped out with this when they raised an objection of added matter, which in the end was enough to kill the patent. The patentee has appealed the decision and is trying to get this overturned. This will, I expect, not work. The problem comes down to how the features of claim 1 were ordered - as set out by the OD in their decision. Feature F1.6 has to come after F1.5 because you can't provide the further blockchain transaction if you haven't first searched for it. We argued this in the opposition and objected that the claim was impossible to implement because the further transaction could not be provided if it was absent. The patentee then deleted the words "or absence" from F1.5, thereby admitting that this was the intended order. This seems to have triggered the OD to look more closely at where the features all came from. Here are the original claims the patentee said provided basis for claim 1 of the patent: 1, 3, 6 and 7. See what the order is? A plain reading results in the "monitoring or searching" step coming *after* the "providing a further blockchain transaction" step, contrary to how it was presented in claim 1 as granted, thereby adding matter. This was enough for the OD to find the patent invalid. The patentee is now arguing on appeal that the order doesn't matter, even though they had made an amendment that depended on the order we argued for. In reply, we will be saying that they are wrong and that they are now trying to backtrack from their own admission. This is another case that is going to take a while to resolve, possibly a couple of years, but it seems clear already where this is going.

Everyone goes on about how Spirit of Eden is a masterpiece, which of course it is, but I think this is possibly even better, depending on the prevailing mood.

I have written an article to summarise what has happened over the past 3 years with the oppositions Arthur van Pelt and I have been doing against 3 of Craig "Faketoshi" Wright's patents. The score is 3-0 but will this change on appeal? We will have to wait to find out.

Faketoshi Patent Oppositions - The Story So Far

For the past few years, in my spare time I have been working on oppositions against three European patents granted to nChain Licensing AG, e...

Someone is in contempt of court.

Seriously, I have only just realised it’s supposed to be pronounced title-ist. I’ve been reading it as tit-leist for years, thinking it was an odd name for golf things.

GM. It’s another beautiful morning. 🌞

It looks like nChain has been trying to find ways to reduce their patent spending. In their European portfolio, 54 applications have now been dropped, mostly by simply taking no action and allowing the application to lapse, but in one case by actively withdrawing the application so they can get a 50% refund on the examination fee. They have even been dropping applications that have already been allowed, suggesting that patenting the invention was just not worth it. I wonder how much longer they can continue to fund their already granted patents and the still very large (and very expensive) portfolio of pending applications when there is no sign of any incoming licensing revenue. Will Teranode come to the rescue when it finally arrives? Who knows, but we'll be watching with interest.

Proof of swim.

GM. Nice morning for a swim.

Clue No. 9: My first is in fighting but not in surrender My second in cannon but not in defender My third is in strike but not in shield My fourth is in axe but not in wield My fifth is in force but not in reaction And my whole is a type of unwelcome attraction

Clue No. 8: A French island joins again.

nChain hasn't filed a new patent application since 14 August 2024. Have they run out of inventions?

The total of European patent cases filed by nChain (and which have published) has now reached 652, the latest one appearing just yesterday. The proven liar and fraud Craig Wright (who can't even code) still features heavily as inventor on many of the applications that are still being pursued. An increasing number of applications are, however, being dropped by either failure to pay a renewal fee or respond to a communication issued by the EPO. Whether this is simply a cost-saving measure as the money gradually runs out or something else is not clear yet.